Prerequisites: RUSS UN2101 or placement test $15.00= Language Resource Fee, $15.00 = Materials Fee , Continuation of RUSS S2101H.
Prerequisites: SPAN S1201, or the equivalent. Equivalent to SPAN C1202 or F1202. Readings of contemporary authors, with emphasis on class discussion and composition.
Prerequisites: ECON UN1105 The course surveys issues of interest in the American economy, including economic measurement, well-being and income distribution, business cycles and recession, the labor and housing markets, saving and wealth, fiscal policy, banking and finance, and topics in central banking. We study historical issues, institutions, measurement, current performance and recent research.
Primarily for graduate students in other departments who have some background in French and who wish to meet the French reading requirement for the Ph.D. degree, or for scholars whose research involves references in the French language. Intensive reading and translation, both prepared and at sight, in works drawn from literature, criticism, philosophy, and history. Brief review of grammar; vocabulary exercises.
Study of behavior in organizational and business-related settings. Examination of such topics as employee motivation and satisfaction, communication patterns, effective leadership strategies, and organization development.
Study of behavior in organizational and business-related settings. Examination of such topics as employee motivation and satisfaction, communication patterns, effective leadership strategies, and organization development.
An introduction to the potential of digital sound synthesis and signal processing. Teaches proficiency in elementary and advanced digital audio techniques. This course aims to challenge some of the tacet assumptions about music that are built into the design of various user interfaces and hardware and fosters a creative approach to using digital audio workstation software and equipment. Permission of Instructor required to enroll. Music Majors have priority for enrollment.
An introduction to basic concepts in cognitive psychology. Topics include theories and
phenomena in areas such as attention, memory, concepts and categories, language, reasoning,
decision making, and consciousness.
Discussion of the logic and procedures of social science research and standards for the critical evaluation of that research based on a careful reading and analysis of significant studies exemplifying the use of different kinds of social science data and methods (field observations, historical archives, surveys, and experiments). No mathematical or statistical background is required.
This class offers insight through composing, analysis, and performance for the composer, singer/songwriter, and performance artist. Coupling specifics of rhythm, melody, and harmony with story telling, lyric writing and the voice itself, students will be encouraged to share their imagination in song regardless of style, genre, or aesthetic. Music ranging from Chant to Music Theatre, the German lied to international pop fusion will be included as models upon which to base discussion and creative endeavor. Improvisation and musicianship techniques will complement pedagogical presentations of tonal and non - tonal compositional practice. A required final project based on any combination of composition, analysis, and performance, and in any media will be due at the end of the semester. All levels of experience and all types of instruments are welcome. Notation software is recommended but not required.
This course is designed as an introduction to the Islamic religion, both in its pre-modern and modern manifestations. The semester begins with a survey of the central elements that unite a diverse community of Muslim peoples from a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds. This includes a look at the Prophet and the Qur'an and the ways in which both were actualized in the development of ritual, jurisprudence, theology, and sufism/mysticism. The course then shifts to the modern period, examining the impact of colonization and the rise of liberal secularism on the Muslim world. The tension between traditional Sunni and Shi'i systems of authority and movements for 'modernization' and/or 'reform' feature prominently in these readings. Topics range from intellectual attempts at societal/religious reform (e.g. Islamic Revivalism, Modernism, Progressivism) and political re-interpretations of traditional Islamic motifs (e.g. Third-Worldism and Jihadist discourse) to efforts at accommodating scientific and technological innovations (e.g. evolution, bioethics ). The class ends by examining the efforts of American and European Muslim communities to carve out distinct spheres of identity in the larger global Muslim community ( umma) through expressions of popular culture (e.g. Hip-Hop).
This course is designed as an introduction to the Islamic religion, both in its pre-modern and modern manifestations. The semester begins with a survey of the central elements that unite a diverse community of Muslim peoples from a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds. This includes a look at the Prophet and the Qur'an and the ways in which both were actualized in the development of ritual, jurisprudence, theology, and sufism/mysticism. The course then shifts to the modern period, examining the impact of colonization and the rise of liberal secularism on the Muslim world. The tension between traditional Sunni and Shi'i systems of authority and movements for 'modernization' and/or 'reform' feature prominently in these readings. Topics range from intellectual attempts at societal/religious reform (e.g. Islamic Revivalism, Modernism, Progressivism) and political re-interpretations of traditional Islamic motifs (e.g. Third-Worldism and Jihadist discourse) to efforts at accommodating scientific and technological innovations (e.g. evolution, bioethics ). The class ends by examining the efforts of American and European Muslim communities to carve out distinct spheres of identity in the larger global Muslim community ( umma) through expressions of popular culture (e.g. Hip-Hop).
This course examines three masters of European Baroque art—Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), and Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)—artists who are all well represented in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Through classroom discussions and museum visits, we will examine Baroque art as part of a continuing and developing accumulation of forms and ideas throughout the 17th century, and consider the impact these artists had on their contemporaries and in ensuing centuries. Roughly half of the class sessions take place at the Metropolitan Museum, a luxury that allows for close, firsthand analysis of art, but it is not an art appreciation course. It is a history course concerned with a study of ideas, artists, and visual facts and their application to emerging art forms within their cultural-historical context. In addition to developing a critical eye, the class is intended to develop analytical thinking and communication skills as well as knowledge of the subject matter.
Examines the shaping of European cultural identity through encounters with non-European cultures from 1500 to the post-colonial era. Novels, paintings, and films will be among the sources used to examine such topics as exoticism in the Enlightenment, slavery and European capitalism, Orientalism in art, ethnographic writings on the primitive, and tourism.
Examines the shaping of European cultural identity through encounters with non-European cultures from 1500 to the post-colonial era. Novels, paintings, and films will be among the sources used to examine such topics as exoticism in the Enlightenment, slavery and European capitalism, Orientalism in art, ethnographic writings on the primitive, and tourism.
What is this course about? Well, it’s about witches…but what are witches about? Witches are about
gender, sexuality, morality, fear, and authority, among other things. For millennia, female spirituality
and female sexuality have been paired in ways that reveal deep-seated anxieties about the female
body and its power. From ancient Mesopotamian goddess worship to the frenzied witch hunts of
early modern Europe to the child-devouring crones of folk tales from cultures around the world,
we’ll delve into what the witch and those who name and pursue her reveal about deeply-held cultural
beliefs, desires, and anxieties. We’ll work together to analyze the figure of the witch across time and
space and develop our own ideas about why she is so constantly compelling. We’ll also look at our
own sociocultural moment and connect what we learn about witches to the world around us.
What is this course about? Well, it’s about witches…but what are witches about? Witches are about
gender, sexuality, morality, fear, and authority, among other things. For millennia, female spirituality
and female sexuality have been paired in ways that reveal deep-seated anxieties about the female
body and its power. From ancient Mesopotamian goddess worship to the frenzied witch hunts of
early modern Europe to the child-devouring crones of folk tales from cultures around the world,
we’ll delve into what the witch and those who name and pursue her reveal about deeply-held cultural
beliefs, desires, and anxieties. We’ll work together to analyze the figure of the witch across time and
space and develop our own ideas about why she is so constantly compelling. We’ll also look at our
own sociocultural moment and connect what we learn about witches to the world around us.
Careers in health care require an in depth knowledge of the anatomy of the human body. However, anyone can gain from an appreciation of the complexity of their own body. With this class, students will gain an understanding of how anatomical form and function are intertwined from the microscopic to macroscopic levels. Though any anatomy course necessarily involves the memorization of structures, this course has a strong focus on the functions of those structures as applied to everyday life! Rather than rote memorization, students will work to understand the anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological principles that govern how we move, feel, and think.
Careers in health care require an in depth knowledge of the anatomy of the human body. However, anyone can gain from an appreciation of the complexity of their own body. With this class, students will gain an understanding of how anatomical form and function are intertwined from the microscopic to macroscopic levels. Though any anatomy course necessarily involves the memorization of structures, this course has a strong focus on the functions of those structures as applied to everyday life! Rather than rote memorization, students will work to understand the anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological principles that govern how we move, feel, and think.
This course examines some of the key moments of architectural modernity in the twentieth century in an attempt to understand how architecture participated in the making of a new world order. It follows the lead of recent scholarship that has been undoing the assumption that modern twentieth-century architecture is a coherent enterprise that should be understood through avant-gardist movements. Instead, architectural modernity is presented in this course as a multivalent, and even contradictory, entity that has nonetheless had profound impact on modernity. Rather than attempting to be geographically comprehensive, it focuses on the interdependencies between the Global North and the South; instead of being strictly chronological, it is arranged around a constellation of themes that are explored through a handful of projects and texts. Reading primary sources from the period under examination is a crucial part of the course.
Prerequisites: CHEM S1403 General Chemistry I Lecture, CHEM S1404 General Chemistry II Lecture and CHEM S1500 General Chemistry Lab or their equivalents taken within the previous five years. Principles of organic chemistry. The structure and reactivity of organic molecules from the standpoint of modern theories of chemistry. Stereochemistry, reactions of organic molecules, mechanisms of organic reactions, syntheses and degradations of organic molecules, spectroscopic techniques of structure determination. Please note that students must attend a recitation for this class. Students who wish to take the full organic chemistry lecture sequence and laboratory should also register for CHEM S2444Q Organic Chemistry II Lecture and CHEM S2543Q Organic Chemistry Lab (see below). This course is equivalent to CHEM UN2443 Organic Chemistry I Lecture.
Prerequisites: CHEM S2443D Organic Chemistry I Lecture or the equivalent. The principles of organic chemistry. The structure and reactivity of organic molecules are examined from the standpoint of modern theories of chemistry. Topics include stereochemistry, reactions of organic molecules, mechanisms of organic reactions, syntheses and degradations of organic molecules, and spectroscopic techniques of structure determination. This course is a continuation of CHEM S2443D Organic Chemistry I Lecture. Please note that students must attend a recitation for this class. Students who wish to take the full organic chemistry lecture sequence and laboratory should also register for CHEM S2443D Organic Chemistry I Lecture and CHEM S2543Q Organic Chemistry Lab - see below. This course is equivalent to CHEM UN2444 Organic Chemistry II Lecture.
Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001 An introduction to the analysis of psychological issues by anatomical, physiological, and pharmacological methods. Topics include neurons, neurotransmitters, neural circuits, human neuroanatomy, vision, learning, memory, emotion, and sleep and circadian rhythms.
Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001 or equivalent Traditional psychologists have focused primarily on answering “how?” questions regarding the mechanisms that underlie behavior (i.e. How does the system work?). In contrast, evolutionary psychologists focus primarily on answering “why?” questions (i.e. Why does this system exist, and why does it have the form it does?). This course is designed to apply our knowledge of evolutionary theory to psychology in order to answer such questions.
Prerequisites: MATH V1102-MATH V1201 or the equivalent and MATH V2010. Mathematical methods for economics. Quadratic forms, Hessian, implicit functions. Convex sets, convex functions. Optimization, constrained optimization, Kuhn-Tucker conditions. Elements of the calculus of variations and optimal control.
Prerequisites: BIOL C2005 or F2005 (Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology, I) or equivalent. The lab will focus on experiments in genetics and molecular biology with emphasis on data analysis and interpretation.
Prerequisites: CHEM UN1500 General Chemistry Lab, CHEM UN2443 Organic Chemistry I - Lecture. Techniques of experimental organic chemistry, with emphasis on understanding fundamental principles underlying the experiments in methodology of solving laboratory problems involving organic molecules. Attendance at the first laboratory session is mandatory. Please note that you must complete CHEM UN2443 Organic Chemistry I Lecture or the equivalent to register for this lab course. This course is equivalent to CHEM UN2543 Organic Chemistry Laboratory.
Prerequisites: CHEM UN1500 General Chemistry Lab, CHEM UN2443 Organic Chemistry I - Lecture. Techniques of experimental organic chemistry, with emphasis on understanding fundamental principles underlying the experiments in methodology of solving laboratory problems involving organic molecules. Attendance at the first laboratory session is mandatory. Please note that you must complete CHEM UN2443 Organic Chemistry I Lecture or the equivalent to register for this lab course. This course is equivalent to CHEM UN2543 Organic Chemistry Laboratory.
Introduces distinctive aesthetic traditions of China, Japan, and Korea--their similarities and differences--through an examination of the visual significance of selected works of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other arts in relation to the history, culture, and religions of East Asia.
Prerequisites: PSYC W1001 or PSYC W1010 or the instructor's permission. An examination of definitions, theories, and treatments of abnormal behavior.
Surveys important methods, findings, and theories in the study of social influences on behavior. Emphasizes different perspectives on the relation between individuals and society.
A survey of the major dance traditions of Africa, Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and the Americas. Lectures and discussions address primary written and visual sources, ethnographic and documentary films, workshops, and performances.
A survey of the major dance traditions of Africa, Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and the Americas. Lectures and discussions address primary written and visual sources, ethnographic and documentary films, workshops, and performances.
This course focuses on some of the present, and possible future, socio-ecological conditions of life on planet
earth. In particular we will work to understand the historic, economic, political, and socio-cultural forces that
created the conditions we call climate change. With this we will take a particular interest in the question of how
race, ethnicity, Indigeneity, class, and gender articulate with the material effects of climate change. The course
also focuses on how we, as scholars, citizens, and activists can work to alter these current conditions in ways
that foster social and ecological justice for all living beings. Although we will ground our scholarship in
anthropology, to encourage interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary thought, weekly readings will be drawn
from across scholarly and activist canons. While becoming familiar with scholarly and activist conversations
about space and place, risk and vulnerability, and ontology and epistemology, we will work through a series of
recent events as case studies to understand causes, effects, affects, and potential solutions.
Introduction to 2000 years of art on the Indian subcontinent. The course covers the early art of Buddhism, rock-cut architecture of the Buddhists and Hindus, the development of the Hindu temple, Mughal and Rajput painting and architecture, art of the colonial period, and the emergence of the Modern.
This course examines food as a medium in contemporary art. To nourish by providing healthful food experiences creates communities and a sense of belonging, care and pleasure. This course and part take in vibrant community of artist chefs in New York City and the Hudson Valley. We will start by tracing the histories of representation of food as well as collaborations between artists, chefs and food growers and proceed to visit kitchens and farms led by artists. The class will cook, bake, pickle and taste food, grow food, serve food and develop its own community of curious Epicureans. Each student will develop, design, print and bind their own cookbook/travelogue, based on their culinary heritage and experiences in class.
No prior knowledge of any medium is required.
This course examines food as a medium in contemporary art. To nourish by providing healthful food experiences creates communities and a sense of belonging, care and pleasure. This course and part take in vibrant community of artist chefs in New York City and the Hudson Valley. We will start by tracing the histories of representation of food as well as collaborations between artists, chefs and food growers and proceed to visit kitchens and farms led by artists. The class will cook, bake, pickle and taste food, grow food, serve food and develop its own community of curious Epicureans. Each student will develop, design, print and bind their own cookbook/travelogue, based on their culinary heritage and experiences in class.
No prior knowledge of any medium is required.
The nature of cinema as a technology, a business, a cultural product, an entertainment medium, and most especially an art form. Study of cinematic genres, stylistics, and nationalities; outstanding film artists and artisans; the relationship of cinema to other art forms and media, as well as to society.
The adjudged authenticity of a work of art is fundamental in determining its value as a commodity on the art market or, for example, in property claim disputes or in issues of cultural property restitution. Using case studies some straightforward and others extremely vexing--this course examines the many ways in which authenticity is measured through the use of provenance and art historical research, connoisseurship, and forensic resources. From within the broader topics, finer issues will also be explored, among them, the hierarchy of attribution, condition and conservation, copies and reproductions, the period eye and the style of the marketplace.
The adjudged authenticity of a work of art is fundamental in determining its value as a commodity on the art market or, for example, in property claim disputes or in issues of cultural property restitution. Using case studies some straightforward and others extremely vexing--this course examines the many ways in which authenticity is measured through the use of provenance and art historical research, connoisseurship, and forensic resources. From within the broader topics, finer issues will also be explored, among them, the hierarchy of attribution, condition and conservation, copies and reproductions, the period eye and the style of the marketplace.
Using evolutionary principles as the unifying theme, we will survey the study of animal behavior, including the history, basic principles and research methods.
We will also analyze videos from the field as we explore the fascinating world of animal behavior. Through a range of approaches, students will gain familiarity with the scientific method, behavioral observation and research design. Although this is listed as a 3000-level course, no prior biology experience is required. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates
The Introduction to Video Storytelling course teaches students the basics of conceiving, researching, and reporting a story through video. Students will learn to think critically about what makes for a good video story--what makes it newsworthy, what makes video the proper medium for conveying that story--and how to execute using the latest technology. Students will learn how to use and handle a camera, how to best record sound, how to properly frame and light a subject or scene, as well as learn how to use Adobe Premiere editing software. Students will have one complete video story at the end of the 6-week course.
In this intensive four-week summer study abroad language and culture course in Vienna, students will practice and expand their German-language skills on the Advanced level in real-life situations by exploring Austrian culture, history and politics in one of Europes most diverse cities. Students will experience language and culture first-hand. Aside from practicing and developing their linguistic competency and ability to engage in critical thinking in German, students will develop cultural literacy and broaden global competence. Prerequisites: completion of German Intermediate II (GERM UN2102) or at least two years of college German language study or the equivalent.
In
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
, plumes of dust fill the New York City streets as the monster Bowser attacks the city. Mario, seemingly beaten, hides in a pizzeria. What inspires him to keep fighting? He sees himself in a TV ad for his plumbing business, wearing a superhero cape and flying next to the Freedom Tower. He finds solace in the representation of himself as a superhero and in a city that refused to concede that the game was over after 9/11. Such a scene is emblematic of a seminar that will explore the superhero’s relationship to the city’s history and its traumas. Our eye will move between Hollywood blockbusters and global art cinema to help us mull how the superhero exemplifies, for some, the excesses of the U.S. during the global War on Terror. We will see Batman’s alter-ego Bruce Wayne run towards what looks like an imploding World Trade Center on 9/11 (
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
) and witness the superhero framed as an ideological smokescreen for the callous administration of George W. Bush who used the attacks to justify an endless war (
The Broken Circle Breakdown
).
While strongly focused on the post-9/11 superhero and its links to New York City, the cross-media seminar will track the superhero’s initial rise in popularity during the trauma of World War II. It will mobilize the archival resources of Columbia's Rare Book & Manuscript Library collections around the papers of noted
X-Men
writer Chris Claremont, so students can read how the artist conceived of bringing histories around the Holocaust into his spectacular stories. Such dips into the archives will help us assess how such empowered figures offer surprising routes of representation for the disenfranchised. We will also consider the authoritarian possibilities of the vigilante Batman, situating Frank Miller’s
The Dark Knight Returns
against a cultural study that draws links between the comic and Bernhard Goetz who killed four black teenagers in a Manhattan subway in 1984. To further frame how the superhero serves as a potent means of socio-political critique, acclaimed artists and writers will be invited into the classroom. These include Paul Pope whose
Batman: Year 100
(2006) presents a dystopian superhero that allegorizes the oppressive aspects of the War on Terror’s surveillance regime. A culminating field trip to the National September 11 Memorial Museum will be organized. There, students will visit “The World Trade Center
Cinema and videogames are moving-image-based media, and, especially over the past two decades, they have been credited with influencing each other. But how deep do their similarities actually go? In what way do the possibilities available to game developers differ from those available to filmmakers? How does each medium segment and present space, time, and action? What aesthetic effects are open to games that are not open to cinema, and vice versa? This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the dynamic relationship between cinema and video games. Through a combination of film screenings, gameplay, theoretical reading/discussions, and practical assignments, students will examine the historical, cultural, aesthetic, and narrative connections between these two influential media forms. The course aims to foster an understanding of how cinema and video games intersect, inform, and influence one another, providing a unique perspective on storytelling techniques within these mediums. The course will culminate in a final presentation where students will adapt an existing intellectual property, preferably a film or TV show, into a video game (or vice versa), justifying their creative choices.
Prerequisites: STAT UN1201, ECON UN3211 Intermediate Microeconomics and ECON UN3213 Intermediate Macroeconomics. Equivalent to ECON UN3025. Institutional nature and economic function of financial markets. Emphasis on both domestic and international markets (debt, stock, foreign exchange, Eurobond, Eurocurrency, futures, options, and others). Principles of security pricing and portfolio management; the capital asset pricing model and the efficient markets hypothesis.
This course covers the history of Zionism in the wake of the Haskala in mid nineteenth century Europe and its development at the turn of the century through the current 'peace process' between the state of Israel and the Palestinian national movement. The course examines the impact of Zionism on European Jews and on Asian and African Jews on the one hand, and on Palestinian Arabs on the other --in Israel, in the Occupied Territories, and in the Diaspora.
Summer and
Semester version:
Making Change: Activism, Social Movements and Education will look at the ways people power has pushed for change in the United States educational landscape. We will study historical and current social political education movements to answer questions such as: What does education/teacher activism look like? Who engages in educational social activism, and why? What do different models for organizing look like, past to present? We will learn from the examples of the Freedom Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union, the Tucson Unified School District fight for ethnics studies, BLM at Schools, Teacher Activist Groups and more. We will engage in readings, watch documentaries and hear from education activist guest lecturers.
Learning Outcomes:
You will explore the historical relationships between and across social movements in education and its social contexts.
You will reflect on major educational justice movements from across the country and analyze its impact and importance.
You will evaluate the changing role of education and schools in our society and propose actions that could be taken to improve education and schools in the future.
Summer and
Semester version:
Making Change: Activism, Social Movements and Education will look at the ways people power has pushed for change in the United States educational landscape. We will study historical and current social political education movements to answer questions such as: What does education/teacher activism look like? Who engages in educational social activism, and why? What do different models for organizing look like, past to present? We will learn from the examples of the Freedom Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union, the Tucson Unified School District fight for ethnics studies, BLM at Schools, Teacher Activist Groups and more. We will engage in readings, watch documentaries and hear from education activist guest lecturers.
Learning Outcomes:
You will explore the historical relationships between and across social movements in education and its social contexts.
You will reflect on major educational justice movements from across the country and analyze its impact and importance.
You will evaluate the changing role of education and schools in our society and propose actions that could be taken to improve education and schools in the future.
Why is racism so prevalent in hospitals and other health care settings? What unique challenges do trans and gender-diverse youth face as a result of recent transphobic laws and policies? How are community organizers advocating for the end of medical neglect, abuse, and torture in prisons and migrant detention facilities? How do efforts to decolonize museums connect with grassroots struggles for environmental justice? In a (largely) seminar format, we will explore these questions and many others. By centering issues of gender, race, and sexuality, political approaches to medicine and public health challenge and expand contemporary debates in the medical humanities. This class provides an overview of the theoretical landscape and social movements that ground recent developments in the field, especially as it engages feminist theory, disability justice movements, critical race theory, queer theory, anti-colonial thought, and trans liberation movements. Special attention is paid to the structuring force of anti-Blackness in various clinical and research settings, the development and racialization of transgender medicine, and what it means to view state violence as an issue in public health and the medical humanities. The course will feature a key experiential learning component that includes visits to the American Museum of Natural History, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and key sites where the Young Lords and Black Panther Party engaged in community health organizing.
Why is racism so prevalent in hospitals and other health care settings? What unique challenges do trans and gender-diverse youth face as a result of recent transphobic laws and policies? How are community organizers advocating for the end of medical neglect, abuse, and torture in prisons and migrant detention facilities? How do efforts to decolonize museums connect with grassroots struggles for environmental justice? In a (largely) seminar format, we will explore these questions and many others. By centering issues of gender, race, and sexuality, political approaches to medicine and public health challenge and expand contemporary debates in the medical humanities. This class provides an overview of the theoretical landscape and social movements that ground recent developments in the field, especially as it engages feminist theory, disability justice movements, critical race theory, queer theory, anti-colonial thought, and trans liberation movements. Special attention is paid to the structuring force of anti-Blackness in various clinical and research settings, the development and racialization of transgender medicine, and what it means to view state violence as an issue in public health and the medical humanities. The course will feature a key experiential learning component that includes visits to the American Museum of Natural History, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and key sites where the Young Lords and Black Panther Party engaged in community health organizing.
This course looks at the narrative and the historical context for an extraordinary event: the conquest of the Persian empire by Alexander III of Macedonia, conventionally known as “Alexander the Great”. We will explore the different worlds Alexander grew out of, confronted, and affected: the old Greek world, the Persian empire, the ancient near-east (Egypt, Levant, Babylonia, Iran), and the worlds beyond, namely pre-Islamic (and pre-Silk Road) Central Asia, the Afghan borderlands, and the Indus valley. The first part of the course will establish context, before laying out a narrative framework; the second part of the course will explore a series of themes, especially the tension between military conquest, political negotiation, and social interactions. Overall, the course will serve as an exercise in historical methodology (with particular attention to ancient sources and to interpretation), an introduction to the geography and the history of the ancient world (classical and near-eastern), and the exploration of a complex testcase located at the contact point between several worlds, and at a watershed of world history.
In 1930 Keynes predicted a 15-hour work week by the 21st century because he expected we would be at the foothills of the "economic promised land." He was more than right about technological progress and staggering productivity growth –– but dead wrong about the role work would play in our lives. Here we are, working 40+ hour weeks in mostly drab jobs, often under precarious employment conditions.
This course is centered on the concept of "work." The broad objectives of the course are: first, to facilitate a critical understanding of the meaning and significance of work for human life; second, to develop a set of theoretical and analytical tools to dissect and analyze specific work arrangements that we in fact encounter in the real world; and third, and perhaps more importantly, to imagine alternative arrangements of work life that might be better suited for human flourishing.
We begin with some of the central ideas in modern labor economics, including definition of work, labor supply and demand, market mechanisms of wage determination, human capital theory and incentive-based management. We then assess the underlying assumptions implied in this body of knowledge –– for example, from labor as input in production to profit maximization and utility maximization based on stable consumer preferences over material goods and services and leisure time. The springboard for this critical analysis is a set of alternative viewpoints on what constitutes "work activity" from various other academic disciplines including philosophy, anthropology, linguistics and psychology. These readings, with their origins in different historical and intellectual settings and founded on different conceptions of human nature, stand in sharp contrast to this neoclassical economic view of "man" and "work.”
The course will have a two-part structure. The first half of the course will consist of a series of lectures on modern labor economic models emphasizing the assumptions, theories and labor market “facts” that these models are designed to explain. The second half of the course will shift to a more discussion-based format that is better suited to a close "exegesis" of the required texts as critique of this neoclassical paradigm of work.
In 1930 Keynes predicted a 15-hour work week by the 21st century because he expected we would be at the foothills of the "economic promised land." He was more than right about technological progress and staggering productivity growth –– but dead wrong about the role work would play in our lives. Here we are, working 40+ hour weeks in mostly drab jobs, often under precarious employment conditions.
This course is centered on the concept of "work." The broad objectives of the course are: first, to facilitate a critical understanding of the meaning and significance of work for human life; second, to develop a set of theoretical and analytical tools to dissect and analyze specific work arrangements that we in fact encounter in the real world; and third, and perhaps more importantly, to imagine alternative arrangements of work life that might be better suited for human flourishing.
We begin with some of the central ideas in modern labor economics, including definition of work, labor supply and demand, market mechanisms of wage determination, human capital theory and incentive-based management. We then assess the underlying assumptions implied in this body of knowledge –– for example, from labor as input in production to profit maximization and utility maximization based on stable consumer preferences over material goods and services and leisure time. The springboard for this critical analysis is a set of alternative viewpoints on what constitutes "work activity" from various other academic disciplines including philosophy, anthropology, linguistics and psychology. These readings, with their origins in different historical and intellectual settings and founded on different conceptions of human nature, stand in sharp contrast to this neoclassical economic view of "man" and "work.”
The course will have a two-part structure. The first half of the course will consist of a series of lectures on modern labor economic models emphasizing the assumptions, theories and labor market “facts” that these models are designed to explain. The second half of the course will shift to a more discussion-based format that is better suited to a close "exegesis" of the required texts as critique of this neoclassical paradigm of work.
Prerequisites: the project mentors permission. This course provides a mechanism for students who undertake research with a faculty member from the Department of Statistics to receive academic credit. Students seeking research opportunities should be proactive and entrepreneurial: identify congenial faculty whose research is appealing, let them know of your interest and your background and skills.
The goal of this course is to provide students with an overview of constitutive debates over the theory and practice of democracy along three major lines: democracy as a word (with a time-honored ancestry and a tortuous trajectory across the centuries); democracy as a constellation of principles and values; and democracy as an array of institutions and procedures that instantiate the word and pursue the foundational principles of popular sovereignty and democratic self-rule. In doing so, we will read the work of major representatives of historical and contemporary political thought who assessed democracy’s shortcomings and potential, examined the relationship between its theory and its practice, and offered prominent resources for thinking about democracy’s future in our present.
Capitalism shapes every aspect of our daily lives. Thinkers on both the left and the right of the political spectrum agree that capitalism structures our economic, social, and political relationships. Yet, there is little agreement as to the definition of capitalism and its normative implications. The definition and interpretation of capitalism differs across time and space, always evolving in response to challenges, crises, and contradictions. The aim of this course is to provide students with analytical tools to think critically and historically about the concept of capitalism. By studying how philosophers, economists, and political theorists have defined and described the concept of capitalism throughout its history (from the early seventeenth century to the present), students will be provided with a set of terminologies and analytical frameworks that enable them to interrogate the various dimensions of capitalism. The readings in the course are selected to illustrate the fact that capitalism has always been controversial. We will read texts authored by both proponents and critics of capitalism. We will explore how various canonical figures have thought about private property, markets, money, economic growth, injustice, inequality, alienation, and socialism.
Today, the movement of peoples across the Earth and consistent attempts to control or prevent that movement are ubiquitous global phenomena. There is hardly any land on the planet that is not claimed as the territory of one state or another. Borders have become the most common, although by no means only, site in which states try to assert their power over movement. The causes, impacts, and ethical stakes of border crossings have become fixtures of both national and international political discourse.
This course will examine questions about the politics and ethics of borders and immigration in the modern world. To inform our discussion, we will engage with ideas from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including political theory, history, law, political science, and sociology. While this course will focus on the US context and pay special attention to the history and dynamics of US immigration policy, we will also survey how immigration and borders intersect with global politics.
This course is designed to be a 6-week intensive class. The first two weeks concern foundational questions and key concepts. These include the question of what constitutes membership in a political community (citizenship), what exactly borders are and what functions they serve. Week 3 turns to the question of why people migrate, what the most prominent migration policy regimes are, and the history and present state of American immigration policy. Week 4 turns to the moral question of whether states
should
be entitled to their territory and, if so, whether they have a right to control their borders. We will examine debates both for and against open borders. Week 5 examines further questions on who immigration regimes prioritize and who they do not. Week 6 turns to the causes, law, and ethics of refugees and asylum seekers.
In this course, we will use some of New York City’s many museums to introduce students to museum studies, a field of inquiry which looks at the process and politics of publicly displaying objects for “educational” purposes. We will use individual museums as case studies of particular issues in museology, from antiquities and the art market at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to racism and cultural appropriation at the American Museum of Natural History. We will also look at “alternative” museums, such as the Mmuseumm and the Treasures in the Trash Museum to consider how they resist and rewrite traditional museum narratives. Class time will be divided between class discussions, museum visits, student presentations, and digital workshops.
In this course, we will use some of New York City’s many museums to introduce students to museum studies, a field of inquiry which looks at the process and politics of publicly displaying objects for “educational” purposes. We will use individual museums as case studies of particular issues in museology, from antiquities and the art market at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to racism and cultural appropriation at the American Museum of Natural History. We will also look at “alternative” museums, such as the Mmuseumm and the Treasures in the Trash Museum to consider how they resist and rewrite traditional museum narratives. Class time will be divided between class discussions, museum visits, student presentations, and digital workshops.
This seminar explores the varied ways artists responded to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 90s through performance, theatre, and activist art. As government indifference persisted and deaths soared, artists became radicalized and contemporary art and performance became a vehicle for activism. We will follow different tactics in artwork responding to AIDS including the use of gay desire as a weapon and emblem of the fight for visibility. The work we will view, think about, discuss, and write about is political, often angry, and always suffused with loss. Because AIDS affected marginalized communities whose histories are still being told, we will examine a range of artists and materials that includes but also moves beyond the gay white male perspective. We will spend time with theatre work by Reza Abdoh, Tony Kushner, and María Irene Fornés, videos by Juanita Mohammad, visual art by Kia LaBeija, Felix González-Torres, Martin Wong, and David Wojnarowicz, music by Mark Adamo and Diamanda Galás, among other lesser known artist/activists. We will approach these works alongside critical and creative writing by José Esteban Muñoz and Audre Lorde among others. The final project will be a research paper, built in stages throughout the semester, that engages critically with artwork that intersects with AIDS activism.
This seminar explores the varied ways artists responded to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 90s through performance, theatre, and activist art. As government indifference persisted and deaths soared, artists became radicalized and contemporary art and performance became a vehicle for activism. We will follow different tactics in artwork responding to AIDS including the use of gay desire as a weapon and emblem of the fight for visibility. The work we will view, think about, discuss, and write about is political, often angry, and always suffused with loss. Because AIDS affected marginalized communities whose histories are still being told, we will examine a range of artists and materials that includes but also moves beyond the gay white male perspective. We will spend time with theatre work by Reza Abdoh, Tony Kushner, and María Irene Fornés, videos by Juanita Mohammad, visual art by Kia LaBeija, Felix González-Torres, Martin Wong, and David Wojnarowicz, music by Mark Adamo and Diamanda Galás, among other lesser known artist/activists. We will approach these works alongside critical and creative writing by José Esteban Muñoz and Audre Lorde among others. The final project will be a research paper, built in stages throughout the semester, that engages critically with artwork that intersects with AIDS activism.
Essential data structures and algorithms in Python with practical software development skills, applications in a variety of areas including biology, natural language processing, data science and others.
Data types and structures: arrays, stacks, singly and doubly linked lists, queues, trees, sets, and graphs. Programming techniques for processing such structures: sorting and searching, hashing, garbage collection. Storage management. Rudiments of the analysis of algorithms. Taught in Java. Note: Due to significant overlap, students may receive credit for only one of the following three courses: COMS W3134, COMS W3136, COMS W3137.
C programming language and Unix systems programming. Also covers Git, Make, TCP/IP networking basics, C++ fundamentals.
Current patterns of economic growth are no longer environmentally sustainable. Global industrialization and the associated transference of carbon from the ground to the air are leading to a rapid exhaustion of resources and a warming of the planet. These changes have triggered a set of dangerous climactic transformations that are likely to cause massive ecological disruptions and disturbances of food production systems. These changes, in turn, might have a profound impact on poverty, migration, and geopolitics. To better understand how we have arrived at the present predicament, this seminar explores the history of how social and economic theorists have conceptualized the interaction between the economy and nature. The focus will be on the concept of scarcity as a way of understanding the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability. The course begins in the Renaissance and traces the evolution of the nature/economy nexus to the present.
Current patterns of economic growth are no longer environmentally sustainable. Global industrialization and the associated transference of carbon from the ground to the air are leading to a rapid exhaustion of resources and a warming of the planet. These changes have triggered a set of dangerous climactic transformations that are likely to cause massive ecological disruptions and disturbances of food production systems. These changes, in turn, might have a profound impact on poverty, migration, and geopolitics. To better understand how we have arrived at the present predicament, this seminar explores the history of how social and economic theorists have conceptualized the interaction between the economy and nature. The focus will be on the concept of scarcity as a way of understanding the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability. The course begins in the Renaissance and traces the evolution of the nature/economy nexus to the present.
Logic and formal proofs, sequences and summation, mathematical induction, binomial coefficients, elements of finite probability, recurrence relations, equivalence relations and partial orderings, and topics in graph theory (including isomorphism, traversability, planarity, and colorings).
This political science course provides an introduction to the politics of judges, courts, and law in the United States. We will evaluate law and courts as political institutions and judges as political actors and policy-makers.
The topics we will study include what courts do; how different legal systems function; the operation of legal norms; the U.S. judicial system; the power of courts; constraints on judicial power; judicial review; the origin of judicial institutions; how and why Supreme Court justices make the decisions they do; case selection; conflict between the Court and the other branches of government; decision making and conflict within the judicial hierarchy; the place of courts in American political history; and judicial appointments.
We will explore some common but not necessarily true claims about how judges make decisions and the role of courts. One set of myths sees judges as unbiased appliers of neutral law, finding law and never making it, with ideology, biography, and politics left at the courthouse door. Another set of myths sees the judiciary as the “least dangerous branch,” making law, not policy, without real power or influence.
Our thematic questions will be: How much power and discretion do judges have in the U.S? What drives their decision-making?
This is an intensive, six-week class moving from the basics of paint materials, techniques, issues of color, light, narrative and most of all representation. Students will begin working from still life set-ups in the studio and gradually move towards more ambitious approaches including figure painting from a model. Towards the end of the class students will be encouraged to work on a project or projects that more closely reflect their personal ideas.
Prerequisites: MATH UN1101 and ECON UN1105 or the equivalent; one term of calculus. Corequisites: MATH UN1201. This course covers the determination of output, employment, inflation and interest rates. Topics include economic growth, business cycles, monetary and fiscal policy, consumption and savings and national income accounting.
Prerequisites: No prerequisites. Department approval NOT required.
This course will introduce students to writing about visual art. We will take our models from art history and contemporary art discourse, and students will be prompted to write with and about current art exhibitions and events throughout the city. The modes of art writing we will encounter include: the practice of ekphrasis (poems which describe or derive their inspiration from a work of art); writers such as John Ashbery, Gary Indiana, Eileen Myles, and others who for periods of their life held positions as art critics while composing poetry and works of fiction; writers such as Etel Adnan, Susan Howe, and Renee Gladman who have produced literature and works of art in equal measure. We will also look at artists who have written essays and poetry throughout their careers such as Robert Smithson, Glenn Ligon, Gregg Bordowitz, Moyra Davey, and Hannah Black, and consider both the visual qualities of writing and the ways that visual artists have used writing in their work. Lastly, we will consider what it means to write through a “milieu” of visual artists, such as those associated with the New York School and Moscow Conceptualism. Throughout the course students will produce original works and complete a final writing project that enriches, complicates, and departs from their own interests and preoccupations.
All of us have spent many years in school and understand that schools impact our lives in important ways. But how exactly does formal schooling shape young people? And how do students make sense of their lives in the context of schools and educational systems more broadly? In this class we will examine education as a central institution in modern society, and we will grapple with an important question: What role does education play in reinforcing or challenging broader patterns of social inequality and mobility? Particular emphasis will be placed on higher education as a critical site in which these processes take shape.
This course provides an introduction to Shakespeare through a combination of reading his plays and viewing them in performance. On the one hand, we approach each play as a written, published text: our in-class conversation consist primarily in close analysis of key passages, and, in one class period, we visit Rare Books to examine the earliest printed versions of the plays in light of English Renaissance print technology. On the other hand, we view performances of each assigned play, including the attendance as a group of at least one Shakespeare production on an NYC stage. Our semester’s through line is to trace, from his earliest plays to Hamlet, Shakespeare’s remarkable development of the techniques of characterization that have made generations of both playgoers and readers feel that his dramatis personae are so modern, real, human. We will also devote attention to exploring the value of each play in our present moment and on our local stages. We read 8 plays in all, including Titus Andronicus, Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, and Hamlet.
Regular languages: deterministic and non-deterministic finite automata, regular expressions. Context-free languages: context-free grammars, push-down automata. Turing machines, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the Church-Turing thesis. Introduction to Complexity Theory and NP-Completeness.
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 or the equivalent. Introduction to the principles of money and banking. The intermediary institutions of the American economy and their historical developments, current issues in monetary and financial reform.
Walt Whitman was not the first to write about New York. But he was the first of many to let New York write him. By age 43, Whitman had composed most of his best poetry, published three editions of Leaves of Grass, and left New York only twice. How did the second son of an unsuccessful farmer, a grammar school dropout and hack writer become America’s greatest poet? This course offers a response to this perennial mystery of literary scholarship by proposing that “Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son” was indeed a product of his environment. Coming of age as a writer at the same time the city was emerging as a great metropolis, he received his education and inspiration from New York itself. Course time is equally divided between discussions of Whitman’s antebellum poetry, journalism, and prose (including the newly recovered Life and Adventures of Jack Engle) in their cultural and geographical contexts, and on-site explorations that retread Whitman’s footsteps through Brooklyn and his beloved Mannahatta. Experiential learning is further encouraged through assignments based in archives, museums, and at historic sites throughout the city.
Clubbed Thumb commissions, develops and produces funny, strange and provocative new plays by living American writers. Clubbed Thumb’s plays vary in style and content, but are always 90 minutes or under. They feature substantial and challenging roles for all genders, are questioning, formally inventive, theatrical, and exhibit a sense of humor. Since its founding in 1996, the company has presented over 100 productions, and has been awarded 5 Obies, including the Ross Wetzsteon award for sustained excellence.
This playwriting course will use Clubbed Thumb’s work and aesthetic as a launching point. The students will see all three of the plays in the 2023 Summerworks Festival, and will read several published scripts from previous Clubbed Thumb festivals. We will look at the stylistic and aesthetic choices of these plays, and students will engage in a series of writing assignment inspired by Clubbed Thumb’s work, culminating in a “Clubbed Thumb bakeoff” (a longer play written in a short period of time). The students will have the opportunity to engage with Clubbed Thumb artists, including the artistic leadership of Clubbed Thumb: Maria Striar and Michael Bulger.
Clubbed Thumb commissions, develops and produces funny, strange and provocative new plays by living American writers. Clubbed Thumb’s plays vary in style and content, but are always 90 minutes or under. They feature substantial and challenging roles for all genders, are questioning, formally inventive, theatrical, and exhibit a sense of humor. Since its founding in 1996, the company has presented over 100 productions, and has been awarded 5 Obies, including the Ross Wetzsteon award for sustained excellence.
This playwriting course will use Clubbed Thumb’s work and aesthetic as a launching point. The students will see all three of the plays in the 2023 Summerworks Festival, and will read several published scripts from previous Clubbed Thumb festivals. We will look at the stylistic and aesthetic choices of these plays, and students will engage in a series of writing assignment inspired by Clubbed Thumb’s work, culminating in a “Clubbed Thumb bakeoff” (a longer play written in a short period of time). The students will have the opportunity to engage with Clubbed Thumb artists, including the artistic leadership of Clubbed Thumb: Maria Striar and Michael Bulger.
What makes the essay of personal experience an essay rather than a journal entry? How can one's specific experience transcend the limits of narrative and transmit a deeper meaning to any reader? How can a writer transmit the wisdom gained from personal experience without lecturing her reader? In The Art of the Essay, we explore the answers to these questions by reading personal essays in a variety of different forms. We begin with Michel de Montaigne, the 16th-century philosopher who popularized the personal essay as we know it and famously asked, “What do I know?,” and follow the development of the form as a locus of rigorous self-examination, doubt, persuasion, and provocation. Through close reading of a range of essays from writers including Annie Dillard, George Orwell, Jamaica Kincaid, and June Jordan, we analyze how voice, form, and evidence work together to create a world of meaning around an author's experience, one that invites readers into conversations that are at once deeply personal and universal in their consequences and implications.
What makes the essay of personal experience an essay rather than a journal entry? How can one's specific experience transcend the limits of narrative and transmit a deeper meaning to any reader? How can a writer transmit the wisdom gained from personal experience without lecturing her reader? In The Art of the Essay, we explore the answers to these questions by reading personal essays in a variety of different forms. We begin with Michel de Montaigne, the 16th-century philosopher who popularized the personal essay as we know it and famously asked, “What do I know?,” and follow the development of the form as a locus of rigorous self-examination, doubt, persuasion, and provocation. Through close reading of a range of essays from writers including Annie Dillard, George Orwell, Jamaica Kincaid, and June Jordan, we analyze how voice, form, and evidence work together to create a world of meaning around an author's experience, one that invites readers into conversations that are at once deeply personal and universal in their consequences and implications.
Indigenous people in Ecuador, which represent about 7% of the Ecuadorian population (United Nations, 2015), are disproportionately poor compared with the rest of the population. In 2008 the country embarked on an effort to improve their situation by creating and approving a new constitution. Despite all of these efforts, indigenous people continue to struggle in Ecuador. For indigenous women specially the battle goes beyond the economic hardship, as they face domestic violence and abuse in a daily basis.
The proposed course is designed to provide students with a unique one-to-one interaction with Spanish native speakers in three different sites: the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest Reservation of Papallacta, the Reservation of Mandaripanga, and the Runatupari Community in the Andean Region of Ecuador. It aims to:
1. Explore, learn and document the work some indigenous groups have been doing since the new constitution was approved back in 2008.
2. Provide students with a service-learning opportunity working hand in hand when possible with women community leaders at the different sites.
3. Learn about how their communities work to preserve their resources and maintain a sustainable culture.
4. Immerse themselves in the Spanish language and culture by interacting, sharing, and living with native Spanish speakers.
5. Have student produce a focused final essay linking the key concepts from the readings and their lived experiences in the communities visited.
Introduction to and analysis of major myths in classical literature. Topics include the changing attitudes and applications of myth from Greek epic to tragedy, as well as modern approaches to myth. Readings include Homer, Hesiod, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. All readings in English.
A topical approach to the concepts and practices of music in relation to other arts in the development of Asian civilizations.
This course is a topical (not comprehensive) survey of some of the musical traditions of South and West Asia, and of their diasporas. Each tradition will be described locally, connecting it to critical themes that the course aims to explore. The purpose of the course is to introduce you to a range of indigenous and diasporic “Asian” musical styles, ideas, traditions, and artists through an interdisciplinary approach to the study of music as culture. No previous background in music is required.
This course is a topical (not comprehensive) survey of some of the musical traditions of South and West Asia, and of their diasporas. Each tradition will be described locally, connecting it to critical themes that the course aims to explore. The purpose of the course is to introduce you to a range of indigenous and diasporic “Asian” musical styles, ideas, traditions, and artists through an interdisciplinary approach to the study of music as culture. No previous background in music is required.
A survey of major themes of Existentialist philosophy in Europe from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century, this class will focus on Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre and their influences on philosophical conceptions of the human being and the form of its freedom, and the consequences of anxiety, nihilism, and despair in the face of death.
This seminar will explore sleep and circadian rhythms, emphasizing how these factors and their disruption influence human health, disease, function, and well-being. Topics will include the physiologic and neurobiological generation of sleep and circadian rhythms, and the interaction between these systems with cognitive, behavioral, endocrine, metabolic, and mood/psychiatric variables in humans, as well as sleep disorders and their treatment.
NOTE: The course description is the same for the fall/spring course and the summer course.
This seminar will explore sleep and circadian rhythms, emphasizing how these factors and their disruption influence human health, disease, function, and well-being. Topics will include the physiologic and neurobiological generation of sleep and circadian rhythms, and the interaction between these systems with cognitive, behavioral, endocrine, metabolic, and mood/psychiatric variables in humans, as well as sleep disorders and their treatment.
NOTE: The course description is the same for the fall/spring course and the summer course.
This course explores the cultural contexts and aesthetic debates surrounding the Harlem or New Negro literary renaissance, 1920s to 1930s. Through fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork, we will consider the movement within the context of American modernism and African American cultural history, focusing on the relationship or tension between art/literature and socio-political change. Topics considered include: patronage, passing, primitivism, and the problematics of creating a “racial” art in/for a community comprised of differences in gender, class, sexuality, and geographical origin. We will work with the Alexander Gumby Collection of Negroiana at the Columbia Rare Book and Manuscript Library to think through the era's cultural history and the impact of different archival media on its historiography.