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Welcome from the Mina Rees Library

Welcome to the Mina Rees Library! We’re excited to work with you, and help you acclimate to the research intensive environment of The Graduate Center.

How to get in touch with us? If you have a general or research question, email us at – [email protected] . We’re also available via live, 24/7 chat reference and one-on-one consultations. 

A Network of Library Access

The Mina Rees Library is truly more than meets the eye. We provide access to hundreds of databases remotely and on-site, including Ebooks, scholarly articles, newspapers, archival resources, and so much more – all tailored to fit the needs of students and faculty.

We’re also part of the larger CUNY system, comprised of 25 campuses across New York City, and even more libraries! Be sure to check whether there’s a location that might suit your needs, on this extensive map of the CUNY libraries. Please note that you may need to request a Guest Login for on-site access to their Wifi and e-resources – there is no off-site access to the databases of other CUNY Libraries, beyond this shared list of databases. 

Using InterLibrary Loan – Often & Always! 

We strongly encourage you to place requests via InterLibrary Loan (ILL), if it turns out we don’t have an item in our collections. Through various partnerships and resource sharing networks, there is access to millions (literally, millions!) of books, articles, and other content formats via InterLibrary Loan. This is a truly excellent way to expand your research possibilities – if you have any questions about how to place an ILL request, contact us and we will happily assist ([email protected]).

Partnership with The New York Public Library & Research Study Rooms

The Graduate Center and NYPL have had a long-standing partnership that dates back to 1968. One of the main benefits for you is the ability to loan books from the three research libraries – The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library for Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Research Center for Black Culture – for extended loan periods of 120 days

How to obtain these special borrowing privileges? Simply go to one of the three research libraries in person, bring an NYPL library card, and identify yourself as a Graduate Center student (showing your current GC ID). NYPL library staff will issue a CUNY-GC sticker for your NYPL library card that signals these extended borrowing privileges. To apply for an NYPL library card, please see details here. 

Research Study Rooms

Seeking an inspiring study space and additional research support? Check out the NYPL Research Study Rooms, administered through the Center for the Humanities at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, in Manhattan. GC doctoral students and independent scholars are eligible to apply, and if you have any questions about the application process, please contact us at ([email protected]). All GC doctoral students are highly encouraged to make use of this excellent resource.

And so much more…

The Mina Rees Library can assist with questions about open scholarship, citation management, digital tools and projects, and is also home to the Dissertation Office. Feel free to be in touch anytime!

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New Student Orientation – Fall 2025

NEW STUDENTS – FALL 2025

Welcome to The Graduate Center!

The Fall 2025 New Student Orientation 

 

The Graduate Center
New Student Orientation

The Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street
New York City

SAVE THE DATE

Thursday, August 21, 2025

 

CHECK IN
9:00 a.m., Proshansky Auditorium Lobby, Concourse Level

ORIENTATION ASSEMBLY
10:00 a.m., Proshansky Auditorium, Concourse Level

FOLLOWED BY AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES AND WORKSHOPS

For further information, contact the Office for Student Affairs, 212.817.7400 or [email protected].

 

 

Students should check with their academic programs for information on program-specific orientations. 

International students are also required to complete a mandatory orientation session and will receive an email with instructions on how to register for one of the sessions. For more information, please contact the Office of International Students at [email protected].

 

 

 

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Loving the Libraries!

As a grad student, you will not only conduct research, but you will frantically search for your sources, whether those sources are books on 19th century Talmudic commentaries, articles on Puerto Rican feminist punk music, or photographs of Minoan wall paintings. The good news is that you can find everything in New York. The bad news is that you won’t necessarily find it as quickly as you want.

If you’ve already visited the Graduate Center, you probably noticed that Mina Rees Library seems pretty small for a university library. It is. However, through the Mina Rees Library you have access to all of the materials at all CUNY libraries and a large number of libraries across the United States. Through CLICS, you can request books from all other CUNY libraries and have them delivered to you at the GC. And if that isn’t enough, you can request articles, chapters, and books from other university libraries through the Interlibrary Loan program.

Another important research tool is the New York Public Library. The NYPL includes the Stephan A. Schwarzman research center (conveniently only eight blocks from the GC), the Science, Industry and Business Library (conveniently right behind the GC), and all of the local branches (convenience levels vary). To access the NYPL, you’ll need an NYPL card. If you live in New York, all you’ll need to do is present proof of residency (bank statement, photo identification, etc.). If you have the misfortune to live outside of New York, you’ll still be able to get a card through your affiliation with CUNY.

There are also lots of private libraries in New York, which thankfully have their collections linked to WorldCat. These include museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Morgan Library and Museum, as well as organizations such as the American Numismatic Society. Access varies, but your search might be well rewarded if you look off the beaten track.

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Doctoral Certificate Programs at the GC

Although getting  your Ph.D. might seem like enough work (for a lifetime…), the GC offers several unique opportunities for additional bells and whistles to add to that fancy degree, like Doctoral Certificates! These certificates allow you to engage in interdisciplinary research in areas that are related, but outside, your home discipline. These doctoral certificates are approved by the state and give you the experience to work and teach in interdisciplinary fields for which there is no Ph.D. degree at the Graduate Center.

You can earn a doctoral certificate in the following areas:

Africana Studies

American Studies

Critical Theory

Demography

Film Studies

Global Early Modern Studies

Interactive Technology and Pedagogy

Medieval Studies

Renaissance Studies

Women’s Studies

Each of these programs consists of about five classes, or 15 credits: two or three core courses and two electives from anywhere at the GC (often these come from your home discipline, but don’t have to). Depending on the courses taken and the certificate program, you might even be able to use a cross-listed course twice for two different–yet applicable–certificates! This means that your New American Cinema class might count for both the Film Studies elective AND the American Studies elective! Use the links above to contact the Certificate Program with any questions or for more information.

So why bother? The certificates give you a theoretical and practical foundation through core courses in an interdisciplinary field of interest. In addition, because they are recognized by both the GC and the state, they appear on your transcript, which may come in handy when you’re on the market [for a *fingers crossed* tenure-track job]. Some of these interdisciplinary subject areas are also ones that are difficult to find in doctoral programs (although not impossible), so the doctoral certificate is an excellent way to demonstrate your interest in multiple areas at a doctoral level while earning your Ph.D. in one of the 30+ programs available at the GC. Consider it an enhanced non-related minor in a different discipline.

The upshot: If you have the time and desire, the certificate programs are a great way to broaden your knowledge and credentials to cover a wider range of interesting, interdisciplinary work. You’ll meet people from many different programs at the GC in your core classes, and learn new perspectives and methodologies.

Ask me; I’m earning five certificates, both for my own edification and research, as well as for my future job prospects. It does increase time-to-degree: I’m taking an extra year of coursework to finish everything (plus I came in without a M.A., so I am not as pressed for time as some of my colleagues who entered with one). That said, if you can spare the extra couple of classes, the certificate programs are a wonderful way to interact with colleagues from many different fields and work on complex problems with new, different, and exciting tools.

Gwendolyn Shaw is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Art History Program at the Graduate Center. 

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Blogging with CUNY Commons

We’d like to take the time to encourage you to join the CUNY Commons (the site that is hosting this blog.)  As soon as you have been assigned an @gc.cuny.edu email address, you can join the Commons and either become a contributor to an existing blog or group or begin your own blog or student group.  Before then, however, you can read most pages and comment on some.

Interested in why you should blog?  Take a look at From Tweet to Blog Post to Peer-Reviewed Article: How to be a Scholar Now by GC’s own Jessie Daniels or take a look at The Virtues of Blogging as a Scholarly Activity at The Chronicle.

Some active blogs on the Commons (that you can read now even though you aren’t yet a Commons member) are:

GC Students of Anthropology – https://anthropology.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

GC English Students blog – https://gcenglish.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

Le Hub (French students’ blog) – https://french.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

GC Marxist Reading group – https://capital.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

Collaborative Seeing Studio – https://collaborativeseeingstudio.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

Zines at the Brooklyn College Library – https://brooklyncollegezines.commons.gc.cuny.edu/