Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001 or equivalent introductory course in Psychology This course provides an in-depth survey of data and models of a wide variety of human cognitive functions. Drawing on behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging research, the course explores the neural mechanisms underlying complex cognitive processes, such as perception, memory, and decision making. Importantly, the course examines the logic and assumptions that permit us to interpret brain activity in psychological terms.
It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of the American Civil War as an event in the making of the modern United States and, indeed, of the western world. Indeed the American Civil War and Reconstruction introduced a whole series of dilemmas that are still with us. What is the legacy of slavery in U.S. history and contemporary life? What is the proper balance of power between the states and the central government? Who is entitled to citizenship in the United States? What do freedom and equality mean in concrete terms?
This course surveys the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction in all of its aspects. It focuses on the causes of the war in the divergent development of northern and southern states; the prosecution of the war and all that it involved, including the process of slave emancipation; and the contentious process of reconstructing the re-united states in the aftermath of Union victory. The course includes the military history of the conflict, but ranges far beyond it to take the measure of the social and political changes the war unleashed. It focuses on the Confederacy as well as the Union, on women as well as men, and on enslaved black people as well as free white people. It takes the measure of large scale historical change while trying to grasp the experience of those human beings who lived through it.
(Formerly R3413) Printmaking I: Silkscreen introduces silkscreen and other silkscreen techniques. Given the direct quality of the process, the class focuses on the students personal vision through experimentation with this print medium. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.
Prerequisites: CHEM UN1404 or CHEM UN1604, CHEM UN1500 and CHEMUN2443. 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. Although CHEM UN2443 and CHEM UN2444 are separate courses, students are expected to take both terms sequentially. Students must ensure they register for the recitation which corresponds to the lecture section. Please check the Directory of Classes for details.
ORGANIC CHEMSTRY II-LECTURESTO BE ENROLLED IN UN2444 SECTION 1, YOU MUST REGISTER FOR UN2446 RECITATION
Tap II is an intermediate level tap class for students who have at least 2 years of tap dance training. We will cover tap technique, proper use of the body to enhance sound quality and style, a variety of musical genres and structures,classic tap dance routines, and improvisation.
The prerequisite for Intermediate Level Tap is previous experience in intermediate level tap classes. Students on this level are assumed to have mastered tap basics, be comfortable with intermediate level technique, and must be ready to learn at a slightly accelerated pace.
Corequisites: CHEM UN2444 Chemistry UN2448 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY RECITATIONORGANIC CHEMISTRY II-LECTURESTO BE ENROLLED IN UN2444 SECTION 2, YOU MUST REGISTER FOR UN2448 RECITATION
Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001 or PSYC UN1010 or the instructors permission. Examines the principles governing neuronal activity, the role of neurotransmitter systems in memory and motivational processes, the presumed brain dysfunctions that give rise to schizophrenia and depression, and philosophical issues regarding the relationship between brain activity and subjective experience.
Pilates for Dancers is a full-body, low impact exercise class based on the work of Joseph Pilates, including movement concepts from Rudolf von Laban and Irmgard Bartenieff. We’ll work on a yoga or Pilates mat doing exercises and movement sequences that build strength, flexibility, coordination and clarity in the body. The class is suitable for dancers, athletes and movement enthusiasts. A Pilates ring is highly recommended. A limited number of Pilates rings will be available in class.
This course may not be appropriate for those with spine, neck, and shoulder injuries. If you have any of these types of injuries, kindly present a doctor’s note clearing you for participation in the class.
Through guided practice-based lessons in Awareness Through MovementÒ (ATM), students develop sensory awareness of habitual neuromuscular patterns resulting in increased movement efficiency, improved skill acquisition, and greater strength, coordination, and flexibility. Applicable to all dance styles and activities.
Moving with the Voice is an interdisciplinary creative exploration using the voice, improvised and created music, dance, and theater. Students will explore extended vocal techniques, gesture, character and musical structures (e.g. hockets, rounds, rhythms, deconstructions) within both a solo and ensemble framework, composing their own soundscapes and creating their own voice/movement/theater work through improvisation and in-class assignments. Certain assignments will be inspired by the work of Meredith Monk or the percussion show Stomp.
Open to all levels of experience. A willingness to sing is required.
Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology is an intermediate-level lecture course, which explores how the
analysis of lesion patterns extended across brain networks has offered invaluable insights on the relationship
between brain and behavior and deepened our understanding of the causal relationships between brain lesions
and their clinical consequences.
The objectives of this course are: to gain familiarity with the major themes of New York History since 1898, to learn to think historically, and to learn to think and write critically about arguments that underlie historical interpretation. We will also examine and analyze the systems and structures--of race and class--that have shaped life in New York, while seeking to understand how social groups have pursued change inside and outside of such structures
An introduction to the basics of Python and R coding in the context of solving basic problems in molecular biology. Python will be used to write programs that analyze various features of DNA sequence data and R will be used to analyze output from RNA-seq experiments. No prior programming experience is necessary. The work will involve modifying existing code as well as developing simple programs from the ground up.
Prerequisites: CHEM W1403-CHEM W1404; CHEM W1500; CHEM W2493. Corequisites: CHEM W2444. Please note that you must complete CHEM W2493 before you register for CHEM W2494. This lab introduces students to experimental design and trains students in the execution and evaluation of scientific data. The technique experiments in the first half of the course (CHEM W2493) teach students to develop and master the required experimental skills to perform the challenging synthesis experiments in the second semester. The learning outcomes for this lab are the knowledge and experimental skills associated with the most important synthetic routes widely used in industrial and research environments. Attendance at the first lab lecture and laboratory session is mandatory. Please note that CHEM W2494 is the second part of a full year organic chemistry laboratory course. Students must register for the lab lecture section (CHEM W2496) which corresponds to their lab section. Students must attend ONE lab lecture and ONE lab section every other week. Please contact your advisors for further information.
Learning objectives:
This course will provide a comprehensive foundation in programming methodology for quantitative biology applications that can be readily applied to any programming language. It is recommended for students interested in establishing or expanding their computational biology skillset. After completing this course, students should be able to:
1. Understand and explain the role of numerical and statistical methods in biology
2. Execute numerical computations using a widely-used programming language
3. Recognize common programming motifs that can be readily applied to other widely used languages
4. Design and troubleshoot algorithms to analyze diverse biological data and implement them using functions and scripts
5. Apply statistical programming techniques to model biological systems
6. Generate and interpret diverse plots based on biological datasets
Course overview:
Once a small subfield of biology, computational biology has evolved into a massive field of its own, with computational methods fast becoming a vital toolkit leveraged by biologists across the discipline. As the size and complexity of biological datasets grows, computational methods allow scientists to make sense of these data, scaling quantitative methods to extract meaningful insights that help us better understand ourselves and the living world around us. In this course, we will learn the basics of computer programming in R, a powerful programming language with wide use in the biological sciences. Topics will include a basic introduction to R and the RStudio environment, data types and control structures, reading and writing files in R, data processing and visualization, manipulating common biological datasets; and statistical testing and modeling in R.
Prerequisites: MATH UN1102 and MATH UN1201 or the equivalent and MATH UN2010. 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. (SC)
Designed to provide an introduction to data science for sophomore SEAS majors. Combines three perspectives: inferential thinking, computational thinking, and real-world applications. Given data arising from some real-world phenomenon, how does one analyze that data so as to understand that phenomenon? Teaches critical concepts and skills in computer programming, statistical inference, and machine learning, in conjunction with hands-on analysis of real-world datasets such as economic data, document collections, geographical data, and social networks. At least one project will address a problem relevant to New York City.
Prerequisite or corequisite: BIOL UN2005 or BIOL UN2401. Contemporary Biology Lab is designed to provide students with hands-on exploration of fundamental and contemporary biological tools and concepts. Activities include in depth study of mammalian anatomy and physiology through dissection and histology, as well as a series of experiments in genetics and molecular biology, with emphasis on data analysis and experimental technique.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of dance techniques in ballet or modern. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of biomechanics as it relates to various dance forms. As biomechanics is a branch of physics, the course will include basic mathematical concepts, and some knowledge of geometry and trigonometry is recommended. The course will explore applicable functional human anatomy and will cover the application of biomechanical principles to both qualitative and quantitative description of human movement. Additionally, it will provide an understanding of how biomechanics can be applied in terms of physical ability and wellness, giving students the opportunity to apply the knowledge to themselves.
Prerequisites: Second Year Hebrew: Intermediate I or instructor permission. Equal emphasis is given to all language skills. Irregular categories of the Hebrew verb, prepositions and syntax are taught systematically. Vocabulary building. Daily homework includes grammar exercises, short answers, reading, or writing short compositions. Frequent vocabulary and grammar quizzes. (Students completing this course fulfill Columbia College and Barnard language requirement.) No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
Prerequisites: Hebrew for Heritage Speakers I Hebrew for Heritage Speakers II forms the second part of a year-long sequence with Hebrew for Heritage Speakers I. The course is intended for those who have developed basic speaking and listening skills through exposure to Hebrew at home or in day-school programs but do not use Hebrew as their dominant language and have not reached the level required for exemption from the Columbia language requirement. Heritage speakers differ in the degree of their fluency, but their vocabulary is often limited to topics in daily life and many lack skills in reading and writing to match their ability to converse. The course focuses on grammar and vocabulary enrichment, exposing students to a variety of cultural and social topics in daily life and beyond. By the end of the semester students are able to read and discuss simple texts and write about a variety of topics. Successful completion of the year-long sequence prepares students to enroll in third-year modern Hebrew. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
Prerequisite
: Completion of 1102 or equivalent. If you have prior German outside of Columbia's language sequence, the placement exam is required.
Desire to speak lots of German! Students in Intermediate Conversation should have completed the equivalent of two semester of college German or placed at the Intermediate level at Columbia. This conversation group is designed for students are either taking Intermediate German I or II and would like additional practice or who take only this class because they wish to maintain their spoken German.
The course is designed to improve your ability to speak and understand and manage German in everyday situations; to provide opportunities to participate in conversational situations on any topics you are interested in; to strengthen and acquire skills to understand German spoken at normal conversational speed; to expand active and passive vocabularies speaking skills; and to maintain a certain level of written German through short written activities. This is a 2-point course and does not count towards the language requirement.
This course is a basic introduction to the field and practice of urban planning in the United States. The course will focus on key concepts in planning history, theory, and practice, including the various conflicts and dilemmas planners face, stakeholders involved in urban planning, and the tools and methods that planners use to address challenges in the built environment.
The core questions that this class will return to throughout the semester are: How does planning take place, and whose interest(s) does planning serve? How does planning (re)produce social inequities? Planning is often framed as a technical exercise to rationalize the built environment and create more “livable” cities. However, planning is not value-neutral. As we will examine throughout the course of the semester, power relations fundamentally shape the planning profession, and planning decisions have contributed to racial, economic, and gender inequalities and spatial segregation in cities throughout the United States. We will also explore debates about how to encourage more inclusive cities and engage in more ethical planning practice.
The course is divided into six sections. In Part I, we will explore foundational concepts in urban planning, such as how previous scholars have defined urban planning and urban space. In Part II, we will explore the historical context in which the planning profession emerged and key moments in planning history. In Part III, we will examine normative models of planning, or how the planning profession conceives of itself. In Part IV, we will learn about the different technical tools that planners use to regulate urban development and key debates surrounding these tools. In Part V, we will interrogate the role of the planner, the role of power relations in planning, and how planning decisions have resulted in racial, class, and gender exclusion in the built environment. In Part VI, we will contemplate future directions in planning.
A survey of the history of the American South from the colonial era to the present day, with two purposes: first, to afford students an understanding of the special historical characteristics of the South and of southerners; and second, to explore what the experience of the South may teach about America as a nation.
An exploration of choreography that employs text, song, vocal work, narrative and principles of artistic direction in solo and group contexts.
Investigates the multicultural perspectives of dance in major areas of culture, including African, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, Middle Eastern, as well as dance history of the Americas through reading, writing, viewing, and discussion of a wide range of resources. These include film, original documents, demonstration, and performance.
Study of the cultural roots and historical contexts of specific communities using New York Citys dance scene as a laboratory. Students observe the social environments in which various modes of dance works are created while researching the history of dance in New York City. Course includes attendance at weekly events, lecture-demonstrations, and performances.
This course offers an introduction to jazz improvisation for instrumentalists. Through recordings, transcriptions, daily performance and selected readings, students will actively engage the history of jazz through their instruments and intellect. The idea of improvisation will be explored in an historical context, both as a musical phenomenon with its attendant theory and mechanics, and as a trope of American history and aesthetics. This class is for instrumentalists who wish to deepen their understanding of the theory, history and practice of jazz improvisation. The history of jazz will be used as a prism through which to view approaches to improvisation, from the cadences of the early Blues through the abstractions of Free Jazz and beyond. The student will be exposed to the theory and vocabularies of various jazz idioms, which they will also learn to place in their social and historical contexts.
Why do countries go to war? What conditions foster international cooperation? How do alliances between countries function? How are countries affected by global trade and investment, and in turn how does the political economy of individual countries shape international conflict and cooperation? How do ideas and culture (including both positive ideas like human rights and negative ideas like racism) affect international politics? What role do individuals and groups play in shaping international politics? What explains the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why isn’t there significant cooperation on climate change, and can a new global cooperation emerge? What issues have garnered international attention, and how has that shaped the countries’ cooperation? What causes terrorism? Is the proliferation of nuclear (or cyber) weapons a threat to peace, and if so, how should the world response? Does UN peacekeeping work?
In this course we will begin to grapple with these questions. We will use theories developed by philosophers, political scientists and policy analysts, and we will examine the historical roots of today’s problems, in order to explain and predict the patterns of international politics and the possibilities for change. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to choose and develop their own theories to explain events.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the semester, students will accomplish the following:
Demonstrate broad factual and causal knowledge of important current and historical issues in international relations.
Apply contending theories from the political science literature and the policy world to analyze, compare, and evaluate events and trends in international relations.
Assess the value of competing theories in explaining events.
Synthesize facts and arguments across cases in order to reason critically and argue creatively, through both oral discussions in section and written essays.
Introduction to the painting, sculpture, and architecture of Japan from the Neolithic period through the present. Discussion focuses on key monuments within their historical and cultural contexts.
This is a second-year (fall and spring semesters) course.
Students practice reading and writing in Devanagari and continue to improve their proficiency in Hindi to:
• Successfully handle most uncomplicated communicative tasks and social situations.
• Initiate, sustain, and close a general conversation.
• Write letters and short compositions and read consistently, fully understanding simple connected texts dealing with personal and social needs.
• Get the main ideas and information from texts, including description and narration.
To achieve these goals, students are introduced to a variety of materials, including literature, newspapers, folk tales, jokes, magazine articles, films, songs, commercials, and other kinds of audiovisual materials. These texts relate to language functions in daily personal and social life situations.
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.
For those whose knowledge is equivalent to a student whos completed the First Year course. The course focuses on the further development of their skills in using the language to engage with practical topics and situations, such as seeing a doctor, reading news, writing letters, and listening to music.
Discussion section
This lecture course, with two weekly lectures and additional section meetings, surveys the broad outlines of the artistic traditions of China, Korea, and Japan, introducing key concepts, such as multiplicity, impermanence, and transmediality, through a diversity of forms of visual expression in painting, sculpture, bronze, ceramics, lacquer, and architecture. The weekly lectures and discussions will explore interregional relations and influence in order to discover not only the features that make each geographical tradition distinct, but also closely interconnected. Among the key themes to be examined are the archaeology of ancient East Asia, the development of Buddhist art, the arts of landscape and narrative painting, woodblock prints, and finally East Asia after modernity.
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.
Prerequisite: An introductory psychology course.
An introduction to basic concepts in moral psychology. Topics include controversies around the definition of morality, foundations of moral thought and behavior, and connections between morality and other areas of life, among other subjects.
This course will survey a number of topics at the intersection of cognitive science and philosophy. Potential topics include free will, consciousness, embodied cognition, artificial intelligence, neural networks, and the language of thought.
Examines the gendered roles of women and men in Latin American society from the colonial period to the present. Explores a number of themes, including the intersection of social class, race, ethnicity, and gender; the nature of patriarchy; masculinity; gender and the state; and the gendered nature of political mobilization.
This course is intended to offer a survey of the history of a complex and vast region through two centuries. In order to balance the specificity of particular histories and larger processes common to Latin America, units will often start with a general presentation of the main questions and will be followed by lectures devoted to specific countries, regions, or themes. We will look closely at the formation of class and ethnic identities, the struggle around state formation, and the links between Latin America and other regions of the world. We will stress the local dimension of these processes: the specific actors, institutions and experiences that shaped the diversity and commonalities of Latin American societies. The assignments, discussion sections, and lectures are intended to introduce students to the key conceptual problems and the most innovative historical research on the region and to encourage their own critical reading of Latin American history.
Prerequisites: MDES W1701-MDES W1702 or the equivalent. A general review of the essentials of grammar; practice in spoken and written Persian; Arabic elements in Persian; selected readings emphasizing Iranian life and culture; materials from Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Indari. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
Advanced analog photography & darkroom printing. Students will work with analog cameras and learn how to refine black-and-white printing techniques, produce larger prints, etc. Emphasis will be placed on the editing, sequencing, and display of images while cultivating a theoretical and historical context to situate the work. Students will engage with an array of photographic practices through presentations, critiques, guest artist lectures and printing assignments. This course will explore critical issues in contemporary photography and advanced camera and production techniques through regular shooting assignments, demonstrations, critique, lectures, readings, and field trips. Prerequisites:
Intro Darkroom Photography
(Columbia) or equivalent experience
This course is an introduction to the medieval Middle East, starting from the Abbasid caliphate at its peak and ending with the establishment of the Timurid empire. It explores political, social, and intellectual trends that configured the region’s later history, emphasizing both its complexity and interconnectedness. The course will feature not only on the Middle East and North Africa, but also other regions such as North India and Andalusia, considering the role of the Islamicate world in global history. Special attention will be given to political formations, intellectual and social diversity, and Islam as a cultural system. Students will be introduced to a large number of primary sources from different regions, languages, and religious communities, including objects, art, and music. Students will learn to analyze these materials and understand how history is written and made. This course does not presume any foreknowledge of the topic.
This course will focus on helping students gain greater profiency in reading Tibetan Buddhist philosophical and religious historical texts.
“The Ottoman Empire and the West” is a course designed to familiarize undergraduate students with the major developments concerning the Ottoman Empire’s relations with the West throughout the ‘long’ nineteenth century, roughly from the end of the eighteenth century to the outbreak of World War I. The course will adopt a predominantly chronological structure but will address a wide range of themes, from politics and ideology to economics and diplomacy, and from religion and culture to gender and orientalism.
There are over 800 distinct Native American nations currently within the borders of the United States. This course offers a broad introduction to the diversity of American Indian religious systems and their larger functions in communities and in history. We will explore general themes in the study of Native American religious traditions as well as look at some specific examples of practices, ideas, and beliefs. Of particular importance are the history and effects of colonialism and missionization on Native peoples, their continuing struggles for religious freedom and cultural and linguistic survival, and the ways in which American Indians engage with religion and spirituality, both past and present, to respond to social, cultural, political, and geographical change.
Prerequisites: PHYS UN2801 This accelerated two-semester sequence covers the subject matter of PHYS UN1601, PHYS UN1602 and PHYS UN2601, and is intended for those students who have an exceptionally strong background in both physics and mathematics. The course is preparatory for advanced work in physics and related fields. There is no accompanying laboratory; however, students are encouraged to take the intermediate laboratory, PHYS UN3081, in the following year.
This course provides a political and social history of India from the 16th-19th century, focusing on the Mughal empire. Two central concerns: first, the Mughal regnal politics towards their rival imperial concerns within India and West Asia (the Maratha, the Rajput, the Safavid, the Ottoman); and second, the foreign gaze onto the Mughals (via the presence of Portuguese, English, and French travelers, merchants, and diplomats in India). These interlocked practices (how Mughals saw the world and how the world saw the Mughals) will allow us develop a nuanced knowledge of universally acknowledged power of the early modern world. Partially fulfills Global Core Requirement.
This lecture course explores the Indian Ocean worlds of the nineteenth century and twentieth century by tracing networks of trade, labor, capital, pilgrimage and science. It offers an overview of how these networks were forged and who formed them, mapping their ebbs and flows across Mauritius, Madagascar, Kenya, Zanzibar, Oman, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Indonesia, and Australia. It begins with a brief overview of the premodern Indian Ocean and the seaborne empires of sixteenth centuries and the first encounters with Portuguese, Dutch, French and British colonization and then looks at a range of different topics from the spice trade and caravan routes in the age of sail to the abolition of slavery and establishment of indenture as steamships began to take over oceanic journeys. We look at the travels of botanical specimens scrounged from tropical forests in the nineteenth century to the surveying of the ocean floor in the twentieth. At the end of the lectures, which will also feature active learning components using primary sources, we will learn how to reframe regional histories through the lens of oceanic mobilities.
This course approaches modernism as the varied literary responses to the cultural, technological, and political conditions of modernity in the United States. The historical period from the turn of the century to the onset of World War II forms a backdrop for consideration of such authors as Getrude Stein, Willa Cather, Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Djuna Barnes. Assigned readings will cover a range of genres, including novels, poetry, short stories, and contemporary essays.
Prerequisites: () Enrollment is limited to 16; must attend first lab to hold place. Studies of the structure, ecology, and evolution of plants. Laboratory exercises include field problems, laboratory experiments, plant collections and identification, and examination of the morphology of plant groups.
Why do certain mental illnesses only appear in specific regions of the world? What processes of translation, adaption, and “indigenization” take place when psychiatric diagnostic categories, pharmaceutical regimens, and psychodynamic treatments developed in the West travel to China, Japan and South Korea? How do contemporary East Asian therapeutic modalities destabilize biomedical assumptions about the origins and treatment of mental illness?
This course employs anthropological analysis to explore the paradoxes of “culture-bound syndromes”, examine how biomedical psychiatric practices have been received and transformed, and discuss the ways in which shamanistic rituals and Traditional Chinese Medicine clinical encounters understand their objects of intervention. Focusing on East Asia with a particular emphasis on China, we will employ interpretive and political economic anthropological analyses to explore experiences of people struggling with illness, the practices of health practitioners who treat them, and the broader social and historical contexts that shape these interactions.
Focusing on South America, this course examines contemporary art produced in the region known as Latin America and its diasporas, roughly since mid-1940s to the present. The first half of the class attends to two tendencies of the 1940s–1970s, abstraction and conceptualism, lionized through a slew of acclaimed group and solo exhibitions organized across the hemisphere in the last twenty years. We will analyze these two tendencies in the distinct social, political, and economic contexts of their emergence in various “centers” of the continent paying special attention to the ideologies of modernization, progress, and economic development; political upheavals including violent dictatorships and other crises; artists’ relationship to Western European and U.S. cultural centers, and transnational circulation networks; and the role of art institutions. To this end, we will pay special attention to how these trends have been historicized to date, and to what ends. The second half of the class will examine practices since the mid-1970s to the present in a comparative perspective: one, through the lens of identity politics and, two, analyzing the dynamics of the increased global dissemination of works from Latin America and by Latin-American descendants. Several visits to art institutions in NYC will be required as a part of the course.
A continuation of the study of the written and spoken language of Turkey, with readings of literary, historical, and other texts. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
This course is an introduction to the interplay between science, technology, and society. Unsettling Science invites students to: ask big questions about science and technology, interrupt preconceived ideas about what sicience is and who does it, and engage deeply with troubling social implications. By offering historical and contemporary perspectives, this course equips students with critical and methodological skills essential to exploring not only longstanding questions about the world but also urgent issues of our time. To do so, the course focuses on a series of fundamental and foundational questions (e.g., what is knowledge? what is prog that underpin the study of science, technology, and society from a variety of interdisicplinary perspectives.
Economic inequality characterizes virtually every human society, informing deep social dynamics. And yet scholars and lay people alike hold vastly differing opinions about the effects that inequality has on the social fabric, and the need to combat it. The question of how wealth and income are distributed among the members of a national community as well as among nations has acquired center stage in analyses about fundamental issues such as the causes of the progress and decline of societies and the dynamics of globalization. Inequality issues are at the heart of discussions about international economic relations, transnational phenomena such as migrations and the domestic economic platforms of political parties.
This course will provide students with the critical instruments with which to analyze the main interpretations of economic inequality from the eighteenth century to the present. We will read and discuss authors who have addressed the question of inequality and distribution: how did they frame the issue? What visions of society emerged from their analyses? We will see how the concept of inequality has changed historically, how different dimensions (e.g., national and international) have appeared and disappeared, and how visions of national, international and global inequality inform debates about the foundational elements of the social compact.
Required course for department majors. Not open to Barnard or Continuing Education students. Students must receive instructors permission. Introduction to different methodological approaches to the study of art and visual culture. Majors are encouraged to take the colloquium during their junior year.
The goal of this course is to gain an understanding of the chemical principles that govern biological systems. We will look at the structure and function of biomolecules (proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and lipids), with an emphasis on interactions between them, enzyme kinetics, and metabolic pathways. Key topics will include protein folding and function, enzyme mechanisms, bioenergetics, and the regulation of key metabolic cycles. In addition to lecture we will spend time examining case studies and selected articles from primary literature, and engaging in group discussions.
Basic scientific and engineering principles used for the design of buildings, bridges, and other parts of the built infrastructure. Application of principles to analysis and design of actual large-scale structures. Coverage of the history of major structural design innovations and of the engineers who introduced them. Critical examination of the unique aesthetic/artistic perspectives inherent in structural design. Consideration of management, socioeconomic, and ethical issues involved in design and construction of large-scale structures. Introduction to recent developments in sustainable engineering, including green building design and adaptable structural systems.