Cooped up inside due to COVID-19? Here are some fun ways to engage with the outside world from the comfort of your own room! If you have ideas or suggestions to add to this page, please email us at campuslife@bates.edu.

Media and Performing Arts

• Ladd Library provides streaming access to over 300 Sony Pictures Classics. Check out the list, and watch here!
• WRBC, Bates’s own student-run radio station, is uploading new playlists from their DJs daily via their Spotify profile. Check them out here!
• Check out this page from Make Tech Easier about ten platforms that can help you watch online videos with friends remotely.
• The Social Distancing Festival is “a site for celebrating art from all over the world, showcasing amazing talent, and coming together as a community at a time when we need it more than ever.” They have a robust schedule of events – check them out here.
• The Vancouver Symphony live-stremed their final performance from their BeethovenFest, which you can view here.
• The Berlin Philharmonic offers a variety of videos of their performances at their digital concert hall here.
• The Metropolitan Opera is streaming nightly operas for free. Check them out here.
• The Royal Opera House in London’s YouTube channel offers a selection of their performances.
• The Vienna State Opera offers full streams of some of their latest performances.

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Museums and Cultural Exploration

• Famous museums offer virtual tours you can take from home! See the list below.
  • British Museum, London
  • Guggenheim Museum, New York
  • National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
  • Musée d’Orsay, Paris
  • National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
  • Pergamon Museum, Berlin
  • Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
  • Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Uffizi Gallery, Florence
  • MASP, São Paulo
  • National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
  • The Louvre, Paris
  • Johannesburg Art Gallery
  • National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
  • National Gallery Victoria, Melbourne
  • Smithsonian Museum of Natural History,  Washington, DC
  • Russia’s State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
  • The Vatican Art Collections
  • Additional Google Street View museum tours (over 4600!)
• Google Arts & Culture provides a way to explore famous historic and cultural heritage sites. Check them out here.
• A school teacher has created a resource page with over 30 virtual field trips to places ranging from the San Diego Zoo, The Great Wall of China, and even Mars! Check it out here.
• NPR’s YouTube hosts a virtual tour of the renowned Infinity Mirrors project by Yayoi Kusama.
• Check out 12 Banksy murals on Google Street View.
• The Google Cultural Institute offers audio-guided street art tours.
• You can take a virtual tour of The White House here.
• France’s Palace of Versailles is ripe for exploration – you can do so here.
• The Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia is iconic – and virtually explorable here.
• Take a virtual tour of The Sistine Chapel here.
• A variety of museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions offer free coloring sheets and books based on materials in their collections. Check them out here!

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The Outdoors

• Many national parks offer virtual tours! Check them out below.
  • Arches National Park
  • Badlands National Park
  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
  • Channel Islands National Park
  • Denali National Park and Preserve
  • Glacier National Park
  • Mesa Verde National Park
  • Shenandoah National Park
  • Wind Cave National Park
  • Yellowstone National Park
  • Yosemite National Park
  • Zion National Park

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Animal and Wildlife Cams

• Monterey Bay Aquarium offers several live cams – check them out below!
  • Live Jelly Cam
  • Moon Jelly Cam
  • Kelp Forest Cam
  • Sea Otter Cam
  • View all of the aquarium’s live cams
• Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada has a live shark cam – check it out here.
• The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta offers numerous live streams of their animal exhibits.
• The Cincinnati Zoo is offering a “home safari” via Facebook Live every day at 3:00pm EDT.
• Explore offers live cams of all kinds of different animals – from penguins and polar bears, to puppies and kitties! Check out all of their offerings here.

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Getting Active

You can access the B-Well fitness schedule and join virtual classes by heading over to:

B-Well Virtual Fitness Class Calendar

 

Here are some links to recent articles on the best apps, videos and resources for exercising at home. 

• CNBC – Favorite apps for exercising at home
• Women’s Health – At Home Workouts
• CNET – Best Home Workout Options
• Peloton – 90 day Free Trial (no equipment needed)

 

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Academic

• Gallaudet University offers American Sign Language online lessons for free.