Corequisites: TO BE ENROLLED IN UN2045, YOU MUST REGISTER FOR UN2047 RECITATION
The course introduces students to animal studies, a multidisciplinary field that investigates relations
between human and nonhuman animals across historical periods, political regimes, cultural contexts, and
institutional settings. Beginning with the foundational concepts of animal studies and moving toward
contemporary debates, the course traces how animals have been mediated through philosophy, science,
and law, as well as cultural artifacts. Through readings of classic and contemporary texts—from Aristotle,
Descartes, and Bentham to Peter Singer, Carol J. Adams, and Donna J. Haraway—the course examines
how ideas concerning animal nature, moral worth, legal status, and political inclusion are produced,
contested, and transformed.
Between the 700s and 1000s, pirates known as Vikings raided much of Europe. Some were linked to merchant groups reaching into Central Asia, while others joined diaspora communities that sailed across the Atlantic. They made their worlds in many ways—through texts, images, artifacts, and behaviors. In this class, students will accomplish the same, guided by the principle that making is best studied by doing. This will be accomplished through a series of creative assignments accompanied by written discussions drawing on scholarship and historical materials. The course will culminate in a written proposal for a museum exhibit allowing students to explore chosen narratives or thematic interests. Through this work, students will learn how Viking-Age peoples made their world and consider how we recreate and represent that world today
Mendelian and molecular genetics of both eukaryotes and prokaryotes, with an emphasis on human genetics. Topics include segregation, recombination and linkage maps, cytogenetics, gene structure and function, mutation, molecular aspects of gene expression and regulation, genetic components of cancer, and genome studies.
Prerequisites: high school algebra. Recommended preparation: high school chemistry and physics; and one semester of college science. Origin and development of the atmosphere and oceans, formation of winds, storms and ocean currents, reasons for changes through geologic time. Recent influence of human activity: the ozone hole, global warming, water pollution. Laboratory exploration of topics through demonstrations, experimentation, computer data analysis, and modeling. Students majoring in Earth and Environmental Sciences should plan to take EESC W2100 before their senior year to avoid conflicts with Senior Seminar.
Today, it’s impossible to talk about the climate crisis without talking about justice. Thanks to the continued activism of grassroots and frontline community organizers, progressive NGOs, and coalitions of small island states, climate politics are now deeply linked to questions of social justice and equity.
This course introduces students to key topics and issues in climate justice in order to gain a foundational understanding of the field. Themes and topics include: theoretical frameworks of climate justice; climate justice and gender; the justice dimensions of climate adaptation and managed retreat; energy democracy and just transitions; the question of culpability and who should be held responsible for causing global warming; and historical efforts to codify justice considerations at international institutions like the UN.
Data, Mapping, and Spatial Analysis is an introductory course for non-majors. Through the semester, the class covers the technologies for mapping, analyzing, and making spatial data as well as their histories; engages qualitative and quantitative data sets within a geographic information system (GIS) framework; discusses situated, context-specific, and community-based methods alongside top-down modes of spatial research; and introduces students to cartographic principles and map design. Students will learn the tools and techniques of digital mapping and GIS through lecture, hands-on exercises, and a small, self-designed final project.
Prerequisites: (VIAR UN1000) (Formerly R3201) Introduction of the fundamental skills and concepts involved in painting. Problems are structured to provide students with a knowledge of visual language along with a development of expressive content. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.
A unified, single-semester introduction to differential equations and linear algebra with emphases on (1) elementary analytical and numerical technique and (2) discovering the analogs on the continuous and discrete sides of the mathematics of linear operators: superposition, diagonalization, fundamental solutions. Concepts are illustrated with applications using the language of engineering, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. Students execute scripts in Mathematica and MATLAB (or the like) to illustrate and visualize course concepts (programming not required).
This architectural design studio explores material assemblies, techniques of fabrication, and systems of organization. These explorations will be understood as catalysts for architectural analysis and design experimentation.
Both designed objects and the very act of making are always embedded within a culture, as they reflect changing material preferences, diverse approaches to durability and obsolescence, varied understandings of comfort, different concerns with economy and ecology. They depend on multiple resources and mobilize varied technological innovations. Consequently, we will consider that making always involves making a society, for it constitutes a response to its values and a position regarding its technical and material resources. Within this understanding, this studio will consider different cultures of making through a number of exercises rehearse design operations at different scales—from objects to infrastructures.
This course will further your awareness and understanding of the French language, culture and literature, provide a comprehensive review of fundamental grammar points while introducing more advanced ones, as well as improve your mastery of oral, reading, and writing skills. By the end of the course, you will be able to read short to medium-length literary and non-literary texts, and analyze and comment on varied documents and topics, both orally and in writing.
Prerequisites: GERM UN2101 or the equivalent. If you have prior German outside of Columbia’s language sequence, the placement exam is required.
Intermediate German UN2102 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skill. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).
Prerequisites: GREK UN1101- GREK UN1102 or the equivalent. Selections from Attic prose.
Prerequisites: ITAL V1102 or W1102, or the equivalent. If you did not take Elementary Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester.
Prerequisites: LATN UN1101 & UN1102 or LATN UN1121 or equivalent. Selections from Catullus and Cicero.
Prerequisites: PORT W1120 or the equivalent. General review of grammar, with emphasis on self-expression through oral and written composition, reading, conversation, and discussion.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN1102 or SPAN UN1120 or or a score of 380-449 in the departments Placement Examination. An intensive course in Spanish language communicative competence, with stress on oral interaction, reading, writing, and culture as a continuation of SPAN UN1102 or SPAN UN1120. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
This is a required lab that must be taken with URBS 2100UN Data, Mapping, and Spatial Analysis.
Prerequisites: CATL UN2101 or equivalent Catalan 1202 is the second part of Columbia Universitys intermediate Catalan sequence. Course goals are to enhance student exposure to various aspects of Catalan culture and to consolidate and expand reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.
Prerequisites: DTCH UN1101-UN1102 or the equivalent. Continued practice in the four skills (aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing); review and refinement of basic grammar; vocabulary building. Readings in Dutch literature.
Prerequisites: FINN UN1101-UN1102 or the instructors permission. Continued practice in aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing; review and refinement of grammatical structures; vocabulary building. Readings include Finnish fiction and nonfiction.
Prerequisites: FREN UN2121 Intermediate Conversation is a suggested, not required, corequisite Prepares students for advanced French language and culture. Develops skills in speaking, reading, and writing French. Emphasizes cross-cultural awareness through the study of short stories, films, and passages from novels. Fosters the ability to write about and discuss a variety of topics using relatively complex structures.
Prerequisites: GERM UN2101 or the equivalent.
Intermediate German UN2102 is conducted entirely in German and emphasizes the four basic language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. A wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as authentic materials (texts, film, art, etc.) are used to improve the 4 skill. Practice in conversation aims at enlarging the vocabulary necessary for daily communication. Grammar is practiced in the context of the topics. Learning and evaluation are individualized (individual vocabulary lists, essays, oral presentations, final portfolio) and project-based (group work and final group project).
Prerequisites: GREK UN1101- GREK UN1102 or GREK UN1121 or the equivalent. Detailed grammatical and literary study of several books of the Iliad and introduction to the techniques or oral poetry, to the Homeric hexameter, and to the historical background of Homer.
Prerequisites: GRKM UN2101 or the equivalent. Continuation of GRKM UN2101. Students complete their knowledge of the fundamentals of Greek grammar and syntax while continuing to enrich their vocabulary.
Prerequisites: HNGR UN1101-UN1102 or the equivalent. Further develops a students knowledge of the Hungarian language. With the instructors permission the second term of this course may be taken without the first. Students with a schedule conflict should consult the instructor about the possibility of adjusting hours.
Prerequisites: ITAL V1201 or W1201, or the equivalent. If you did not take Elementary Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester. A review of grammar, intensive reading, composition, and practice in conversation. Exploration of literary and cultural material. Lab: hours to be arranged. ITAL V1202 fulfils the basic foreign language requirement and prepares students for advanced study in Italian language and literature.
Prerequisites: LATN UN2101 or the equivalent. Selections from Ovids Metamorphoses and from Sallust, Livy, Seneca, or Pliny.
Prerequisites: MDES W1101-W1102 or the instructor's permission. Further develops students' written and oral proficiency in order to allow them to function adequately in a Tamil-speaking environment. Of particular interest to students planning to conduct scholarly research or fieldwork in a Tamil-speaking context. Develops the students' appreciation for the rich culture of the Indian subcontinent where Tamil is spoken. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
Prerequisites: POLI UN1102 or the equivalent. Rapid review of grammar; readings in contemporary nonfiction or fiction, depending on the interests of individual students.
Prerequisites: PORT UN1120 or PORT UN1320 or the equivalent. General review of grammar, with emphasis on self-expression through oral and written composition, reading, conversation, and discussion.
Prerequisites: RUSS UN2101 or the equivalent. Drill practice in small groups. Reading, composition, and grammar review.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN2101 or a score of 450-625 in the departments Placement Examination. An intensive course in Spanish language communicative competence, with stress on oral interaction, reading, writing and culture as a continuation of SPAN UN2101. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Corequisites: An introductory course in statistic (STAT UN1101 is recommended). This course is an introduction to R programming. After learning basic programming component, such as defining variables and vectors, and learning different data structures in R, students will, via project-based assignments, study more advanced topics, such as conditionals, modular programming, and data visualization. Students will also learn the fundamental concepts in computational complexity, and will practice writing reports based on their data analyses.
The goal of this course is to further develop your speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills and broaden your knowledge about the Swedish culture, history and literature. Topics emphasize contemporary Swedish life and cross-cultural awareness. Topics to be covered include Swedens regions, the party and political system, major historical and cultural figures, and the Swedish welfare state. In addition to the main text we will use a selection of short stories, newspaper articles, films and audio resources available on the internet. Class will be conducted almost exclusively in Swedish. To succeed in this course, you must actively participate. You will be expected to attend class regularly, prepare for class daily, and speak as much Swedish as possible. Methodology The class will be taught in a communicative way. It will be conducted primarily in Swedish. In-class activities and homework assignments will focus on improving and developing speaking, reading, writing, listening skills, and deepening the students understanding of Swedish culture through interaction and exposure to a broad range of authentic materials.
Prerequisites: SWHL W1101-W1102 or the instructors permission. A review of the essentials of Swahili grammar; detailed analysis of Swahili texts; practice in conversation. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
Prerequisites: UKRN UN1102 or the equivalent. Reviews and reinforces the fundamentals of grammar and a core vocabulary from daily life. Principal emphasis is placed on further development of communicative skills (oral and written). Verbal aspect and verbs of motion receive special attention.
Prerequisites: VIET W1101-W1102 or the instructors permission. This course further develops students familiarity with the linguistic and grammatical structures of Vietnamese, a major language of South East Asia.
Prerequisites: WLOF W1101-W1102 or the instructors permission. Further develops a students knowledge of Wolof, a major language of West Africa spoken primarily in Senegal and Gambia. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
Prerequisites: YIDD UN1101-UN1102 or the instructor's permission. This year-long course is a continuation of Elementary Yiddish II. As part of the New Media in Jewish Studies Collaborative, this class will be using new media in order to explore and research the fabulous world of Yiddish literature, language, and culture, and to engage in project-oriented activities that will result in creating lasting multi-media online presentations. In addition to expanding the command of the language that has been spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews for more than a millennium, i.e. focusing on developing speaking, reading, writing and listening skills, and on the acquisition of more advanced grammatical concepts, students will also get some video and film editing training, and tutorials on archival research. The class will continue to read works of Yiddish literature in the original and will venture outside of the classroom to explore the Yiddish world today: through exciting field trips to Yiddish theater, Yiddish-speaking neighborhoods, YIVO, Yiddish Farm, and so on. And we will also have the Yiddish native-speaker guest series. Welcome back to Yiddishland!
This architectural design studio course explores modes of visualization, technologies of mediation and environmental transformations. These explorations will be used as catalysts for architectural analysis and design experimentation.
Introducing design methodologies that allow us to see and to shape environmental interactions in new ways, the studio will focus on how architecture may operate as a mediator
– an intermediary that negotiates, alters or redirects multiple forces in our world: physical, cultural, social, technological, political etc. The semester will progress through three projects that examine unique atmospheric, spatial and urban conditions with the aid of multimedia visual techniques; and that employ design to develop creative interventions at the scales of an interface, space and city.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN2101 or a score of 450-625 on the Department’s placement examination. This is an intensive course in Spanish language communicative competence with an emphasis on oral interaction, reading, writing, and culture at an Intermediate II level with focus on health-related topics in the Spanish-speaking world. In an increasingly interconnected world, and in multilingual global cities such as New York City, the study of a foreign language is fundamental not only in the field of the humanities but also in the natural sciences. This interdisciplinary course analyzes the intersection between these two disciplines through the study of health-related topics in Iberian and Latin American cultural expressions (literature, film, documentaries, among other sources) in order to explore new critical perspectives across both domains. Students will learn health-related vocabulary and usage-based grammar in Spanish. Students will develop a cultural understanding of medicine, illness, and treatment in the Spanish-speaking world. Finally, students will be able to carry out specific collaborative tasks in Spanish with the aim of integrating language, culture, and health. * This course fulfills the last semester of the foreign language requirement. Therefore, students who have taken SPAN UN 2101 (Intermediate Spanish I), or have a score of 450-625 on the Department’s placement exam, and are interested in health-related topics may proceed and enroll in SPAN UN 2103 (Intermediate Spanish II: Health-Related Topics in the Spanish-Speaking World). Pre-med and pre-health students, as well as those students majoring in the natural sciences—including biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physics—will be given registration priority. All Columbia students must take Spanish language courses (UN 1101-3300) for a letter grade.
Prerequisites: An introductory course in statistics (STAT UN1101 is recommended). Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful. Develops critical thinking and data analysis skills for regression analysis in science and policy settings. Simple and multiple linear regression, non-linear and logistic models, random-effects models. Implementation in a statistical package. Emphasis on real-world examples and on planning, proposing, implementing, and reporting.
Prerequisites: STAT UN2103 is strongly recommended. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful. This course covers statistical models amd methods for analyzing and drawing inferences for problems involving categofical data. The goals are familiarity and understanding of a substantial and integrated body of statistical methods that are used for such problems, experience in anlyzing data using these methods, and profficiency in communicating the results of such methods, and the ability to critically evaluate the use of such methods. Topics include binomial proportions, two-way and three-way contingency tables, logistic regression, log-linear models for large multi-way contingency tables, graphical methods. The statistical package R will be used.
The course focuses on reading comprehension and translation into English and includes a grammar and vocabulary overview. It also addresses the differences between English and French syntax and raises questions of idiomatic versus literal translations.
Prerequisites: SPAN UN1108 or scoring at this level on the department’s Spanish as a Heritage Language Placement test (https://columbia-barnard.vega-labs.com).
The principal aim of SPAN UN2108 is to build upon and further develop the knowledge of Spanish that heritage learners bring to the classroom – from SPAN UN1108 and/or from family and neighborhood exposure to the language. This course cultivates intermediate-level formal speaking, listening, reading, and writing abilities.
Spanish heritage language courses at Columbia/Barnard focus on the development of communicative abilities and literacy from sociolinguistic and sociocultural approaches. Throughout the semester, students will be reviewing spelling patterns, building vocabulary, acquiring and effectively using learning strategies, and strengthening composition skills in Spanish. Cultural projects and readings reinforce learners’ understanding of the multiple issues related to Hispanic cultures in the United States and in other Spanish-speaking societies.
The architecture, sculpture, and painting of ancient Rome from the second century BCE to the end of the Empire in the West.
What does it mean to love, and what does it take to love well? Must true love make us “happy ever after”? Should love be exclusive? Is love between individuals or could it be communal and even political? How does love relate to gender and sex, and how might the experiences of queer, trans, and intersex people both complicate and illuminate these connections? What is gender anyway? How do we figure that out? Is it a mere coincidence that the English term ‘sex’ refers to both an activity and a system of categorization? How should we think about consent, desire, objectification, and sexualization in connection to sexual autonomy and gender equality? This course surveys philosophical questions about love, gender, and sex, and in so doing, aims to introduce students to the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of social philosophy.
Love, Gender, and Sex is designed to be friendly to all students regardless of philosophy background.
Must be taken with Intro Biology Lecture