1-4 points. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Except by special permission of the director of undergraduate studies, no more than 4 points of individual research may be taken in any one term. This includes both PSYC UN3950 and PSYC UN3920. No more than 8 points ofPSYC UN3950 may be applied toward the psychology major, and no more than 4 points toward the concentration. Readings, special laboratory projects, reports, and special seminars on contemporary issues in psychological research and theory.
Prerequisites: two years of calculus, at least one year of additional mathematics courses, and the director of undergraduate studies permission. The subject matter is announced at the start of registration and is different in each section. Each student prepares talks to be given to the seminar, under the supervision of a faculty member or senior teaching fellow. Prerequisite: two years of calculus, at least one year of additional mathematics courses, and the director of undergraduate studies permission.
Seminar in Comparative Politics. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see:
https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
.
Prerequisites: Course open to Barnard Art History majors only. Independent research for the senior thesis. Students develop and write their senior thesis in consultation with an individual faculty adviser in Art History and participate in group meetings scheduled throughout the senior year.
Corequisites: PHIL W3963 Required Discussion Section (0 points). What can we know? What is knowledge? What are the different kinds of knowledge? We will read classic and contemporary texts for insight into these questions.
This course addresses basic contemporary social issues from several angles of vision: from the perspective of scientists, social scientists, legal scholars, and judges. Through the use of case studies, students will examine the nature of theories, evidence, facts, proof, and argument as found in the work of scientists and scholars who have engaged the substantive issues presented in the course.
The MESAAS honors seminar offers the opportunity to undertake a sustained research project working closely with an individual faculty adviser. It also enables you, as part of a small group of MESAAS students working with the seminar instructor, to develop the skills of academic research and writing and learn how to collaborate with peers and create an engaged intellectual community. This 3-point seminar continues the work begun in the Fall semester of the senior year in MDES 3960 Honors Thesis Seminar Part 1.
Prerequisites: POLS UN1601 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Seminar in International Relations. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Prerequisites: POLS UN1601 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Seminar in International Relations. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Prerequisites: POLS UN1601 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Seminar in International Relations. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Prerequisites: POLS UN1601 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Seminar in International Relations. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Prerequisites: POLS UN1601 or the equivalent, and the instructors permission. Seminar in International Relations. Students who would like to register should join the electronic wait list. For list of topics and descriptions see: https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/undergraduate-seminars
Required discussion section for PHIL UN3960 Epistemology.
Guatemala’s recurrent history of Indigenous genocide is closely linked to U.S. interventions. Meanwhile, Maya organizing in Guatemala has helped spearhead Indigenous political visibility globally. This course examines socio-historical dynamics that have shaped Indigenous Guatemala to better understand current crises like migration and postwar violence. We study settler colonialism; Maya land dispossession and labor exploitation; U.S. corporate imperialism via banana republics; Maya autonomy efforts; Maya intellectuals, populist organizing, and the guerrilla revolutionary movement; racism and postwar multiculturalism; genocidal military counterinsurgency; sexual violence and femicide; the social impacts of Guatemalan and U.S. Catholicism and Evangelicalism; postwar neoliberal restructuring; and the rise of the narco-state and resource extraction on Indigenous territories. We will look at contemporary postwar issues of political disillusionment, militarized “war by other means,” conflicts between Indigenous communities and environmental conservationists, gender and the recovery of Indigenous law and anti-GMO organizing involving Native seed banks. We pay special attention to Indigenous political action as resistance to highly oppressive regimes of terror.
This course explores contemporary Arab and Asian Diasporic cultures and history through literature and film produced by writers and filmmakers of these communities. As a starting historical point, the course explores the idea of Arabness and Asianness, and examines the Arab and Asian migration globally. By reading and viewing the most exciting and best-known literary works and films produced by these writers and filmmakers, students will attain an awareness of the richness and complexity of these societies. Additionally, students will read historical and critical works to help them have a deeper understanding of theses creative works. This class combines the critical with the creative—students have to read and critic memoirs as well as write a final 10-page creative writing piece. Discussions revolve around styles and aesthetics as well as identity and cultural politics. Some of the writers and filmmakers the class will cover include, Wajdi Mouawad, Amin Maalouf, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Anthony Shadid, Hisham Matar, Kim Thúy, Jane Jeong Trenka, Nadine Labaki, Fatih Akin, Hong Khao and so forth.
Historical and comparative study of modern regimes of surveillance in China, Europe, and the US from the 19th century to the present. Topics covered include the advent of the police file, Maoist mass campaigns, FBI’s COINTELPRO and the social credit system.
This is a seminar course on the social structure of migration–the movement of people from place to place–and its developmental consequences. The readings are organized by topic and include examples drawn from many countries, in order to highlight the commonality of migration processes across societies as well as specific societal differences that reflect national differences in social institutions, regional variations in economic development, etc. Papers concerned both with internal migration and international migration are included; as we will see, the apparent distinction between these two forms of migration–the presence of institutional barriers with respect to international migration and the supposed absence of such barriers with respect to internal migration–breaks down in societies that impose institutional constraints on internal migration: China, the former Soviet Union, and apartheid-era South Africa, among others.
Contemporary exhibitions studied through a selection of great shows from roughly 1969 to the present that defined a generation. This course will not offer practical training in curating; rather it will concentrate on the historical context of exhibitions, the theoretical basis for their argument, the criteria for the choice in artists and their work, and exhibitions internal/external reception.
Prerequisites: AMST UN3920 A seminar devoted to the research and writing, under the instructors supervision, of a substantial paper on a topic in American studies. Class discussions of issues in research, interpretation, and writing.
The Senior Paper Colloquium will focus primarily on developing students ideas for their research projects and discussing their written work. The course is designed to develop and hone the skills necessary to complete the senior paper. Students will receive guidance in researching for and writing an advanced academic paper. Conducted as a seminar, the colloquium provides the students a forum in which to discuss their work with each other. The CSER preceptor, who facilitates the colloquium, will also provide students with additional academic support, supplementary to the advice they receive from their individual faculty sponsors. While most of the course will be devoted to the students work, during the first weeks of the term, students will read and discuss several ethnic studies-oriented texts to gain insight into the kinds of research projects done in the field.
Working with her advisor, a student will expand the research project initiated in the Fall Senior Seminar for Music Majors (BC3992x). In order to satisfy the requirement, the student will complete a fifty page research paper.
Prerequisites: CPLS UN3900 The senior seminar is a capstone course required of all CLS/MLA majors. The seminar provides students the opportunity to discuss selected topics in comparative literature and society and medical humanities in a cross-disciplinary, multilingual, and global perspective. Students undertake individual research projects while participating in directed readings and critical dialogues about theory and research methodologies, which may culminate in the senior thesis. Students review work in progress and share results through weekly oral reports and written reports.
The senior seminar will focus on one momentous book: Thomas Mann’s breakthrough novel
Buddenbrooks
(1901), which earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. But we will use this book as a prism to explore German society at the height of its power at the turn of the century: the rise of the bourgeoisie in the 19th century, capitalism, anti-Semitism, gender relations, Wagner and Wagnerism. A guiding question will be the relation between storytelling and family life, and to what extent the “decline of a family” implies the demise or even the death of the traditional European realist novel. In addition to Mann’s novel, students will read short texts by Schopenhauer, Wagner, Freud, Kafka and Rilke. Readings and discussion in German.
Working with her advisor, a student will develop a vocal or instrumental recital program with representative musical works from a variety of historical periods. In order to satisfy the requirement, the student will present an hour long public performance of the recital program. Students may also satisfy this requirement by composing original vocal or instrumental works.
Guided, independent, indepth research experience culminating in the senior essay. Weekly meetings are held to review work in progress, to share results through oral and written reports, and to consider career options for further work in this field.
Prerequisites: the faculty advisers permission. Senior thesis or tutorial project consisting of independent scholarly work in an area of study of the student’s choosing, under the supervision of a member of the faculty.
Prerequisites: Senior standing. Year-long course; participation is for two consecutive terms. No new students admitted for spring. Emphasizes the study of the built environment of cities and suburbs, and the related debates. Readings, class presentations, and written work culminate in major individual projects, under the supervision of faculty trained in architecture, urban design, or urban planning.
See department for course description
Prerequisites: the instructors permission and senior standing as a major in The Evolutionary Biology of the Human Species (EBHS). Year-long seminar in which senior EBHS majors develop a research project and write a senior thesis. Regular meetings are held to discuss research and writing strategies, review work in progress, and share results through oral and written reports.
Prerequisites: Introductory Biology or equivalent. Topics in Biology: Radiographic Anatomy and Select Pathology (Section 007 Fall semester) , Radiographic Anatomy and Selective Pathology is a survey course intended for undergraduate students. This course is not limited to science majors and would be of value to any student that may have an interest in studying the anatomy of the human body. The course is a systematic approach to the study of the human body utilizing medical imaging. We will be studying neuro-anatomy, anatomy of the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis. Vascular and musculoskeletal imaging will be addressed as well. Modalities will include CT, MRI, PET/CT, and Ultrasound. Cross sectional imaging will be supplemented with pathology demonstrated on appropriate cross sectional imaging. The class size will be limited to 15 students. The lecture will be offered Wednesday evenings from 6:10-7:00 pm. This will be a 1 credit course offered only during the fall semesters. Topics in Biology: Crossroads in Bioethics (Section 001 Spring semester) , This two credit multidisciplinary and interactive course will focus on contemporary issues in bioethics and medical ethics. Each topic will cover both the underlying science of new biotechnologies and the subsequent bioethical issues that emerge from these technologies. Each topic will introduce a bioethical principle that will be explored using case studies. Students are expected to prepare for each class based on the assignment so that classroom time will be devoted to discussion, case presentations, and role playing rather than merely lectures. Topics include stem cell research, human reproductive cloning, bioterrorism, neuroethics, genetic screening, medical stem cell tourism, patents and science, forensic science and the interface of science and culture/religion.
This year-long, three-credit course is mandatory for students who will be writing their Senior Thesis in Comparative Literature and Society or in Medical Humanities. Students who wish to be considered for Departmental honors are required to submit a Senior Thesis. The thesis is a rigorous research work of approximately 40 pages, and it will include citations and a bibliographical apparatus. It may be written in English or, with the permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, in another language relevant to the students scholarly interests. Although modeled after an independent study, in which core elements of the structure, direction, and pace of the work are decided together by the student and their faculty thesis supervisor, students are nonetheless expected to complete certain major steps in the research and writing process according to the timeline outlined by the ICLS DUS.
The senior seminar is a capstone course required for the human rights major. The seminar provides students the opportunity to discuss human rights from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and to explore various theoretical approaches and research methodologies. Students undertake individual research projects while collectively examining human rights through directed readings and discussion.
Prerequisites: a formal proposal to be submitted and approved prior to registration; see the director of undergraduate studies for details. A creative/scholarly project conducted under faculty supervision, leading to completion of an honors essay, composition, or the equivalent.
Prerequisites: Senior standing. (available at http://urban.barnard.edu/forms-and-resources). Year-long course; participation is for two consecutive terms. No new students admitted for spring. Using New York City as a research laboratory, under the guidance of the faculty coordinator, students clarify basic theoretical issues related to their chosen research problem; find ways of making a series of empirical questions operational; collect evidence to test hypotheses; analyze the data using a variety of social science techniques; and produce reports of basic findings.
Application required:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/independent-studies
. Senior English majors who are concentrating in writing and who have completed two creative writing courses will normally take this Special Project in combination with an additional creative writing course. Senior English majors who are concentrating in theatre and who have completed three courses in theatre history/dramatic literature will normally take this Special Project in combination with an additional dramatic literature course. For both writing and theatre concentrators, this combined special project counts in place of one senior seminar. In certain cases, ENGL BC3999 may be substituted for the Special Project. In rare cases, the English Department Chair may permit an English major not concentrating in writing or theatre to take ENGL BC3996 in combination with another course.
Application required:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/independent-studies
. Senior English majors who are concentrating in writing and who have completed two creative writing courses will normally take this Special Project in combination with an additional creative writing course. Senior English majors who are concentrating in theatre and who have completed three courses in theatre history/dramatic literature will normally take this Special Project in combination with an additional dramatic literature course. For both writing and theatre concentrators, this combined special project counts in place of one senior seminar. In certain cases, ENGL BC3999 may be substituted for the Special Project. In rare cases, the English Department Chair may permit an English major not concentrating in writing or theatre to take ENGL BC3996 in combination with another course.
Prerequisites: the director of undergraduate studies permission. Required for majors wishing to be considered for departmental honors. This course may also be taken at Reid Hall. Recommended for seniors majoring or concentrating in French and open to other qualified students. Preparation of a senior essay. In consultation with a staff member designated by the director of undergraduate studies, the student develops a topic withing the areas of French language, literature, or intellectual history.
Prerequisites: HRTS UN3995 Human Rights Senior Seminar. Additional information available at: http://humanrightscolumbia.org/education/undergraduate This course is designed for human rights students who wish to write a honors-eligible thesis. The course will consist of group sessions, during which time students will present their work and participate in discussions, and individual meetings with the thesis supervisor. The course instructor is the thesis supervisor for each student.
Prerequisites: required methods and theory courses for the major, and the instructors permission. Students wishing to qualify for departmental honors must take W3996y. Students carry out individual research projects and write a senior thesis under the supervision of the instructor and with class discussion. Written and oral progress reports.
Prerequisites: ACLS BC3450. Enrollment limited to Barnard seniors participating in the Athena Scholars Program. Limited to seniors participating in the Athena Scholars Program. Students will develop a social action project where they must demonstrate leadership skills in an off-campus setting. Students will be expected to develop and implement a detailed plan to start their project. Then they will collaborate with other class members to advance their projects, report to their peers on their accomplishments and have an opportunity to work closely with organizations across the city on their efforts.
Prerequisites: the director of undergraduate studies permission. Program of readings in some aspect of ancient studies, supervised by an appropriate faculty member chosen from the departments offering courses in the program in Ancient Studies. Evaluation by a series of essays, one long paper, or oral or written examination(s).