INDEPENDENT STUDY
This course can be worth 1 to 4 credits (each credit is equivalent to approximately three hours of work per week) and requires a Barnard faculty as a mentor who has to provide written approval. The course entails a scholarly component; for this, a research report is required by the end of the term. The research report can take the form that best suits the nature of the project. The course will be taken for a letter grade, regardless of whether the student chooses 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits.
- Department: Neuroscience & Behavior @Barnard
-
Instructor:
Alex White
h-index: 13 Info -
Instructor:
Alexis S Hill
Info - 1-4 points
INTRO TO QUANTUM MECHANICS
Basic concepts and assumptions of quantum mechanics, Schrodinger's equation, solutions for one-dimensional problems including square wells, barriers and the harmonic oscillator, introduction to the hydrogen atom, atomic physics and X-rays, electron spin.
- Department: Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Sherry Zhang
Info - 3 points
HAMLET
In this course, we will spend a semester reading, thinking about, seeing, and writing about one play, Shakespeare’s
Hamlet.
We will begin by reading
Hamlet
slowly, using various critical perspectives to attend to some of the historical and contemporary problematics of the play. In addition to glancing at sources (Saxo Grammaticus’ narrative of Amleth’s revenge in
Historia Danica
) and contemporaries (Thomas Kyd,
The Spanish Tragedy
), we’ll consider the relationship between the two media of
Hamlet
’s production, the book and the stage, taking the opportunity to consider what the three texts of
Hamlet
s—the 1603 quarto, the 1604 quarto, and the folio version—have to say to us about our preconceptions of theatre and print. Then we will turn to two problems. The first is
Hamlet
as a conceptual challenge, focusing on Hamlet in modernism, notably as framed by Mallarmé, Eliot, Freud, and Joyce; as part of this consideration we’ll take up some modern dramatic encounters with
Hamlet,
notably Tom Stoppard’s
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dea
(1966),
Heiner Müller’s
Hamletmachine
(1977) and Magda Romanska’s
Opheliamachine
(2013)
,
Samuel Beckett’s
Endgame
(1957)
.
We will conclude the semester by thinking about mediated performance, beginning with Laurence Olivier’s controversial (and award-winning) 1948 film, and tracing through Michael Almereyda’s 2000 media allegory, concluding with two productions that move
Hamlet
into the sphere of digital performance, The Wooster Group
Hamlet
(2007) and Annie Dorsen’s
A Piece of Work
(2013)
.
- Department: Theatre @Barnard
- W 10:10 a.m.-noon
-
Instructor:
William B Worthen
CULPA: 10
Info
- 4 points
FUNDAMENTALS OF GLOBAL HEALTH
Many of the greatest challenges in public health are global. This course uses a multidisciplinary approach to discuss the major underlying determinants of poor health and the relationship between health and political, social and economic development. Drawing upon the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, students will be introduced to the evolution of modern approaches to the setting of global health priorities, the functions and roles of health systems, an overview of current global health practices, and the major institutional players in global health. The first unit of the class will focus on establishing the foundations for a public health approach to understanding the challenges of global health. This will involve exploration of the factors shaping the global distribution of disease and their connection with issues of social, economic, and political development, as reflected in the Millennium Development Goals. The second unit will explore in further detail a number of major health priorities. A significant goal of the class will be to identify common sources of vulnerability and challenge across health risks, and the consequent need for a systemic approach to their being addressed. The third and final unit builds upon this analysis to demonstrate the multi-disciplinary, multi-level approach required to effectively address global health priorities, and the political and organizational cooperation required to achieve this. The class concludes with an analysis of the major challenges and threats to global coordination regarding such threats as pandemic influenza and emerging health threats related to climate change. Offered in the spring.
- Department: Columbia College
- MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Rachel Moresky
CULPA: 4
Info
- 3 points
OPEN FICTION WORKSHOP
ADVANCED FICTION WORKSHOP
Prerequisite: Student must have taken beginning workshop in any undergraduate creative writing concentration. Open workshops are for students who are acquainted with and have experience in at least one beginning workshop in creative writing. In Open Fiction Workshops, particular attention will be paid to the components of fiction: voice, perspective, characterization, and form. Students will be expected to finish several short stories, executing a total artistic vision on a piece of writing. The critical focus of the class will include an examination of endings and formal wholeness, sustaining narrative arcs, compelling a reader's interest for the duration of the text, and generating a sense of urgency and drama in the work. A portfolio of fiction will be written and revised with critical input from the instructor and workshop. Outside readings may be used to supplement and inform the exercises and written projects. Please visit
https://arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate
for information about registration procedures.
- Department: Writing
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
- W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
- M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
- W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Marie G Lee
CULPA: 3 Info -
Instructor:
Samuel Lipsyte
CULPA: 5
Info
-
Instructor:
Sophie F Kemp
Info - 3 points
INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS
An introduction to the study of language from a scientific perspective. The course is divided into three units: language as a system (sounds, morphology, syntax, and semantics), language in context (in space, time, and community), and language of the individual (psycholinguistics, errors, aphasia, neurology of language, and acquisition). Workload: lecture, weekly homework, and final examination.
- Department: Cognitive Science @Barnard
- TR 5:40 p.m.-6:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Maya Barzilai
Info - 3 points
WOMEN WRITERS OF E EUR: BELARUS,UKR,&RUS
WOMEN WRITERS OF EASTRN E
The course addresses the works of women writers of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia from the 19th century to the present. All assigned readings will be in English. The purpose of the course is to become familiar with the struggles and concerns of these authors, as well as the general features of their lives and cultural contexts. Most readings assigned are primary texts. These will be supplemented during course meetings: the instructor will bring in various materials that would be obscure if assigned to students outside of class, but with live explanations in-class, will enrich their understanding of the primary readings.
- Department: Slavic Languages @Barnard
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
John C Wright
CULPA: 1 Info - 3 points
SENIOR FICTION WORKSHOP
Prerequisites: The department's permission required through writing sample. Please go to 609 Kent for submission schedule and registration guidelines or see http://www.arts.columbia.edu/writing/undergraduate. Seniors who are majors in creative writing are given priority for this course. Enrollment is limited, and is by permission of the professor. The senior workshop offers students the opportunity to work exclusively with classmates who are at the same high level of accomplishment in the major. Students in the senior workshops will produce and revise a new and substantial body of work. In-class critiques and conferences with the professor will be tailored to needs of each student.
- Department: Writing
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Hilary J Leichter
Info - 4 points
APPLIED MATHEMATICS II: PDE'S
Introduction to partial differential equations; integral theorems of vector calculus. Partial differential equations of engineering in rectangular, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates. Separation of the variables. Characteristic-value problems. Bessel functions, Legendre polynomials, other orthogonal functions; their use in boundary value problems. Illustrative examples from the fields of electromagnetic theory, vibrations, heat flow, and fluid mechanics.
- Department: Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
- TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Michael K Tippett
CULPA: 8 h-index: 43 Info - 3 points
ADVANCED DUTCH II
see department for details
- Department: Germanic Languages
- TR 1:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Wijnie de Groot
CULPA: 11
Info
- 3 points
ACADEMIC WRITING INTENSIVE
Academic Writing Intensive is a small, intensive writing course for Barnard students in their second or third year who would benefit from extra writing support. Students attend a weekly seminar, work closely with the instructor on each writing assignment, and meet with an attached Writing Fellow every other week. Readings and assignments focus on transferable writing, revision, and critical thinking skills students can apply to any discipline. Students from across the disciplines are welcome. This course is only offered P/D/F. To be considered for the course, please send a recent writing sample to
vcondill@barnard.edu
, ideally from your First-Year Writing or First-Year Seminar course, or any other writing-intensive humanities or social sciences course at Barnard (no lab reports please).
- Department: English @Barnard
- T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Meredith A Benjamin
CULPA: 5 Info - 4 points
THIRD-YEAR RUSSIAN II
Prerequisites: RUSS UN2102 or the equivalent and the instructors permission. Enrollment limited. Recommended for students who wish to improve their active command of Russian. Emphasis on conversation and composition. Reading and discussion of selected texts and videotapes. Lectures. Papers and oral reports required. Conducted entirely in Russian.
- Department: Slavic Languages
- MWF 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Tatiana Mikhailova
Info - 4 points
PAINTING III: Advanced Painting
PAINTING III: Adv Paintin
Prerequisites: (VIAR UN1000) and (VIAR UN2100) Painting III: Advanced study in painting will be a material inquiry into the consequential concepts, histories, and critical language embedded in making painting’s historical past and its’ present. Is painting now a singular “medium”? How do facture, scale, form and a multitude of image-making options, regardless of “style”, accrue as to create meaning? Participants are expected to present work weekly, as Individual studio or group critiques. These will be augmented by readings of selected historical essays and contemporaneous writings, as well as visual presentations on a rotating basis.
- Department: Visual Arts
- T 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Kenny Rivero
Info - 3 points
Power, Politics & Society-DISC
POWER, POLITICS & SOCIETY
Discussion section for SOCI UN3203: Power, Politics, and Society
- Department: Sociology @Barnard
-
Instructor:
Faculty
h-index: 37 Info - 0 points
Power, Politics & Society-DISC
POWER, POLITICS & SOCIETY
Discussion section for SOCI UN3203: Power, Politics, and Society
- Department: Sociology @Barnard
-
Instructor:
Faculty
h-index: 37 Info - 0 points
THE ART OF THE ESSAY
Essay writing above the first-year level. Reading and writing various types of essays to develop one's natural writing voice and craft thoughtful, sophisticated and personal essays.
- Department: English @Barnard
- W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
- M 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
- W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Shelly Fredman
CULPA: 3
Info
-
Instructor:
Margaret R Ellsberg
CULPA: 54 Info -
Instructor:
Vrinda Condillac
CULPA: 28
Info
-
Instructor:
Monica F Cohen
CULPA: 8
Info
- 3 points
WHAT WAS NAZISM?
How did political theory explain the rise of Nazism in Germany? What models did it develop to understand the structure of the Nazi state, politics and the economy? What can we learn from this for dealing with the crises of democracy and the emergence of authoritarian politics today? This course in political theory and the history of political thought will explore contemporary answers to these questions. It will explore the thought of crucial thinkers on the problems and pitfalls of modern parliamentary democracy such as Max Weber and Hans Kelsen, as well as some of the most influential theoretical voices associated with ideas of Fascism, Totalitarianism and Anti-Semitism such as Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Ernst Fraenkel and Hannah Arendt.
The course will be structured around texts mainly from the 1920s to the 1960s which still have relevance for political theory today. A strong emphasis will be laid on originally German thinkers who fled to the US in the time of Nazi rule and who contributed decisively to American political science and its particular outlook in the post-war era.
This course aims to contextualise the discussed texts within the intellectual world of their own time. Students with an interest in twentieth century political, intellectual and social history will, therefore, be particularly welcome. However, the questions raised in the set texts also demand a theoretical and creative engagement with questions of good democratic rule, the challenges of mass society and participation, political in- and exclusion, minority rights and the emergence of terror and authoritarian rule. Additionally there will be a midterm and a final exam which will examine both students’ understanding of the set texts as well as their own thinking on the political theoretical problems raised in this course.
- Department: Political Science
-
Instructor:
Clara Maier
Info - 3 points
MECHANICS
MECHANICS I
Elements of statics; dynamics of a particle and systems of particles.
- Department: Mechanical Engineering
- MW 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Jeffrey W Kysar
CULPA: 9
h-index: 37
Info
- 4 points
FICTION & PERSONAL NARRATIVE
Writing sample required to apply for this course. For the application form and full instructions, please go to https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
Spring 2026: Fiction and Personal Narrative: Crafting the Narrative "I"
In this workshop, we will practice taking creative risks, writing fiction and nonfiction. We will examine four key craft areas: voice, characterization, imagery, and arrangement, both in contemporary published writing and in the writing of the people in this class. In small and large group workshops, we will consider each writer’s work with care and attention to the writer’s vision. By discussing each work-in-progress on its own terms, we will help our fellow writers deepen the meaning and impact of their work. Through risk-taking, and building a creative community, we will also grow and deepen our personal relationships to craft. Model readings will be contemporary short stories or personal essays, mostly written in the first person, including work by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Tony Tulathimutte, K-Ming Chang, Cleyvis Natera, Melissa Febos, Ling Ma, and Deesha Philyaw.
- Department: English @Barnard
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Alexandra P Watson
CULPA: 16 Info - 3 points
DYNAMICS AND VIBRATIONS
Kinematics of rigid bodies; momentum and energy methods; vibrations of discrete and continuous systems; eigen-value problems, natural frequencies and modes. Basics of computer simulation of dynamics problems using MATLAB or Mathematica.
- Department: Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
- MW 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Andrew W Smyth
CULPA: 3 Info - 3 points
Transatlantic Translation
TRANSATLANTIC TRANSLATION
A workshop in which students from the BC/CU community collaborate with a team of students from the École Normale Supérieure-Lyon on two translation projects. In addition to video-conferenced group sessions, students will work virtually with their translation partner in France, and consult in-person with their Barnard instructor. Prerequisite: completion of at least Intermediate II level of French.
- Department: French @Barnard
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Laurie Postlewate
CULPA: 17
Info
- 3 points
Democracy: Principles, Critics and Probl
Demcrcy: Prncpls, Crit, P
This course is about democracy: its theory, principles, critics and challenges. After centuries of vilification, democracy acquired the status of the "best" political order thanks also to the defeat of Nazism and fascism, in 1945. The end of the Cold War and the international order created by the victors of World War II caused some major changes in the perception and practice of democracy. The world has become a unified place for financial markets and a borderless space for the implementation of hegemonic projects. Openness and globalization put pressure on the ideal and practice of democracy, however. On the one hand, democracy seems to be the solution to all problems so much so that "democracy" now means everything on the right side of history. On the other hand, it seems instead to be a source of problems, and many (even democrats) criticize it for being inefficient in decision-making, subject to the prejudices of increasingly uninformed and ignorant voters, and finally a system that breeds corruption. The goal of this course is to understand this conundrum.
What are the basic principles of democracy and the main objections raised against it? In what sense does democracy embody universal values? Is it desirable that democracy contains partisanship with competence? Is populism a fate of modern democracies? These questions will guide us in understanding the promises of democracy and the disappointments of democrats. We will begin our intellectual journey with the ancient vision of democracy and its early critics, then explore the modern trajectory of democratic theory and finally contemporary populist transformations.
- Department: Political Science
- MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
- 3 points
APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING
Prerequisites: STAT UN2103. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful. This course is a machine learning class from an application perspective. We will cover topics including data-based prediction, classification, specific classification methods (such as logistic regression and random forests), and basics of neural networks. Programming in homeworks will require R.
- Department: Statistics
- TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Bianca Dumitrascu
Info - 3 points
Translating the Animal
TRANSLATING THE ANIMAL
Through readings in language philosophy, translation studies, and critical animal studies,
Translating the Animal
explores how translation, language, and reason have historically worked together to maintain speciesism, preventing human animals from perceiving their commonalities with, and attunement to, sentient nonhuman beings.
- Department: Comparative Literature and Society @Barnard
- W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Hana Worthen
Info - 4 points
Russian Through Theater
Russian Through Theater is a content-based language course designed for students who already have the equivalent of two semesters of college-level Russian and want to continue exploring their path as Russian language learners. This course is experimental in that it combines elements of traditional language learning with theatricality and creativity. A stress-free learning environment will stimulate language skills and fluency. Staging skits, theatrical pieces, short at first and longer by the end of the semester, will encourage students to focus on phonetics, intonation contour, and idiomatic expressions. In addition to performing skits and short plays, the course includes various forms of improvisation. Reading, listening and speaking - these three essential skills of language learning are constantly practiced. Incorporating theater into language learning not only makes the process enjoyable but also creates a rich, immersive environment that supports language development holistically. Various performative and ludic models, offered by the theater productions -- rehearsed and improvised alike – will help students with shaping a language persona, a skill that students may use in life situations. This skill adds confidence to their conduct of language and allows to communicate effectively with limited linguistic knowledge.
Classes will be conducted primarily in Russian, with sporadic instruction in English when necessary for clarification of assignments or for better understanding of terminology used during mini-lectures.
- Department: Slavic Languages
- W 5 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Tatiana Mikhailova
Info - 2 points
Undergraduate Mentored Research
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.
- Department: Statistics
-
Instructor:
Daniel Rabinowitz
CULPA: 19 h-index: 34 Info - 3 points
INTRODUCTION TO FICTION WRITING
INTRO TO FICTION WRITING
Writing sample required to apply. Instructions and the application form can be found here:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
. In this course, we will learn and practice essential concepts and techniques of writing fiction. We’ll break down the elements of the craft—everything from character, setting, and pacing to point of view, syntax, and imagery––and we’ll build an understanding of how stories work. Class time will include exercises and prompts; close reading of a wide range of published stories; discussions of process; and workshops of student stories. Come prepared to work hard, be open, and take risks.
- Department: English @Barnard
- M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Faculty
h-index: 37 Info - 3 points
CLIMATE PHYSICS
Climate Physics
This is a calculus-based treatment of climate system physics and the mechanisms of anthropogenic climate change. By the end of this course, students will understand: how solar radiation and rotating fluid dynamics determine the basic climate state, mechanisms of natural variability and change in climate, why anthropogenic climate change is occurring, and which scientific uncertainties are most important to estimates of 21st century change.
This course is designed for undergraduate students seeking a quantitative introduction to climate and climate change science. EESC V2100 (Climate Systems) is not a prerequisite, but can also be taken for credit if it is taken before this course.
- Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Adam H Sobel
CULPA: 6
Wikipedia
Info
- 3 points
THE OTTOMAN PAST IN THE GREEK PRESENT
Almost a century after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman past lives on in contemporary Greece, often in unexpected sites. In the built environment it appears as mosques, baths, covered markets, and fountains adorned with Arabic inscriptions. It also manifests itself in music, food, and language. Yet Ottoman legacies also shape the European present in less obvious ways and generate vehement debates about identity, nation-building, human rights, and interstate relations. In this course, we will be drawing on history, politics, anthropology, and comparative literature as well as a broad range of primary materials to view the Ottoman past through the lens of the Greek present. What understandings of nation-building emerge as more Ottoman archives became accessible to scholars? How does Islamic Family Law—still in effect in Greece—confront the European legal system? How are Ottoman administrative structures re-assessed in the context of acute socio-economic crisis and migration?
- Department: Classics
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Dimitris Antoniou
h-index: 5 Info - 3 points
INTRODUCTION TO POETRY WRITING
Writing sample required to apply. Instructions and the application form can be found here:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
.
Spring 2026:
Section 1, taught by Angel Nafis: Poetry Belongs With Us
As legend Lucille Clifton said, “poetry began when somebody walked out of a cave and looked up at the sky with wonder and said, “Ahhh.” That was the first poem.” In this class we will be demystifying the fundamentals of writing poetry by sharpening our most natural sonic and narrative instincts. We will use these instincts to guide our insights as we explore and practice specific craft elements and structural gestures—from the Ode, Elegy, and Sonnet, to Ekphrasis and Erasure. We’ll study the work of contemporary luminaries like Gwendolyn Brooks, Kaveh Akbar, Sharon Olds, Jenny Xie, June Jordan, Ocean Vuong, and more; using their example to inspire us on how best to understand and command the poetic line. Class time will include weekly writing prompts and share-outs. Come prepared to take risks and foster curiosity.
Section 2, taught by Miranda Field:
This class approaches poetry as a practice energized as much by playful provocation as by engagement with urgent issues of the day. In-class writing and weekly prompts designed to provoke creative ingenuity will keep you writing, ensuring everyone has new poems to workshop regularly. A list of quotes headed “
What is This Thing Called Poetry?
” starts the class off with a discussion intended to open our minds and challenge pre-conceived notions on the topic. This will be followed by other, more focused questions and propositions, providing discussion topics for each class: How do artifice and raw reality intertwine in a poem’s making? In what ways can poems deepen our understanding of ourselves, each other, and the world we share? How do we, as poets, unlock the full potential of our chosen medium, language? What do we mean by “voice” in a poem, and when and how does “voice” emerge? Required readings are central to our work together, and specified titles and volumes must be acquired by the third week of the semester. Supplemental material will be provided as handouts and distributed in class.
- Department: English @Barnard
- T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
- R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Angel Nafis
Info -
Instructor:
Miranda Field
Info - 3 points
FRENCH NEW WAVE CINEMA
This course traces the emergence and development of “New Wave” cinema in France in the 60s. Through a detailed analysis of some of its most iconic films: 400 Blows, Breathless, Hiroshima mon amour… the course will examine the radical artistic and social innovations of its major “auteurs”; Truffaut, Godard, Resnais et al. FREN BC1204: French Intermediate II or the equivalent level is required.
- Department: French @Barnard
- TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Anne Boyman
CULPA: 16
Info
- 3 points
PLAYWRITING II
Writing sample required to apply. Instructions and the application form can be found here:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
. What makes a play alive? Often a playwright is surprised into their strongest work. The practices of experimentation and analysis, curiosity and audacity lead to new possibilities. Students will read and respond to plays, identifying elements and strategies, and each week bring in fragments and scenes written in response to weekly prompts. By the middle of the semester, students will choose the piece that feels the most viable and develop it into what in most cases will be a thirty page play. NOTE: Playwriting I (ENGL BC3113) is NOT a prerequisite, and students need not have written a play before.
- Department: English @Barnard
- T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Kathleen Tolan
CULPA: 1 Info - 3 points
EXPERIMENTAL MECH OF MATERIALS
Material behavior and constitutive relations. Mechanical properties of metals and cement composites. Structural materials. Modern construction materials. Experimental investigation of material properties and behavior of structural elements including fracture, fatigue, bending, torsion, buckling.
- Department: Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
- W 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Shiho Kawashima
h-index: 24 Info - 4 points
WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?
WHY BAD THINGS GOOD PEOPL
This course is an introduction to the field of inquiry called The Problem of Evil, or Theodicy – that is, the investigation of God in the face of evil and suffering in the world. How do we justify God? How do we reconcile disaster, pain, and suffering with an all-good, all-knowing, all-compassionate God? This question arises in all religious traditions, but here we will study only four: the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu traditions, each of which proposes its own array of answers. Our emphasis will be on primary texts from each tradition, with introductory and interpretive secondary sources brought in as supplementary. These primary sources will be discussed in class, but especially in required section meetings. A sub-theme of the course is the “pastoral” dimension of answers to the Problem of Evil: to what extent are the answers we study comforting? This course has been created with the many crises presently afflicting our world – COVID-19, climate change, and the injustice of racism, to name a few – in mind.
- Department: Asian and Middle East @Barnard
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Rachel McDermott
CULPA: 37
Info
- 4 points
STORY WRITING II
Writing sample required to apply. Instructions and the application form can be found here:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
.
Spring 2026
Story Writing II is an advanced workshop in writing, with emphasis on the short story. Some experience in the writing of fiction is required. Each week we will read and analyze a variety of published short stories with an eye for craft and authorial decisions that might be applied to our own work. Writers we will read may include: Jean Stafford, Yiyun Li, Bryan Washington, Garth Greenwell, Lorrie Moore, Jamel Brinkley, Ling Ma, Cesar Aira, Mavis Gallant, and more. Exercises and in-depth workshop letters will push students to think more deeply about their own choices and the many layers that make up each work. Conference hours to be arranged.
- Department: English @Barnard
- T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Nellie G Hermann
Info - 3 points
MOD ARCHITECTURE IN THE WORLD
Prerequisites: Designed for but not limited to sophomores; enrollment beyond 60 at the discretion of the instructor.
Modern Architecture in the World is an introduction to different arenas in which architecture’s modern condition has been disputed in the last two centuries across different geographies. The course will address significant transformations in the built environment as well as the forms of practice, epistemic frameworks, and ideologies that led them. It will also attend to the forms of labor and economies that engendered new structures and organizations of space, the material resources and industries mobilized in their construction, the identities and forms of power they represented and imposed, the manifold embodiments that they hosted and shaped, the diverse socialites and politics they supported, and the ecologies they negotiated.
The course is organized around a number of key themes, with each class covering episodes spanning the whole period under consideration, up until the present. In this way, it will question the existence of a single line of development, a master narrative, or a teleological line of progress and will highlight instead the multiple, simultaneous, conflicting, and branching genealogies unfolding throughout the period. Students will gain knowledge of key buildings, artifacts, trends, and schools as they relate to those genealogies.
Each lecture will emphasize contending and shifting positions across geographies within the arenas explored, understanding hegemonic trends as well as dissenting positions. While different locations around the world will be highlighted in each class, the course positions modern architecture in the world by privileging an exploration of the cultural and material networks and hierarchies characteristic of the period—with attention to colonialism, coloniality, migration, resource extraction, and war, among others.
- Department: Architecture @Barnard
- MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
- W 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Anooradha I Siddiqi
CULPA: 1 Info - 4 points
MOD ARCHITECTURE IN THE WORLD
Prerequisites: Designed for but not limited to sophomores; enrollment beyond 60 at the discretion of the instructor.
Modern Architecture in the World is an introduction to different arenas in which architecture’s modern condition has been disputed in the last two centuries across different geographies. The course will address significant transformations in the built environment as well as the forms of practice, epistemic frameworks, and ideologies that led them. It will also attend to the forms of labor and economies that engendered new structures and organizations of space, the material resources and industries mobilized in their construction, the identities and forms of power they represented and imposed, the manifold embodiments that they hosted and shaped, the diverse socialites and politics they supported, and the ecologies they negotiated.
The course is organized around a number of key themes, with each class covering episodes spanning the whole period under consideration, up until the present. In this way, it will question the existence of a single line of development, a master narrative, or a teleological line of progress and will highlight instead the multiple, simultaneous, conflicting, and branching genealogies unfolding throughout the period. Students will gain knowledge of key buildings, artifacts, trends, and schools as they relate to those genealogies.
Each lecture will emphasize contending and shifting positions across geographies within the arenas explored, understanding hegemonic trends as well as dissenting positions. While different locations around the world will be highlighted in each class, the course positions modern architecture in the world by privileging an exploration of the cultural and material networks and hierarchies characteristic of the period—with attention to colonialism, coloniality, migration, resource extraction, and war, among others.
- Department: Architecture @Barnard
- W 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
- 4 points
FICTION WRITING
Writing sample required to apply. Instructions and the application form can be found here:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
.
Section 1 (taught by Sarah Wang in Spring 2026)
Narrative Strategies:
This course will explore the different ways that stories can be told. How a story is written is as important as what a story is about. Is there a turn at the end that changes everything you thought you knew? Is the narrator speaking from inside experience, reportage from the front lines of another world? How can the epistolary form be utilized to effect? Students will workshop their own stories, participate in four in-class generative writing sessions, and read weekly short stories demonstrating various strategies for style, voice, setting, dialogue, form, and point of view. Particular focus will be placed on writing from the margins and writing as an act of bearing witness.
Section 2 (taught by Gina Apostol in Spring 2026):
This course will focus particularly on crafting the literary technique of point of view in fiction. Students will craft work with this question in mind: in what ways are art and ethics combined in the crafting of point of view? Students will practice writing from different narration modes: third person limited and omniscient, free indirect discourse, first person, and so on. They will consider the ethics of point of view by reading short stories, among them stories from Borges’s
Labyrinths
, John Keene’s
Counternarratives
, and Angela Carter’s
Saints and Strangers.
Some theoretical matters will include: postcoloniality in narration; identity in narration; ‘queering’ history; and critical race thought. Students will write three different pieces with the crafting of point of view in mind. Students will workshop each other’s pieces as well as discuss the texts in relation to their practice of the art of fiction.
- Department: English @Barnard
- T 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
- R 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Sarah Wang
Info -
Instructor:
Gina Apostol
Info - 3 points
ADVANCED POETRY WRITING
Writing sample required to apply. Instructions and the application form can be found here:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
.
What drives the music of a poem? How does one create rhythm and song? In what ways do chunks of language sort and arrange the perception of our readers? The purpose of this advanced poetry workshop is to closely study syntax, or in the words of Ellen Bryant Voigt, “the order of the words in each human utterance.” To further build upon our technical foundation as writers, we will also engage in other elements of craft, such as deep imagery, grammatical moods, tone, and poetic closure. We will be reading a variety of poets, including Etel Adnan, Rita Dove, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, John Murrillo, Choi Seungja, and Yuki Tanaka. Be prepared to generate new material independently for peer workshops where you will gain valuable feedback and constructive criticism.
Apart from challenging your poetics on a technical level, I expect you to come to class with a strong desire to create meaning out of your daily lives, your personal or collective histories, and the futures that you are actively imagining. Your openness and willingness to grow as a human, poet, and critical thinker are fundamental to fostering a kind and supportive community in the classroom. Not only will you be writing poems, you will also learn to translate your soul’s language and help others do the same.
- Department: English @Barnard
- W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Monica Sok
Info - 3 points
SCREENWRITING FUNDAMENTALS
SCREENWRITING FUNDMENTALS
Prerequisites: FILM BC3201 or equivalent. Enrollment limited to 12 students. Priority is given to Film Studies majors/concentrations in order of class seniority. Corequisites: (Since this is a Film course, it does not count as a writing course for English majors with a Writing Concentration.)
This course is ideal for writers of their FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD screenplays. The first several weeks will focus on STORY: What it is, what it isn’t, how to recognize the difference. How to find your own individual stories that nobody else in the universe can tell.
From there we will make the transition to the highly individualized techniques, the strengths and limitations, the dynamics of telling a SCREEN STORY; what to leave in, what to leave out. As Michelangelo puts it—starting with a block of marble and chipping away everything that isn’t David. Through studies of existing screenplays and films in coordination with and hands-on writing exercises which we will share in class, we will develop our skills in all aspects of screenwriting; building fascinating characters, dialogue, story construction (The BIG PICTURE) and scene construction (The Small Picture)
Perfection is not the goal; but rather it is to be able to say truly at the end of each day’s writing, “I did the best I could with what I had at the time. (Phillip Roth quoting heavyweight champion Joe Louis)
- Department: Film @Barnard
- R 5:40 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Peter Nickowitz
Info - 3 points
CITY,LANDSCAPE, & ECOLOGY
City, Landscape, Ecology
is a thematically driven course that centers on issues and polemics related to landscape, land settlement and ecology over the past two centuries. The class looks at changing attitudes to the natural world from the eighteenth century to the present, tracing important historical shifts in the consideration of nature across the ecological sciences, conservation practices, landscape design, and environmental activism, law and policy. Lectures focus on the critical role that artists and architects have played, and are to play, in making visible the sources of environmental degradation and in developing new means of mitigating anthropogenic ecological change.
City, Landscape, Ecology
is divided into three parts. Part I explores important episodes in the history of
landscape
: picturesque garden theory, notions of “wilderness” as epitomized in national and state parks in the United States, Modern and Postmodern garden practices, and place of landscape in the work of artists from the 1960s to the present. The purpose here is to better understand the role that territorial organization plays in the construction of social practices, human subjectivities, and technologies of power. Lectures in this part are shaped around a dialectical pair of historical episodes–– for example, the picturesque garden is paired with the enclosure of the commons, and American national parks are discussed in relation to the systematic removal of native peoples.
We then turn to
ecology
and related issues of climate, urbanization and sustainability in Part II. Here we will look at the rise of ecological thinking in the 1960s; approaches to the environment that were based on the systems-thinking approach of the era. In the session “Capitalism, Race and Population Growth” we examine the history of the “crisis” of scarcity from Thomas Robert Malthus, to Paul R. Ehrlich (
The Population Bomb
, 1968) to today and look at questions of environmental racism, violence and equity.
The course concludes with Part III on
Environmental Repair
. At this important juncture in the course, we will ask what is to be done today. We’ll examine the work of contemporary theorists, architects, landscape architects, policy makers and environmentalists who have channeled some of the lessons
- Department: Architecture @Barnard
- MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Ralph Ghoche
CULPA: 1 h-index: 2 Info - 3 points
ADVANCED SCREENWRITING
Prerequisite: FILM BC3201 or equivalent. First priority enrollment is given to senior Film Studies majors/concentrations. For more information on this semester's visiting instructor from the Artemis Rising Foundation Filmmaker Fellowship Program, visit: https://athenacenter.barnard.edu/arff
This screenwriting seminar provides students an in-depth understanding of the short form which will help them turn their ideas into a short film script (up to 10 pages in length). With a focus on studying contemporary international short films students will learn to write their own short screenplay, as well as learn to give and receive feedback and receive tips on revising their scripts. Homework assignments will include watching films, reading short stories, writing exercises and reading screenplays.
- Department: Film @Barnard
- R 2:10 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Danielle T Douge
Info - 3 points
CENS/FREEDOM-EXPR-ERLY MOD EUR
- Department: History
- M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Elisheva Carlebach
CULPA: 6
Wikipedia
Info
- 4 points
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
Methods of structural analysis. Trusses, arches, cables, frames; influence lines; deflections; force method; displacement method; computer applications.
- Department: Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Maria Q Feng
CULPA: 3 h-index: 46 Info - 3 points
PUBLIC SPEAKING
FIRST-YEAR PUBLIC SPEAKNG
Open only to undergraduates.
This course will introduce you to principles of effective public speaking and debate, and provide practical opportunities to use these principles in structured speaking situations. You will craft and deliver speeches, engage in debates and panel discussions, analyze historical and contemporary speakers, and reflect on your own speeches and those of your classmates. You will explore and practice different rhetorical strategies with an emphasis on information, persuasion and argumentation. For each speaking assignment, you will go through the speech-making process, from audience analysis, purpose and organization, to considerations of style and delivery. The key criteria in this course are content, organization, and adaptation to the audience and purpose. While this is primarily a performance course, you will be expected to participate extensively as a listener and critic, as well as a speaker.
- Department: English @Barnard
- TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Daniela Kempf
Info - 3 points
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Open only to undergraduates.
This course will introduce you to principles of effective public speaking and debate, and provide practical opportunities to use these principles in structured speaking situations. You will craft and deliver speeches, engage in debates and panel discussions, analyze historical and contemporary speakers, and reflect on your own speeches and those of your classmates. You will explore and practice different rhetorical strategies with an emphasis on information, persuasion and argumentation. For each speaking assignment, you will go through the speech-making process, from audience analysis, purpose and organization, to considerations of style and delivery. The key criteria in this course are content, organization, and adaptation to the audience and purpose. While this is primarily a performance course, you will be expected to participate extensively as a listener and critic, as well as a speaker.
- Department: English @Barnard
- TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Daniela Kempf
Info - 3 points
LITERATURE&CULTURES OF STRUGGLE IN S.AFR
Generations of resistance have shaped contemporary life in South Africa -- in struggles against colonialism, segregation, the legislated racism known as apartheid, and the entrenched inequalities of the post-apartheid era. Two constants in this history of struggle have been youth as a vanguard of liberation movements and culture as a weapon of struggle. As new generation of South African youth -- the born frees -- has now taken to the streets and social media to decolonize the university and claim their education as a meaningful right, this course traces the ways that generations of writers, artists, and activists have faced censorship, exile, and repression in an ongoing struggle to dismantle apartheid and to free the mind, the most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor according to Black Consciousness activist Steve Biko. This course traces the profoundly important roles that literature and other cultural production (music, photography, film, comics, Twitter hashtags like #rhodesmustfall and #feesmustfall) have played in struggle against apartheid and its lingering afterlife. Although many of our texts were originally written in English, we will also discuss the historical forces, including nineteenth-century Christian missions and Bantu Education, as well as South Africas post-1994 commitment to being a multilingual democracy, that have shaped the linguistic texture of South African cultural life.
- Department: Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
- MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Jennifer Wenzel
CULPA: 3 h-index: 15 Info - 3 points
PLATO
- Department: Philosophy
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Wolfgang R Mann
CULPA: 36 Info - 3 points
Figure Painting: Alternative Source Mate
This class is designed to introduce you not only to the subject of painting the human figure and its expressive potential, but also to focus on the art and craft of Painting. We will be painting the figure from secondary source material that can include photos, other artworks, clay models etc. The focus will be on figurative narration. We will be learning to see color, and use paint in response to that. Painting is a way to account for, express and communicate what you have seen with your eyes, mind or in your imagination. You will be introduced to different approaches to the craft of painting, and will by the end of the semester be more free and confident in interpreting your inner and outer vision. We will also be looking at paintings made in different times and places and discuss how and why they look the way they do. You will also be designing and carrying out your own independent project to be completed by the final critique.
- Department: Visual Arts
- F 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- 3 points
HOW TO BUILD A PERSON
Prerequisites: No prerequisites. Departmental approval NOT required. Character is something that good fiction supposedly cannot do without. But what is a character, and what constitutes a supposedly good or believable one? Should characters be like people we know, and if so, how exactly do we create written versions of people? This class will examine characters in all sorts of writing, historical and contemporary, with an eye toward understanding just how characters are created in fiction, and how they come to seem real to us. Well read stories and novels; we may also look at essays and biographical writing to analyze where the traces of personhood reside. Well also explore the way in which these same techniques of writing allow us to personify entities that lack traditional personhood, such as animals, computers, and other nonhuman characters. Does personhood precede narrative, or is it something we bestow on others by allowing them to tell their story or by telling a story of our own creation on their behalf? Weekly critical and creative exercises will intersect with and expand on the readings and discussions.
- Department: Writing
- R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Mina Seckin
Info - 3 points
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Design criteria for varied structural applications, including buildings and bridges; design of elements using steel, concrete, masonry, wood, and other materials.
- Department: Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Tom T Panayotidi
CULPA: 3 Info - 3 points
Medieval Encounters
Though often thought of in mainstream culture as closed, conservative, and backwards, the medieval world was actually a place where the circulation of people and ideas resulted in generative encounters. This course will consider texts that brush up against the unfamiliar. We’ll read travelogues containing Western views of the East
and
Muslim views of Christian society, plus texts of questionable literary merit
and
difficult, artful poetry. Via our course readings, you’ll cross borders into strange lands with unaccountable customs, experience the possibilities of the marvelous, and interact with the afterlife and its denizens. Along the way, you’ll be having your own
medieval encounter
with worldview(s) that require contextual analysis to recuperate.
- Department: English and Comparative Literature
- W 8:10 a.m.-10 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Hannah Weaver
Info - 4 points
INTRO TO SEXUALITY STUDIES
- Department: Women's and Gender Studies
- MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Jack Halberstam
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
COMPUTER-AIDED STRUCTRL DESIGN
Corequisites: CIEN E3125. Introduction to software for structural analysis and design with lab. Applications to the design of structural elements and connections.
- Department: Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
- R 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
- 1 points
DESIGN PROJECTS
Capstone design project in civil engineering. This project integrates structural, geotechnical and environmental/water resources design problems with construction management tasks and sustainability, legal and other social issues. Project is completed in teams, and communication skills are stressed. Outside lecturers will address important current issues in engineering practice. Every student in the course will be exposed with equal emphasis to issues related to geotechnical engineering, water resources / environmental engineering, structural engineering, and construction engineering and management.
- Department: Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
- R 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Tom T Panayotidi
CULPA: 3 Info - 4 points
How to Write Funny
"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."
--Mel Brooks
"Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the
End." --Sid Caesar
"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it." --E.B. White
"What is comedy? Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke." --Steve Martin
"Patty Marx is the best teacher at Columbia University."
--Patty Marx
O
- Department: Writing
- M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Patricia A Marx
Info - 3 points
History of Western Music: Classical Era
Hist of West Mus: Class-2
Topics in western music from the Classical Era to the 20th Century, focusing on the development of musical style and thought, and on analysis of selected works. Pre-req: Music Theory II or permission of instructor.
THIRD-YEAR CONVERSATION FR II
Prerequisites: completion of the language requirement in French or the equivalent. Conversation on contemporary French subjects based on readings in current popular French periodicals.
- Department: French
- TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
- TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
-
Instructor:
Alexandra Borer
CULPA: 4 Info - 2 points
DATA STRUCTURES IN JAVA
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.
- Department: Computer Science
- MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
- MW 5:40 p.m.-6:55 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Paul S Blaer
CULPA: 46
h-index: 8
Info
- 3 points
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
DRAWING CARTOONS & COMICS
Writing sample required to apply. Instructions and the application form can be found here:
https://english.barnard.edu/english/creative-writing-courses
.
Spring 2026: Drawing Cartoons and Comics
In this class, New Yorker cartoonist and graphic novelist Liana Finck will teach you the basics of making single-panel cartoons, writing and drawing comics, and generally expressing yourself in a mixture of words and pictures. You will learn to diagram your problems, craft jokes, and tell stories visually. You’ll get an overview of useful materials, programs and machines, and how to use all these things with a light enough touch that you can still focus on your art. You will get comfortable with processes for generating ideas and editing your work. We will read some graphic novels, look at lots of cartoons, and dip a toe into the history of colloquial visual storytelling. You will finish the semester with a large body of small-scale work, one serious longer piece, and a better understanding of your voice and what you have to say. My hope is that you’ll leave the class confident in your ability to work visually, and with a regular practice if you want one.
- Department: English @Barnard
- W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Liana Finck
CULPA: 3 Info - 3 points
Painting: Color, Materials and Technique
Pntng: Color, Materials &
What does it mean to think materially? To
use
color? These are the questions that will guide this foundational course designed for painters, ranging from beginner to advanced, who want to develop their technique and material thought process.
We will begin with a focus on color, using the Albers method to learn first from experience, developing an eye for color, before we delve into color theory and color philosophy. The creative eye for color will aid us as we learn the ins and outs of acrylic painting, oil painting, the mediums, historical techniques, and associated theoretical concerns in
how
something is painted. Some of the class will be spent painting observationally, working on our ability to see creatively and translate experience into material. Many of the projects will be self-directed in subject or approach, whether you consider yourself a staunch realist or pure abstract artist, focusing mostly on the material language of the painting. Students can expect to cover the basics of a studio practice, such as stretching canvases, building a palette, developing a range of techniques, as well as gaining a critical eye for material decisions and how to realize their vision.
- Department: Visual Arts
- W 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Kelsey M Shwetz
Info - 3 points
BUILDING BETTER WORLDS
As 20th century literary traditions prove increasingly ill-equipped to capture the realities of 21st century life, readers look towards fictional worlds for inspiration and escape from the political chaos of day-to-day existence. When we write we shape the world, because the worlds we imagine impact the world we inhabit. But what does it mean for a writer to 'build a world?' What obligations does the creator of a fiction have to readers who inhabit a world they wish to escape? Are the worlds we build for escape always political? Can we build another world as an avenue to better understand this one?
In this seminar we will explore the concept of "world building" by looking at a variety of work from authors who are known for their immense secondary worlds (such as J.R.R. Tolkein, Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemisin, or Octavia Butler) but also at fiction that applies techniques of both immersion and politics in ways that may subvert our understanding of what it means to 'create.' Writers discussed are as wide ranging as Toni Morrison, Angela Carter, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Clive Barker, all the way up to contemporary writers whose works populate our best loved Independent bookstores: Helen Oyeyemi, Victor LaValle, Ted Chiang, Marlon James, Jeff VanderMeer, Colson Whitehead, Salman Rushdie, Carmen Maria Machado, Alexandra Kleeman, or Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
- Department: Writing
- W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Molly L McGhee
Info - 3 points
Zora Neale Hurston: A Writing Life
On her “Record of Freshman Interest” form, Zora Neale Hurston, Barnard class of 1928, wrote in response to the question of what vocation or profession she had in mind after graduation, “I have had some small success as a writer and wish above all to succeed at it. Either teaching or social work would be interesting, but consolation prizes.” No consolation prize was necessary as Hurston became one of American and African American literature’s finest writers, America’s first Black anthropologist, and a Black feminist ancestor and icon. A deep dive into Hurston’s work and writing life, this course reads Hurston as a narrative stylist and theorist in multiple genres: as poet, essayist, writer of short stories, novelist, playright, folklorist, and autobiographer. The goal of this class is to read Hurston closely and widely and to identify and examine her aesthetic philosophy and stylistic choices as one of the first African American women able to have a writing “career.”
In Spring of 2026, this class will center the cultural context in which Hurston wrote, using the New York Historical’s exhibition
Gay Harlem Renaissance
. Hurston was an active part of a coterie of artists and intellectuals who made up the “queer mentorship and gay-inclusive salons and friendship circles that helped sustain the Harlem Renaissance.” We will also partner with the Digital Humanities Center at Barnard, as well as Barnard Archives, in the preparation of final digital projects that can be shared with the college community.
- Department: Africana Studies (AFSB)
- T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Monica L Miller
CULPA: 10
Info
- 4 points
NOT EXACTLY SCIENCE FICTION
In this course we will explore the possibilities of scientific language and ideas both as literature and in literature. The texts we will consider will range from science fiction, to writings by scientists, to nature writing, and much else. We will also consider works that might at first appear unrelated to scientific thinking, such as folk tales, mysteries, and fantastical stories. Special attention will be paid to the special effects generated by scientific language when it appears near other styles of expression. Students will also be responsible for four short creative assignments inspired by the readings, as well as a brief in-class presentation.
- Department: Writing
- T 10:10 a.m.-noon
-
Instructor:
Rivka R Galchen
CULPA: 6
Info
- 3 points
SHAKESPEARE IN PERFORMANCE
Shakespeare's plays as theatrical events. Differing performance spaces, acting traditions, directorial frames, theatre practices, performance theories, critical studies, cultural codes, and historical conventions promote differing modes of engagement with drama in performance. We will explore Shakespeare's plays in the context of actual and possible performance from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century.
- Department: English @Barnard
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Patricia D Denison
CULPA: 10 Info - 4 points
AFFECT AND ACTIVISM
From love to anger to disappointment to hope, political activism mobilizes emotions towards certain ends but also generates new affective states and feelings along the way. This advanced seminar will familiarize students with feminist, anti-racist and queer scholarship on affect, feelings and emotion as intrinsic to politics and as crucial for understanding how political thought and action unfold in contingent and often unexpected ways. Mixing theoretical and cultural texts with case studies, we will look at how affect permeates structures of power and domination, embodiment and identity, and collective activist projects concerned with gender and sexual liberation. Students will have an opportunity to read theories of affect as well as to “read” activist movements
for
affect by working with archival documents (such as zines, manifestos, and movement ephemera) and other primary sources (such as memoir, photography and documentary film).
- Department: Women's, Gender, Sexuality Studies @Barnard
- T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Manijeh Moradian
Info - 4 points
BALLET V
This course is for the intermediate advanced dancer. Material presented will focus on healthy anatomical alignment in barre work, extended combinations in the center, fostering personal artistic expression, and integrating improvisation in combinations with the ballet vocabulary. Clarification, analysis and repetition are fundamental elements for a sound technique of any dancer and are the foundation of this course. Center work will include attention to shaping adagio work, multiple turns in the large poses, batterie, and extended grand allegro.
- Department: Dance @Barnard
- MW 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
- MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Kate A Glasner
CULPA: 31
Info
-
Instructor:
Cynthia Anderson
Info - 2 points
MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA & PERFORMANCE
MOD AMERCN DRAMA & PERFOR
Modern American Drama and Performance in an era of cultural contestation. What is united about the United States? How are the important claims of cultural difference related to the intercultural claims of shared community? Is there a place for historical continuity in the modernist pursuit of change? How have these issues been addressed in the emergence and development of modern drama and performance in America? Questions such as these will be addressed in the context of theatrical exploration, performance history, and social change. Canonical and experimental playwrights include Rachel Crothers, Susan Glaspell, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eugene O’Neill, Clifford Odets, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Edward Albee, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, and Dominique Morisseau.
- Department: English @Barnard
- W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Patricia D Denison
CULPA: 10 Info - 4 points
INTRODUCTION VOCAL REPERTOIRE
This course is designed for developing singers. Group vocalizing, learning of songs and individual workshop performances are aimed at improving the students technical skill and the elements necessary to create a meaningful musical and dramatic experience. Attention to text, subtext, emotional and psychological aspects of a piece and the performers relationship to the audience are included in the work. Repertoire is predominantly in English and comes from both classical and popular traditions Individual coaching sessions are available with the class accompanist and help strengthen the students confidence and skill. The class culminates with an in-class performance.
- Department: Music @Barnard
- F 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Coralie Gallet
Info - 3 points
VOCAL REPERTOIRE, TECHNIQUE
VOCAL REPERTOIRE TECHNIQUE
Vocal exercises and exploration of wide-ranging repertoires, styles, and languages of the Western European song tradition. The rich variety of English, French, Italian and German poetry and music from the Baroque period through the Twentieth Century allows the student to experience both the music and the cultural environment of each of these styles. Attention is given both to meaning oftext and musical interpretation. Individual coaching sessions are available with the class accompanist and help strengthen the students confidence and skill. The class culminates with an in-class performance.
- Department: Music @Barnard
- TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Jean-Paul Bjorlin
Info - 3 points
Advanced R in Biology
This course serves as a continuation of BIOL2500 R for Scientists. The course will meet weekly. Students will explore a range of methods and resources used by contemporary computational biologists. These include advanced statistical modeling approaches, manipulating genomic and spatial data, and working in R outside of the RStudio environment (including git, bash, Shiny and high-performance computing). Students will have opportunities to explore diverse biological and statistical R packages in the context of homework assignments, and will analyze a dataset of their own choosing for a semester project.
- Department: Biological Sciences @Barnard
- F 10:10 a.m.-1 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Vincent D Fitzpatrick
Info - 3 points
BALLET VI
This course is for the advanced dancer. Material presented will focus on healthy anatomical alignment in barre work, extended combinations in the center, fostering personal artistic expression, and integrating improvisation in combinations with the ballet vocabulary. Clarification, analysis and repetition are fundamental elements for a sound technique of any dancer and are the foundation of this course. Center work will include attention to shaping adagio work, multiple turns in the large poses, batterie, and extended grand allegro.
- Department: Dance @Barnard
- TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
- F 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
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Instructor:
Antonio Carmena
Info -
Instructor:
Ashley Tuttle
CULPA: 1 Info - 2 points
TOPICS COMPARATIVE LIT
The objective of this class is to examine a given topic and relate it to a number of literary texts. Students will examine a variety of literary genres and to an equally wide variety of cultural, linguistic, and historical contexts.
- Department: Comparative Literature and Society @Barnard
- TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
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Instructor:
Daniella Gitlin
Info - 3 points
CLASSIC VARIATIONS
Variations
class is a course for the intermediate to advanced dancer. As in all other ballet classes, there will be a focus on correct physical alignment, proper technique and musicality. The added challenges in this course will be the pointe shoe technique, creative choreographic choices, and musical phrasing. The class will include variations based on works ranging from Petipa to Balanchine to today’s choreographers. Dancers will explore personalizing already known works, pushing the boundaries of the pointe shoe, examining how choreography has evolved and developing the stamina required to execute a full variation. Learning material rapidly while paying attention to the stylistic demands of each choreographer’s works and being able to shift from one stylistic choice to another is simply expected.
- Department: Dance @Barnard
- MW 5:40 p.m.-6:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Ashley Tuttle
CULPA: 1 Info - 2 points
Science Writing
Even as students learn to be scientists, there is a need to learn how to write about science, translating the science for a general readership. In this seminar we will develop writing skills by, first, close reading and analysis of science writing (on research about humans, non-human animals, and non-animals) for the non-specialist, as well as some of the original research papers from which the pieces arose. We will simultaneously begin an iterative process of composing pieces of different lengths and different genres, based on recently published science papers. Assignments will include a short news summary, book review, an audio interview, and a final feature print or audio story; some of these assignments will involve multiple drafts or stages. Guest speakers and a recording practices intensive from IMATS will complement the readings and writing assignments. We will focus on concept translation, storytelling, and other elements of narrative craft in this writing-intensive seminar. We will also emphasize proper citation practices. Final projects will be a long-form feature or a podcast.
- Department: Psychology @Barnard
- T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
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Instructor:
Alexandra C Horowitz
CULPA: 23
Wikipedia
Info
- 4 points
DERRIDA & LITERATURE
Jacques Derrida was one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century and his impact on literary studies was enormously significant. The objective of this course is to take stock of Derrida’s contribution to literature, and to do so by assessing the intricate relations he establishes between literature, philosophy, economic and political theory, gender studies, translation studies, postcolonial theory, and theology. The course is divided into six parts. Part 1 introduces Derrida’s approach to ‘deconstruction,’ particularly as regards his engagement with the fundamental concepts of Western thought and the importance he confers upon the notion of ‘writing’ itself. Part 2 examines Derrida’s autobiographical texts wherein he positions himself as a subject for deconstruction, interrogating his own gender, his sense of being an organic, creaturely life-form, the relationship he has to his own language, and the matter of his identity as French, but also as Algerian, and Jewish. While the majority of the Derrida texts we will be reading are excerpts from larger works or short essays and interviews, in this section we will read a full-length text –
Monolingualism of the Other
– so that we can trace Derrida’s train of thought from beginning to end. In Part 3 we will use an interview conducted by Derek Attridge, “This Strange Institution Called Literature,” as a template for thinking about Derrida’s relation to literature, and in Part 4 we will read our second full-length text by Derrida, namely
Given Time 1: Counterfeit Money
, an in-depth analysis of a prose poem by the French poet Charles Baudelaire. Part 5 considers an aspect of Derrida’s work that reveals the extent of his embrace of provisional, in-between positions for thought in general, and for literary texts in particular, namely translation. For deconstruction is keenly invested in words beginning with ‘trans’: transposition, transplant, trans-valuation, and indeed trans-gender. Translation provides Derrida with a scenario whereby crossings and transits can be imagined – for literary texts, and for identities that wish to remain un-determined by fixed poles or normative values. The course finishes with an assessment of Derrida’s reflections on death, mourning, and the matter of leaving a legacy. In Part 6, we therefore read more of the essay “Living On,” and also Derrida’s final interview, “Learning to Live, F
- Department: Comparative Literature and Society @Barnard
- TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
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Instructor:
Brian D O'Keeffe
CULPA: 28
Info
- 3 points
Jews in the Christian Imagination
Jews in Christian Imagina
Since the beginning of the movement that would become Christianity, Jews have occupied a unique – and uniquely fraught – position in the Christian imagination. Why did so few of the very Jews to whom Jesus preached accept him as their messiah? Why, as the Church grew in wealth and influence, did Jews continue to live in Christian communities, and what was their proper place in Christian society? In our course, we will read early and medieval Christian narratives about Jews that are, in many ways, an attempt to answer these questions – dark imaginative visions of Jews as child-killers, cannibals, and devil worshippers. We will use narrative, psychological, and literary theory as tools to analyze these tales and to make sense of their complicated and continuing legacy.
- Department: English @Barnard
- W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
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Instructor:
Wendy C Schor-Haim
CULPA: 11
Info
- 4 points
WORLDMUSE ENSEMBLE
Worldmuse Ensemble delves into compelling music from many genres such as world music, gospel, classical--old and new. We perform without a conductor, increasing awareness and interaction among ourselves and our audience. We collaboratively integrate music, dance, and theatre traditions (masks etc.). For experienced singers, and instrumentalists and dancers who sing.
- Department: Music @Barnard
- TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Jean-Paul Bjorlin
Info - 3 points
Race, Ethnicity, and Education in the US
RACE ETHNICITY EDU IN US-
Discussion section for SOCI BC3248: Race, Ethnicity, and Education in the US
- Department: Sociology @Barnard
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Instructor:
Faculty
h-index: 37 Info - 0 points
CRITICAL HISTORIES OF DRAMA, THEATRE, AN
CRIT HIST DRAMA, THTR & P
This course undertakes a dialectical approach to reading and thinking about the history of dramatic theatre, interrogating the ways writing inflects, and is inflected by, the material dynamics of performance in the modern era. Course undertakes careful study of the practices of performance, and of the sociocultural, economic, political, and aesthetic conditions animating representative performances in theatres globally; course will also emphasize development of important critical concepts for the analysis of drama, theatre, and performance. Topics include the sociology of theatre, the impact of print on conceptions of performance, representing gender and race, the politics of intercultural performance, and the dynamics of emerging forms and critical practices of performance analysis. Writing: 2-3 papers; Reading: 1-2 plays, critical and historical reading per week; final examination. Fulfills one (of two) lecture requirements for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors.
- Department: Theatre @Barnard
- MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
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Instructor:
Yizhou Huang
Info - 4 points
MATH & THE CITY FIELDWORK LAB
- Department: Education @Barnard
- T 2:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
- W 2:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
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Instructor:
Ishrat Ahmed
Info - 0 points
ARTS&HUMANITIES IN CITY FIELDWORK LAB
ARTS&HUMANITIES IN CITY L
- Department: Education @Barnard
- T 2:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
- W 2:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
- 0 points
THE CANTERBURY TALES
Chaucer as inheritor of late-antique and medieval conventions and founder of early modern literature and the fiction of character. Selections from related medieval texts.
- Department: English @Barnard
- MW 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
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Instructor:
Eugene A Petracca
Info - 3 points
ADVANCED PROGRAMMING
C programming language and Unix systems programming. Also covers Git, Make, TCP/IP networking basics, C++ fundamentals.
- Department: Computer Science
- MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
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Instructor:
Brian Borowski
Info - 4 points