American Museum of Natural History Announces Adult Programs For Sept

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world's preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education and exhibition.

The Museum is renowned for its exhibitions and scientific collections, which serve as a field guide to the entire planet and present a panorama of the world's cultures.

Early-Morning Bird Walks in Central Park
Eight Tuesdays beginning September 6
Eight Wednesdays beginning September 7
Eight Thursdays beginning September 8
Eight Fridays beginning September 9
7-9 am (Additional walk offered 9-11 am Thursdays)
Northeast corner of Central Park West and 77th Street.
$85
Observe the fall migration of birds in Central Park with naturalists Stephen C. Quinn (Tuesdays and Fridays), Joseph DiCostanzo (Wednesdays and Thursdays, 7 am), and Harold Feinberg (Thursdays, 9 am). Learn how to use field marks, habitat, and song as aids in identification. Bird field observation cards included.

Please note: walks begin across from the Museum on the northeast corner of Central Park West and 77th Street. Enrollment is limited to 25 people per series. For more information, call the Bird Walk Hotline at 212-313-7579.

Mystery at the Museum: An Accomplice Adventure
Weekends beginning September 10
$40
Bring the whole family on a new adventure through the Museum! Part game, part theater, and part walking tour, Mystery at the Museum leads you and your family on a captivating search through the Museum as you solve clues and discover iconic exhibits. A 1.5 hour interactive show, Mystery at the Museum is a unique experience sure to engage, entertain, and enchant children and parents alike.

Families with children ages 10 and up are welcome.

An Ecology of Mind
Monday, September 12
6:30 pm
Kaufmann Theater, first floor (Enter at 77th Street)
$12; $6 students (with ID)
An Ecology of Mind is an intimate and personal portrait of Gregory Bateson, celebrated anthropologist, philosopher, author, naturalist, and filmmaker. Directed by his daughter
Nora Bateson, who will lead a discussion after the screening, this film includes footage from Bateson's own films shot in the 1930s in Bali with Margaret Mead and in New Guinea along
with photographs, filmed lectures, and interviews. Through contemporary interviews, and his own words, Bateson reveals her father's practical approaches to the enormous challenges confronting the human race and the natural world.

Café on One will offer refreshments for purchase before the event from 5:30 to 6:15 pm.

Lunchtime Bird Walks in Central Park
Three Mondays beginning September 12
Noon-1:30 pm
Northeast corner of Central Park West and 77th Street
$40
Join Paul Sweet of the Museum's Ornithology Department on midday bird walks through Central Park. As the days turn crisp and the leaves begin to change color, songbirds begin their southward migration, passing through Central Park on the way to winter homes in warmer climes. Learn to identify the "confusing fall warblers" and the "little brown jobs" that fill the trees and bushes at this time of year.

Please note: walks begin across the Museum on the northeast corner of Central Park West and 77th Street. Enrollment is limited to 25 people per series. For more information, call the Bird Walk Hotline at 212-313-7579.

The Wired Child: How 21st Century Technology Affects the Brain
Thursdays September 15, September 22, October 6, and October 13
7-9 pm
Sackler Educational Laboratory (Enter at 77th Street)
$240
This special course for adults will focus on the use of technology by children and adolescents, exploring issues important to parents-and everyone else-in this wired age. Learn about fundamental and advanced brain science and the physiological impacts of extensive personal use of current technologies.

The Museum greatly acknowledges The Mortimer D. Sackler Foundation, Inc., for its support to establish The Sackler Brain Bench, part of the Museum's Sackler Educational Laboratory, in the Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, offering ongoing programs and resources for adults, teachers, and students to illuminate the extraordinary workings of the human brain.

Knocking on Heaven's Door with Lisa Randall
Monday, September 19
7:30 pm
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater (Enter at 81st Street)
$15 ($13.50 Members, students, seniors)
Join professor Lisa Randall for a discussion of her new book, Knocking on Heaven's Door. Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. Her research connects theoretical insights to puzzles in our current understanding of the properties and interactions of matter. She has developed and studied a wide variety of models to address these questions, the most prominent involving extra dimensions of space. Her work has improved our understanding of the standard model of particle physics, supersymmetry, baryogenesis, cosmological inflation, and dark matter. Randall's research also explores ways to experimentally test and verify ideas, and her current research focuses in large part on the Large Hadron Collider and dark matter searches and models. A book signing will follow.

Animal Drawing
Eight Wednesdays beginning September 21
7-9 pm
(Enter at 77th Street)
$160 (materials not included)
The celebrated dioramas, dinosaur skeletons, and other distinctive features of the Museum serve as the setting for an intensive after-hours drawing course with artist and naturalist Stephen C. Quinn, author of Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History. Learn about the gifted artists who created the world-class dioramas as you sketch subjects in their "natural" habitats. All experience levels welcome.
Enrollment is limited to 25 people.

Twinkling Stars: Mythic Creatures in the Sky
Two Wednesdays, Beginning September 21
For grades 1 and 2, each child with one adult
4:30-6 pm
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
$60
This introduction to the night sky was developed for budding astronomers. Classroom activities and observations in the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater reveal the stars above and the ancient stories and traditions that have followed them through the ages.

Fall Skies with Joe Rao
Tuesday, September 27
6:30 pm
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater (Enter at 81st Street)
$15 ($13.50 Members, students, seniors)
This October, the planet Jupiter reigns supreme in the evening sky, while even brighter Venus begins to make itself evident in the western twilight. Mars will trek through one of the best-known star clusters and meteors will streak by during predawn hours. Join Joe Rao for an exploration of the autumn sky using the Zeiss Mark IX Star Projector.

Museum Information

Hours
The Museum is open daily, 10 am-5:45 pm.
The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Space Show Hours
Space Shows are shown Monday through Friday every half hour, 10:30 am- 4:30 pm except Wednesdays (first show on Wednesday begins at 11 am). Saturday through Sunday, every half hour, 10:30 am-5 pm.

Admission
Suggested general admission, which supports the Museum's scientific and educational endeavors and includes 46 Museum halls and the Rose Center for Earth and Space, is $19 (adults) suggested; $14.50 (students/seniors) suggested; $10.50 (children) suggested.

The Museum offers discounted combination ticket prices that include suggested general admission plus special exhibitions, IMAX films, and Space Shows.
o Museum plus special exhibition, IMAX film, or Space Show: $25 (adults), $19 (students/seniors), $14.50 (children)
o Museum Supersaver, which includes the Space Show, IMAX, and all special exhibitions: $33 (adults), $25.50 (students/seniors), $20.50 (children)

Visitors who wish to pay less than the suggested Museum admission and also want to attend a special exhibition, IMAX film, or Space Show may do so only on-site at the Museum. To the amount they wish to pay for general admission, they should add $20 (adults), $16.50 (students/seniors), or $11 (children) for a Space Show, special exhibition, or IMAX film.

Public Information
For additional information, the public should call 212-769-5100 or visit the Museum's website, amnh.org.