Category: Ian

By Ian Katan

No matter what department a student connects with at BU, there are countless ways to explore their interests on and off campus. Beyond all the great offerings on Comm Ave, students are close enough to access countless opportunities for career experience, skill building, and interest exploration around Boston. Let’s take a look at some of these offerings, for every department at COM, that are only a short distance from our campus.

Film & TV

Just a few blocks from West Campus is the Coolidge Corner Theater, which hosts community events, classes, and seminars in addition to, of course, movies. Whether it’s classics or new releases, you’ll find no shortage of interesting things to check out. 

And if you’ve never explored across the Charles River, make time to visit Cambridge’s Brattle Theater. The historic one-room theater is easy to get to from the Red Line, and you’ll even get a great view of BU’s campus as you ride across the river. Both Coolidge Corner and Brattle Theater are unique because they still screen 35mm films, rather than only digital.

Journalism

If you’re curious to see how a live news show runs, you can take the train down to the Copley stop and head to the Boston Public Library. It features free live editions of Boston Public Radio every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11am-1pm that you can listen to and see how a real news show operates. 

And if you don’t want to leave the comfort of BU’s campus, WBUR’s CitySpace is an event space and creative studio near West Campus that hosts author presentations, storytelling sessions like The Moth StorySLAM, and has tickets for many more productions. It also works with COM to offer internships for BU students, so if you’re interested in working on a show, newscast, or one of their many other offerings, definitely consider applying.

Mass Communication

The Ad Club of Boston hosts advertising events including the Hatch Awards, which is a celebration of ad work specifically from the Boston area. COM is never far from the accolades, with professors regularly being recognized and current students collecting awards in the student categories. The Ad Club also hosts events throughout the rest of the year like speaker events, podcasts, and other opportunities for curious students to get involved and gain experience outside the classroom.

Similarly, Boston has a PR Club that also hosts events for anyone interested to learn more about the public relations field. Tapping into the network of Boston agencies is also super easy, and the PR Club puts together summer socials, panels, and much more that are open for you to explore.

Closer to home, COM also holds many events, speakers, and info sessions designed to bring the best of Boston’s different communications industries together for students, so even if nothing on this list grabs your attention, check out COM’s other events to find one that catches your eye.

Boston University’s stretch of Commonwealth Avenue is a great place to live, study, and hang out, but there’s more to Boston than just our campus. To get out and explore the city, the T is a great start, but what other ways exist to get around?

Commuter Rail

Everyone’s familiar with the T that runs down Comm Ave and takes you all over the city, but what if you want to go a little further from Boston? The Commuter Rail is the T’s big sibling, and has 12 lines that radiate out from downtown and across Eastern Massachusetts. In just over an hour on the train, you can spend the day in Providence, visit the coast in Rockport, or take a hike at the Blue Hills Reservation outside of Readville. Even better is the fact that the Commuter Rail offers unlimited rides with $10 weekend passes. 

Bluebikes

With more than 550 stations around the city and surrounding neighborhoods, the Bluebikes network is an extensive collection of bikes and e-bikes that makes short trips and exploratory rides a breeze. The Bluebikes app offers everything from single-rides to annual memberships, and BU students can get discounted annual memberships through BU Transportation Services. 

Car Rentals

Though more expensive than other choices, car rentals are a good option to keep in mind if you need to carry a lot of items or want to go further than train lines will take you. Zipcar is a service that allows you to rent cars around the clock and has vehicles available throughout Boston, including at a number of on-campus stations. Enterprise also has an office near West Campus, and especially when split with a number of friends, these car rental services make day trips around New England easy.

Walking

If the weather allows or all else fails, don’t overlook walking as a great way to cover ground and see the area up close. For a major city, Boston is incredibly walkable and small enough that you can cover big distances in a short time. Going from campus to Boston Common downtown only takes about 40 minutes, and there are beautiful areas in Cambridge and Brookline within easy walking distance. 

No matter how you do it, get out there to explore and enjoy Boston!