SUPERVISED INDEPENDENT RESEARCH

All supervisors will be Columbia faculty who hold a PhD. Students are responsible for identifying their own supervisor and it is at the discretion of faculty whether they accept to supervise independent research. Projects must be focused on Hellenic Studies and can be approached from any disciplinary background. Students are expected to develop their own reading list in consultation with their supervisor. In addition to completing assigned readings, the student must also write a Hellenic studies paper of 20 pages. Projects other than a research paper will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Hellenic Studies is an interdisciplinary field that revolves around two main axes: space and time. Its teaching and research are focused on the study of post-classical Greece in various fields: Language, Literature, History, Politics, Anthropology, Art, Archaeology, and in various periods: Late Antique, Medieval, Byzantine, Modern Greek etc. Therefore, the range of topics that are acceptable as a Hellenic Studies seminar paper is broad. It is upon each supervisor to discuss the specific topic with the student. The work submitted for this independent study course must be different from the work a student submits in other courses, including the Hellenic Studies Senior Research Seminar.

• Department: Classics
• Instructor: Karen Van Dyck
  Wikipedia Info
• Instructor: Dimitris Antoniou
  h-index: 5 Info
• 3 points

Climate Justice and Human Rights Law

Climate Justice & Hum Rts

The unfolding climate emergency occurs at the confluence of three global systems of domination – capitalism, racialized imperialism, and patriarchy. Premised as they are on exploitation, competition, and inequality rather than consideration, cooperation and balance, these systems of domination not only have caused the crisis but are seemingly unable to resolve it. Among the injustices of the contemporary impasse is the likelihood the people who have least benefited from the global (dis)order, and especially minorities in the global south, will be the worst affected casualties of climate change.

Encompassing a focus on equity and frameworks for accountability and redress, the human rights paradigm is a useful lens through which to analyze the emergency, exert accountability, and imagine better futures. It is against this backdrop that this interdisciplinary (climate science, law, politics, social science, development studies and anthropology) course on Climate Justice has been introduced to the Human Rights Studies MA program.

This 3-credit course addresses contemporary issues in the evolving discourse and epistemology of climate justice. How should we understand the climate emergency from a social justice perspective? What terminologies, discourses and paradigms are useful? What litigation, law and policy initiatives have been brought, and with what level of success? How have individuals, non-government organizations and social movements sought to overcome climate change vulnerabilities and advance climate justice? And what alternative models of living, working and being are conceivable for a more socially, ecologically, and existentially sustainable world?

• Department: Institute for Study of Human Rights
• T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Jacqueline Dugard
  Info
• 3 points

PSYCH & NEUROPSYCH OF LANGUAGE

• Department: Psychology
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Michele Miozzo
  Info
• 4 points

CHINESE POLITICS

This course offers a historical and thematic survey of Chinese politics and of salient issues in China’s public policy and governance. The first half of the course reviews the patterns and dynamics of political development in China, focusing mainly on the last two hundred years, during which the country has been on a rugged yet fascinating path toward modernity. We will examine major political events including the collapse of the Imperial China, the rise of the Communist Party, the Cultural Revolution, and the post-Mao shift toward reform and opening. The second half of the course will look various special topics, including the structure of the party and the state, the relationship between state and society, the modes of economic development, and the governance of the media and the Internet. Throughout the course, special attention will be paid to how China’s domestic political and economic processes intersected with major world events and transnational forces, such as imperialism, world wars, and economic globalization.

• Department: Political Science
• MW 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
• Instructor: Junyan Jiang
  h-index: 8 Info
• 3 points

GENDER & APPLIED ECONOMICS

Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 This course studies gender gaps, their extent, determinants and consequences. The focus will be on the allocation of rights in different cultures and over time, why women's rights have typically been more limited and why most societies have traditionally favored males in the allocation of resources.

• Department: Economics
• MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Lena Edlund
  CULPA: 8 Info
• 3 points

Neural Plasticity

This seminar provides an overview of the mechanisms and behaviors associated with neural plasticity. Students will obtain a basic working knowledge of the different types of neural plasticity, and how these affect cognition and behaviors.

• Department: Psychology
• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Tina Kao
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 4 points

Emotional Brain Development

There is nothing more important to us than the feelings that we have. But where do our emotions come from and why do we sometimes feel differently from our peers? The reason usually involves an understanding of one’s developmental history.  This course uses a developmental approach to address emotional brain-behavior relationships.  We will discuss theoretical papers and empirical work that covers typical and atypical behavior and the neurobiology that supports behavioral change across age. A translational approach is taken that uses animal models and human examples to illustrate these developmental trajectories. We will cover experimental approaches during discussion of each topic.

• Department: Psychology
• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Nim L Tottenham
  Info
• 4 points

WOMEN IN CITIES: SUST URB DSGN,PLNG,MGMT

The course will examine both acknowledged indicators of women’s and girls’ inclusion in the conceptualization and life of a city (e.g., access to shelter, clean water, sanitation, safe transport, healthcare, education, jobs and leadership positions), and those not sufficiently acknowledged (stability and tenure in housing, labor force inclusion and wage parity, physical, mental and environmental health, sexual and reproductive rights, freedom from violence, assured levels of participation in policy- and decision-making, etc.). Migrating between multiple cultural and sociopolitical contexts, and between the individual and metropolitan, national and indigenous levels of policymaking, the course will look at how today’s cities have evolved; the consequential disconnect between enshrined legal frameworks, regulatory and administrative structures, and concrete urban realities; and at how, through a sustainable process of inclusive community and private sector engagement, responsive design, and strategic budgeting to realize select well-defined priorities, tomorrow’s cities can be better attuned to the human scale of their primary constituents by becoming more aware, inclusive, accommodating and enabling of women and families. Each week, one or more leading and cutting-edge thinkers and practitioners in the areas of urban and environmental design and management, corporate social responsibility, landscape architecture and planning, sustainable engineering, and urban health,  wellbeing and women’s rights will share their experience, current thinking and ideas in featured guest lectures; these will be followed by wide-ranging conversations among the instructor, lecturers and students, enabling students to hear firsthand how private, public and non-profit sector managers, policymakers and designers approach and deal with such issues as (for instance) making transport hubs equally navigable for women with strollers, walkers or young children, or implementing green or family-friendly CSR policies.

• Department: Sustainability Management
• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Susan M Blaustein
  CULPA: 1 Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Stress and the Brain

This course will use clinical studies and experimental research on animals to understand the impact of stress during various periods of development on brain function and behavior.  We will address the long- and short-term consequences of stress on cognition, emotion, and ultimately psychopathology through investigating how various stressors can induce neurobiological and behavioral outcomes through genetic, epigenetic, and molecular mechanisms in the brain.

• Department: Psychology
• T 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Jennifer Blaze
  Info
• 4 points

CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN POLITICS

This course aims to teach students what, if any, answers social scientists have to the questions that concern anyone with an interest in African politics: 1) Why have democratic governments flourished in some countries and not others? 2) What institutions may enable Africans to hold their leaders accountable? 3) How do people participate in politics? 4) In what ways do aspiring African political leaders build public support? 5) To what extent does persistent poverty on the continent have political causes? and 6) Why is violence used to resolve some political disputes and not others?

• Department: Political Science
• MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Shana Warren
  Info
• 3 points

HEALTH PHYSICS

Fundamental principles and objectives of health physics (radiation protection), the quantities of radiation dosimetry (the absorbed dose, equivalent dose, and effective dose) used to evaluate human radiation risks, elementary shielding calculations and protection measures for clinical environments, characterization and proper use of health physics instrumentation, and regulatory and administrative requirements of health physics programs in general and as applied to clinical activities.

• Department: Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
• M 5:30 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Peter Caracappa
  h-index: 12 Info
• 3 points

Mediterranean Humanities II

Med Hum II

What is the Mediterranean and how was it constructed and canonized as a space of civilization? A highly multicultural, multilingual area whose people represent a broad array of religious, ethnic, social and political difference, the Mediterranean has been seen as the cradle of western civilization, but also as a dividing border and a unifying confluence zone, as a sea of pleasure and a sea of death. The course aims to enhance students’ understanding of the multiple ways this body of water has been imagined by the people who lived or traveled across its shores. By exploring major works of theory, literature and cinema since 1800, it encourages students to engage critically with a number of questions (nationalism vs cosmopolitanism, South/North and East/West divides, tourism, exile and migration, colonialism and orientalism, borders and divided societies) and to ‘read’ the sea through different viewpoints: through the eyes of a German Romantic thinker, a Sephardic Ottoman family, an Algerian feminist, a French historian, a Syrian refugee, an Italian anti-fascist, a Moroccan writer, an Egyptian exile, a Bosnian-Croat scholar, a Lebanese-French author, a Cypriot filmmaker, an Algerian-Italian journalist, and others. In the final analysis,
Med Hum II
is meant to arouse the question of what it means to stand on watery grounds and to view the world through a constantly shifting lens.

• Department: Italian
• T 10:10 a.m.-noon
• T 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Konstantia Zanou
  Info
• 3 points

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 The theory of international trade, comparative advantage and the factor endowments explanation of trade, analysis of the theory and practice of commercial policy, economic integration. International mobility of capital and labor; the North-South debate.

• Department: Economics
• TR 5:40 p.m.-6:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Jonathan I Dingel
  Info
• 3 points

SUSTAINABILITY AND THE MEANING OF PLACE

In this class, students will travel to Cuttyhunk Island in Massachusetts to explore issues of history, sustainability, and climate change. It will serve to address the one-credit practicum requirement in the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development.  The overarching question students will ask is: what does it mean to inhabit a place well? To answer this, students will read a selection of literary, historical, and scientific texts while performing physical labor including meal preparation and oyster cultivation on Cuttyhunk Island and assuming responsibility for their classmate community through self-governance. Taught in collaboration with faculty at the Gull Island Institute, the course enables students to critically investigate multiple ways in which knowledge of place is produced and to explore how such knowledge informs, and ought to inform, practices of sustainable development. In traveling to Cuttyhunk Island, students will take up a standpoint from which to consider their own learning goals and develop approaches to more fruitfully engaging the places of Manhattan Island and the Columbia University campus in the course of their SDEV studies.

The class will use the physical setting of islands, and the conjunction of seminar with labor, self-governance, and everyday life, to connect different kinds of knowledge across boundaries of discipline and tradition, thought, and embodied practice. Students will analyze written texts, but they will also be challenged to read and interpret a piece of the landscape, an object, or ecosystem through their immersive experience on Cuttyhunk Island. Readings will investigate the natural and human histories of the Buzzards Bay region, contemporary sustainability efforts on Cuttyhunk, as well as the wider assumptions and categories that shape the ideas of sustainability and habitability: what models of action and agency are entailed in these concepts? What relationships between humans and non-human (beings and environments) do such concepts presuppose? Finally, what skills, structures, and actions are necessary to make places habitable, and inhabit them well?

• Department: Earth Institute
• Instructor: Jason Smerdon
  CULPA: 4 h-index: 47 Info
• 1 points

PROCESS SAFETY

Aimed at seniors and graduate students. Provides classroom experience on chemical engineering process safety as well as Safety in Chemical Engineering certification. Process safety and process control emphasized. Application of basic chemical engineering concepts to chemical reactivity hazards, industrial hygiene, risk assessment, inherently safer design, hazard operability analysis, and engineering ethics. Application of safety to full spectrum of chemical engineering operations.

• Department: Chemical Engineering
• TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
• Instructor: Robert G Bozic
  Info
• 3 points

READINGS IN HEBREW TEXTS I

Prerequisites: (MDES GU4510) and (MDES GU4511) 3RD Year Modern Hebrew or the instructor's permission. This course focuses on central identities shaping Israeli society and is designed to give students extensive experience in reading Hebrew. Through selected readings of contemporary literary works and media texts, students will increase their proficiency in Hebrew and enhance their understanding of Israeli culture and society. All readings, written assignments, and class discussions are in Hebrew. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.

• Department: Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
• MW 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Naama Harel
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

ITL CULTRL ST II:WWI-PRESENT

ITL CULTRL STUDIES II:WWI-PRE

An interdisciplinary investigation into Italian culture and society in the years between World War I and the present. Drawing on historical analyses, literary texts, letters, film, cartoons, popular music, etc. the course examines some of the key problems and trends in the cultural and political history of the period. Lectures, discussion and required readings will be in English. Students with a knowledge of Italian are encouraged to read the primary literature in Italian.

• Department: Italian @Barnard
• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Nelson Moe
  CULPA: 10 h-index: 6 Info
• 3 points

Advanced Moving Image: Video, Film, Art

Adv Moving Image:Video, F

Advanced Moving Image: Video, Film, Art & Movement
is an advanced moving image class which centers on the use of both established and emergent digital technologies as a medium for exploration and artistic expression. The focus will be on artworks that reference the body/bodies in movement, the creation of Avatars and the designing of environments and spatial narratives. Existing works from this emergent area will be shown to give cultural and historical context, seen through a personal and political lens. The course will be intensive and hands-on, the apprehension of technical and aesthetic skills will be utilized to create works based on the individual or collective expression of the artist/s.

Students are encouraged to explore areas of personal interest and to incorporate this research
into their production work. Taking an active role in class discussions and production teamwork is
required. The course is offered to both graduate and undergraduate students. It is expected that at the end of the course students will have gained an active knowledge of core concepts and techniques useful in working with performance capture within an art context.

• Department: Visual Arts
• M 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Matthew E Buckingham
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

OPERATION RES IN PUBLIC POLICY

OR in Public Policy

Aims to give the student a broad overview of the role of Operations Research in public policy. The specific areas covered include voting theory, apportionment, deployment of emergency units, location of hazardous facilities, health care, organ allocation, management of natural resources, energy policy, and aviation security. Draws on a variety techniques such as linear and integer programming, statistical and probabilistic methods, decision analysis, risk analysis, and analysis and control of dynamic systems.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• TR 5:40 p.m.-6:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Yaren Kaya
  Info
• 3 points

JAZZ ARRANGING & COMPOSITION

• Department: Music
• MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: John Chin
  Info
• 3 points

READINGS IN CLASSICAL CHINESE

Prerequisites: CHNS W4007 or the equivalent. Admission after placement exam. Focusing on Tang and Song prose and poetry, introduces a broad variety of genres through close readings of chosen texts as well as the specific methods, skills, and tools to approach them. Strong emphasis on the grammatical and stylistic analysis of representative works. CC GS EN CE

• Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures
• WF 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Andrew Plaks
  Info
• 4 points

GENOMICS OF GENE REGULATION

• Department: Biological Sciences
• MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Harmen Bussemaker
  Wikipedia h-index: 43 Info
• 4 points

Grid Modernization & Clean Tech

Grid Modernize & Clean Te

Covers solar energy, battery storage, electric vehicles, and data centers — treated as sub-transmission level loads — as key distributed energy resources. Students learn how advanced metering data enables grid optimization through demand-side management, distributed energy resource coordination, and distribution system control. Topics include smart inverters, flexible loads, and cybersecurity for modern grid operations.

• Department: Electrical Engineering
• R 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
• 3 points

Capstone

Applies core tools of Executive Master of Science Program to development or design challenge in concentration area. Integrates learning to practice the application of new skills. Students can propose a challenge or join an existing challenge proposed by faculty.

• Department: Engineering
• Instructor: Hugh W Thomas
  Info
• 3 points

Industry Projects in Analytics & Operati

Industry Projs in Analyti

Teams of students work on real-world projects in analytics. Focus on three aspects of analytics: identifying client analytical requirements; assembling, cleaning and organizing data; identifying and implementing analytical techniques (e.g., statistics and/or machine learning); and delivering results in a client-friendly format. Each project has a defined goal and pre-identified data to analyze in one semester. Client facing class. Class requires 10 hours of time per week and possible client visits on Fridays.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• M 8 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
• Instructor: Michael Robbins
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

3RD YR MODERN HEBREW II

Prerequisites: Third Year Modern Hebrew I or Hebrew for Heritage Speakers II Focus on transition from basic language towards authentic Hebrew, through reading of un-adapted literary and journalistic texts without vowels. Vocabulary building. Grammar is reviewed in context. A weekly hour is devoted to practice in conversation. Daily homework includes reading, short answers, short compositions, listening to web-casts, or giving short oral presentations via voice e-mail. Frequent vocabulary quizzes. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.

• Department: Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
• TR 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Yael Flusser
  Info
• 4 points

Molecular Biology

Prerequisites: one year of biology. This is a lecture course designed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. The focus is on understanding at the molecular/biochemical level how genetic information is stored within the cell, how it is replicated and expressed, and how it is regulated. Topics covered include genome organization, DNA replication and repair, transcription, RNA processing, and translation. This course will also emphasize the critical analysis of the scientific literature and help students understand how to identify important biological problems and how to address them experimentally. SPS and TC students may register for this course, but they must first obtain the written permission of the instructor, by filling out a paper Registration Adjustment Form (Add/Drop form). The form can be downloaded at the URL below, but must be signed by the instructor and returned to the office of the registrar.
http://registrar.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/reg-adjustment.pdf

• Department: Biological Sciences
• MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Alice Heicklen
  CULPA: 15 Info
• 3 points

FIFTH YEAR KOREAN II

• Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures
• W 6:10 p.m.-8:45 p.m.
• Instructor: Ji-Young Jung
  Info
• 4 points

CONDUCTING MUSIC

Prerequisites: advanced music major and extensive contemporary music background. Analysis of the modern repertory of contemporary music with directional emphasis on actual conducting preparation, beating patterns, rhythmic notational problems, irregular meters, communication, and transference of musical ideas. Topics will include theoretical writing on 20th-century conducting, orchestration, and phrasing.

• Department: Music
• TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Jeffrey Milarsky
  CULPA: 6 Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Hadrian's Villa: An Imperial Court and I

This seminar aims to understand Hadrian’s Villa by contextualizing it within the broader network of Roman imperial residences—palaces and villas alike—and by focusing on the relationship between architectural spaces and decoration on the one hand, and social practices and daily routines on the other. Basing on the findings of Columbia’s own excavations, special attention will be devoted to the cultic life at the villa, with particular emphasis on its non-elite inhabitants and the relationship between “high” and “low” forms of religiosity.

The scope of the seminar is interdisciplinary: applications of students from all departments are welcome. Familiarity with Greek and Roman art, architecture, and history is strongly recommended.

• Department: Art History and Archaeology
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Francesco de Angelis
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 4 points

Foundations of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is one of the most important economic activities shaping the United States. Entrepreneurial processes play a role in delivering new solutions to social problems, they are a strong determinant of wealth inequality and spatial disparities, and underlie technological progress. The class Foundations of Entrepreneurship provides any undergraduate student a comprehensive introduction to what entrepreneurship is and how it functions, including understanding how an idea evolves into a company, the role of key actors in an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and experiencing the entrepreneurial process. The class is valuable to any student in science, engineering, and liberal arts who would like to understand what determines whether promising inventions and solutions fulfill their potential impact. It is offered as part of the Mendelson Center’s special program in business management.

The content is delivered incorporating lecture-based content, case discussions of existing companies, and group work to develop an early-stage idea and pitch it to a panel of investors.

Foundations of Entrepreneurship is a prerequisite to future lab-based entrepreneurship classes for undergraduates, Launch Your Startup and Entrepreneurial Greenhouse.

 

Prerequisite or Corequisite:

ECON 1105W
(Principles of Economics)
AND
one of the following Statistics courses:



STAT 1001W
(Intro to Statistical Reasoning)



STAT 1101W
(Introduction to Statistics)



STAT 1201W
(Calc-Based Intro to Statistics)



PSYC 1610W
(Statistics for Behavioral Scientists)

• Department: Mendelson Center
• T 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Michael Mauskapf
  h-index: 5 Info
• 3 points

FIFTH YEAR CHINESE II

The Fifth Year Chinese course is designed for advanced learners who have a proficient command of the Chinese language in all four aspects: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, regardless of whether they have Chinese heritage. The course provides a wide variety of literary genres, ranging from short stories to aesthetic essays to academic articles, to enhance students' mastery of formal written Chinese. While the primary objectives of this course lie in reading, students also have opportunities to develop their speaking competence through a variety of in-class discussions, debates, and presentations.

• Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures
• TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Lening Liu
  CULPA: 9 Info
• 4 points

ANALYTICS IN PRACTICE

MSBA students only. Groups of students will work on real world projects in analytics, focusing on three aspects: identifying client analytical requirements; assembling, cleaning, and organizing data; identifying and implementing analytical techniques (statistics, OR, machine learning); and delivering results in a client-friendly format. Each project has a well-defined goal, comes with sources of data preidentified, and has been structured so that it can be completed in one semester. Client-facing class with numerous on-site client visits; students should keep Fridays clear for this purpose.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• M 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• W 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Hardeep Johar
  Info
• Instructor: Yaren Kaya
  Info
• 3 points

UNCONSCIOUS AND JEWISH THOUGHT

This survey aims to reflect on the specific dialogue between faith and theories of the mind. After an overview of pre-Freudian notions of the unconscious, the course will examine Freuds 1896 Theory of the unconscious mind and the key analytical concepts which display similarities between psychoanalysis and Jewish thought, from Talmudic hermeneutics to Kabbalah studies. We will explore the unconscious through readings from Leibnitz, Schelling, Goethe, von Hartmann, Freud, Jung, as well as its preludes and echoes in the Talmud and in the writings of Azriel of Gerona, the Magid of Mezrich, Krochmal, Leiner, Lou Andreas Salome, Scholem, Idel, Wolfson.

• Department: Religion
• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Clemence C Boulouque
  CULPA: 4 Info
• 4 points

Advanced Cell and Tissue Engineering: Fr

Advanced Cell & Tis Eng:

Covers advancements in the fields of cellular and developmental biology, molecular biology and materials science towards the development of “tissue engineered” therapies.  Emphasis on tissue engineering therapies applied to musculoskeletal tissues, such as bone, cartilage, and skeletal muscle, and nervous tissues (central and peripheral nervous system). Design considerations and concepts in market analysis examined.

• Department: Biomedical Engineering
• R 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Treena L Arinzeh
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

MACHINE LEARNING FE & OPR

MS IEOR students only. Introduction to machine learning, practical use of ML algorithms and applications to financial engineering and operations. Supervised learning: regression, classification, resampling methods, regularization, support vector machines (SVMs), and deep learning. Unsupervised learning: dimensionality reduction, matrix decomposition, and clustering algorithms.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniel Bienstock
  h-index: 38 Info
• 3 points

Power, Place, Politics, and Health: Hist

Power, Place, Politics, H

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Through assigned readings and a 3500-4000 word paper, students will gain familiarity with a range of historical moments in the history of public health in the 20th-century United States. Themes will include ethnic and racial formations, technological development, biopolitics and biopower, medicalization, geography, political economy, and biological citizenship, among others.. Topics to be examined will include, but will not be limited to, women’s health organization and care; HIV/AIDS politics, policy, and community response; reproductive justice; “benign neglect”; urban renewal and gentrification; social movements, and environmental justice.  Previous coursework in relevant fields required (U.S. history or health history, certain area studies, Public Health/Sociomedical Sciences, medical humanities, etc.).

GUIDELINES & REQUIREMENTS

There are no official prerequisites. However, this is an upper-level course, and students should have some academic or professional background in health studies (especially public health), African-American/ethnic studies (history or social science), or some other work related to the course material.

ADMISSION

Admission to this course is by application only, Students from all schools, including Teachers College, are welcome to apply. Students may not enroll in this course on a pass/fail basis or as an auditor without instructor permission.

• Department: History
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Samuel K Jr Roberts
  Info
• 4 points

Reinforcement Learning

Markov Decision Processes (MDP) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) problems. Reinforcement Learning algorithms including Q-learning, policy gradient methods, actor-critic method. Reinforcement learning while doing exploration-exploitation dilemma, multi-armed bandit problem. Monte Carlo Tree Search methods, Distributional, Multi-agent, and Causal Reinforcement Learning.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Tianyi Li
  Info
• 3 points

Religion and Ecological Ethics

This course considers the specific contribution that religious studies can make to understandings of ecological ethics. Beginning with a study of religions as practicing
communities that can provide understandings of nature, sociality, the world, and the cosmos, the course considers different ethical methods and modes of living. Students will develop their own understandings through a research project that can contribute to class discussions throughout the second half of the course.

• Department: Religion @Barnard
• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Janet Jakobsen
  CULPA: 6 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

Visualization and Storytelling with Data

Data Visualization

Data visualization and how to build a story with data. Using complex data or statistics to communicate results effectively. Learn to present analysis and results conscisely and effectively.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• F 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Michelle Glaser
  Info
• 1.5 points

Beyond Human in Modern Hebrew Literature

Beyond Human in Mod Hebre

“The possibility of pogroms,” claims Theodor Adorno, “is decided in the moment when the gaze of a fatally-wounded animal falls on a human being. The defiance with which he repels this gaze—’after all it's only an animal’—reappears irresistibly in cruelties done to human beings.” This course traces the development of Modern Hebrew literature, from its fin-de-siècle revival to contemporary Israeli fiction, through the prism of animality and animalization. We will focus on human-animal relations and animalization/dehumanization of humans in literary works by prominent Hebrew authors, including M.Y. Berdichevsky, Devorah Baron, S.Y. Agnon, Amos Oz, David Grossman, Orly Castel-Bloom, Almog Behar, Etgar Keret, and Sayed Kashua. Employing posthumanist and ecofeminist theoretical lenses, we will analyze the bio-political intersections of species and gender, as well as animalization as a process of otherization of marginalized ethnic groups. Throughout the course, we will ask questions, such as: why animals abound in Modern Hebrew literature? Are they merely metaphors for intra-human issues, or rather count as subjects? What literary devices are used to portray animals? How has the depiction of human-animal relations changed in Hebrew over the last 150 years? How do cultural and political frameworks inform representations of human-animal relations? No prior knowledge of Hebrew is required; all readings and class discussions will be in English. Course participants with reading knowledge of Hebrew are encouraged to consult the original literary texts, provided by the instructor upon request.

• Department: Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Naama Harel
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

Performance, Objectives, & Results Using

Performance,Objectives&Re

OKR framework and different variations. Measurement techniques (A/B testing, validation, correlation, etc.) Identifying what to measure in product experience and business initiatives. Data-driven decision making.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• FSU 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Nicolas Chikhani
  Info
• 1.5 points

Immunoengineering with Biomaterials and

ImmunoEng with Biomat&Nan

Introduction to fundamental aspects of immunology and engineering strategies to modulate the immune system to improve human health. We will cover the innate and adaptive immune system and current methods to characterize the immune response. Applications focus on cancer, vaccines, and autoimmune disorders.

• Department: Biomedical Engineering
• MW 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Santiago Correa
  Info
• 3 points

DATA MINING

Course covers major statistical learning methods for data mining under both supervised and unsupervised settings. Topics covered include linear regression and classification, model selection and regularization, tree-based methods, support vector machines, and unsupervised learning. Students learn about principles underlying each method, how to determine which methods are most suited to applied settings, concepts behind model fitting and parameter tuning, and how to apply methods in practice and assess their performance. Emphasizes roles of statistical modeling and optimization in data mining.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• W 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
• Instructor: Krzysztof M Choromanski
  Info
• 3 points

Honors Statistical Machine Learning

Honors Stat Machine Learn

This is a rigorous introduction to machine learning from a statistical perspective. While we will cover many of the same introductory elements of machine learning as courses in other departments, the statistical perspective emphasizes the distinction between spurious trends or patterns observed in data, and more stable patterns present in the actual population the data is drawn from. For instance, in prediction problems, while two variables might appear related in observed data, such relation might not be generalizable to the population. Such statistical perspective on ‘generalization’ from sample to population is fundamental to the design of prediction algorithms in modern machine learning, in addition to computational constraints. The course aims to explain how ‘generalization’ together with ‘computation’ drives every aspect of machine learning, from modeling assumptions, to common optimization procedures.  

Major families of algorithms will be covered, from unsupervised procedures for clustering, to supervised procedures for classification and regression, along with an introduction to common optimization techniques. The course requires a good preparation in calculus up to multivariate calculus, and good understanding of linear algebra, and familiarity with basic probability and statistics. At the end of the course, students would be expected to have gained a sense of common approaches in ML, and importantly, the assumptions (on the data and the population) under which such approaches operate.

• Department: Statistics
• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Samory Kpotufe
  CULPA: 2 Info
• 3 points

Multimodal Neuroimaging

Practical implementation of neuroimaging techniques, data types, processing methods and clinical findings on independent datasets across a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions. Basics from anatomy to digital image analysis will be explored culminating in a final project.

• Department: Biomedical Engineering
• R 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Frank A Provenzano
  Info
• 0-3 points

MEDICAL PHYSICS SEMINAR

Required for all graduate students in the Medical Physics Program. Practicing professionals and faculty in the field present selected topics in medical physics.

• Department: Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
• M 9 a.m.-10:15 a.m.
• Instructor: Cheng S Wuu
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 0 points

MICRO/NANO STRUCT CELL ENG

Design, fabrication, and application of micro-/nanostructured systems for cell engineering. Recognition and response of cells to spatial aspects of their extracellular environment. Focus on neural, cardiac, coculture, and stem cell systems. Molecular complexes at the nanoscale.

• Department: Biomedical Engineering
• M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Lance Kam
  CULPA: 7 h-index: 38 Info
• 3 points

SURVEY OF TIBETAN LITERATURE

Designed for both undergraduate and graduate students, this course introduces Tibetan belles-lettres and vernacular works (all in English translation) spanning from the imperial period to the present day. We will engage in close readings, together with discussion of the genre each text represents and its salience in current Tibetan intellectual discourse. In the final four weeks, we will read landmark works from the post-Mao period, with a view to the negotiation of traditional forms amidst the advent of new literary genres and the economics of cultural production.

 

Questions to address include: 
How have Tibetan literary forms and content developed throughout history? How has the very concept of "Tibetan literature" been conceived?  How have Tibetan writers and scholars—past and present—negotiated literary innovation?

Each session will consist of a brief lecture followed by discussion. Lectures will incrementally provide students with a general timeline of Tibetan literary and related historical developments, as well as biographical material regarding the authors assigned for that week.

Tibetan language students and heritage learners will be offered three optional sessions to read excerpts of selected texts in Tibetan.

• Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures
• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Lauran Hartley
  Info
• 4 points

Abolitionist Feminism

This seminar is a deep study of the feminist history, theory, and practice of criminal punishment abolition from the 19th century through the present. It explores key conceptual frameworks, political conundrums, and genealogies of abolition especially in relation to Black, Native, women of color, queer, and Marxist feminisms. We will explore linkages and divergences from movements to abolish slavery. Students will engage past and current organizing movements and read and hear from activists who are organizing for prison abolition. We will explore the relationship between prison abolition and other movements for radical change and the tensions around abolition and carcerality that exist among feminists. Does abolitionist feminism have a cohesive set of political projects or philosophies? What tensions exist among feminists who advocate for abolition?

• Department: Women's and Gender Studies
• W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Sarah Haley
  Info
• 3 points

EVOL IN THE AGE OF GENOMICS

• Department: Biological Sciences
• TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
• 4 points

THE ECOLOGY OF TREELINE IN A CHANGING CL

ECOLOGY TREELINE CHANGE C

Prerequisites: Introductory Biology. Earth Science and one course in ecology recommended. Treelines are the boundaries between forests and low stature alpine and tundra vegetation, thought to be controlled by climate and therefore likely to respond to climate change. In 1807 Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland described treeline as a global phenomenon and a bioclimatological reference that all other vegetation could be referenced against. Despite being clearly linked to climate, the mechanisms that control treeline formation and persistence remain an active area of scientific research and debate. The lack of a complete mechanistic understanding of how climate controls the location of treeline opens the important question of how treeline will respond to climate change. Furthermore, while physical site characteristics determine the potential location of treeline, trees may be absent for a variety of factors, complicating the predicted ecosystem response to a changing climate. These factors include local peculiarities of the environment, a regional lack of capable species, or a multitude of disturbances, including those caused by humans. This course is focused on the ecology treeline in light of global climate change and will provide students with a foundational understanding of fundamental ecological concepts as they pertain to this important ecological boundary between ecosystems and biomes. In addition, students will learn to (1) find, read, and discuss the primary scientific literature, and (2) communicate their findings via written, oral, and audio-visual formats. Topics include ecophysiology, population ecology, community ecology, biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology.

• Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
• TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Kevin L Griffin
  CULPA: 6 h-index: 59 Info
• 3 points

Fundamentals of Human Genetics

From the notion of a type-specimen for a species to a wild-type mouse strain, biology has long relied on the idea of an archetype. In reality, however, there is variation everywhere one looks—no wild-type, only mutants. This variation is what makes some families taller than others or more susceptible to autism. Making sense of these differences is what led from the study of “the” human genome to that of millions of genomes. Notably, this goal is central to precision medicine, undergirding accurate disease risk prediction and tailored individual treatments. This shift in perspective poses new and fundamental questions, challenging us to understand how genetic perturbations and environmental effects together give rise to human difference. The goal of this course is to provide a basis for the study of such questions, by focusing on the causes and consequences of human genetic variation. It aims to provide a fundamental toolbox with which to approach human genetic data and to facilitate access to exciting developments in the field, from weekly discoveries about our prehistory to major developments in our understanding of the genetic basis for disease risk. The basis for the course is a new, freely available textbook, An Owner’s Guide to the Human Genome, by Jonathan Pritchard.

• Department: Biological Sciences
• TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• 3 points

Women and Islam

This course is a comprehensive engagement with Islamic perspectives on women with a specific focus on the debates about woman’s role and status in Muslim societies. Students will learn how historical, religious, socio-economic and political factors influence the lives and experiences of Muslim women. A variety of source materials (the foundational texts of Islam, historical and ethnographic accounts, women’s and gender studies scholarship) will serve as the framework for lectures. Students will be introduced to women’s religious lives and a variety of women’s issues as they are reported and represented in the works written by women themselves and scholars chronicling women’s religious experiences.

We will begin with an overview of the history and context of the emergence of Islam from a gendered perspective. We will explore differing interpretations of the core Islamic texts concerning women, and the relationship between men and women: who speaks about and for women in Islam? In the second part of the course we will discuss women’s religious experiences in different parts of the Muslim world. Students will examine the interrelationship between women and religion with special emphasis on the ways in which the practices of religion in women’s daily lives impact contemporary societies.  

All readings will be in English. Prior course work in Islam or women’s studies is recommended, but not required.

• Department: Religion
• M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Aziza Shanazarova
  Info
• 4 points

HIV and AIDS in Black America

Through a series of thematically-arranged secondary and primary source readings and research writing assignments, students in this seminar course will explore the public health, medical, political, and social histories of HIV and AIDS in Black American communities. The course’s chronological focus begins roughly two decades before the first recognition of the syndrome to the first decade of the twenty-first century. Thematically, the course will address several issues, including syndemic theory; stigma, homophobia and political marginalization; late capitalism and public health; the health effects of segregation; and mass incarceration. Please note that admission to this course is by application

Please note that students enrolling in this course must do so for a grade, and not on a pass/fail or audit basis.

• Department: History
• M 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Samuel K Jr Roberts
  Info
• 4 points

TOPICS IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH

Tech Ethics in AI

Special topics arranged as the need and availability arises. Topics are usually offered on a one-time basis. Since the content of this course changes each time it is offered, it may be repeated for credit. Consult the department for section assignment.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• F 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
• Instructor: Gary Kazantsev
  Info
• 3 points

TOPICS IN OR

Each offering of this course is devoted to a particular sector of Operations Research and its contemporary research, practice, and approaches. If topics are different, then course can be taken more than once for credit.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• R 5:40 p.m.-8:10 p.m.
• Instructor: Mahir Yavuz
  Info
• 1.5 points

High-dimensional statistics for biomedic

HD Stat for biomedical da

Statistical machine learning techniques and advanced mathematical concepts for analysis of high-dimensional biomedical data. Topics include optimal transport and probabilistic modeling for multi-modal genomic and imaging data integration and analysis of spatial and temporal dynamics. Programming assignments, problem sets, and a final project will be required.

• Department: Biomedical Engineering
• R 10:10 a.m.-12:40 p.m.
• 3 points

Biomolecular Engineering: Principles and

This course provides an integrated lecture–laboratory introduction to modern biomolecular engineering and molecular biology techniques used in biotechnology and biomedical research. Students will gain a foundational understanding of how genetic information is stored, replicated, expressed, and engineered, as well as hands-on experience with core experimental techniques used in the field.

Students are required to complete the required lab safety trainings prior to the first lab (instructions will be provided by the instructor), and attend all lab sessions. Lecture slides will be posted on CourseWorks; students are responsible for all material covered in class.

• Department: Biomedical Engineering
• T 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Parisa Yousefpour
  Info
• 3 points

TOPICS IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH

AI & Digi Transformation

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• T 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Grace Lin
  Info
• 1.5 points

TOPICS IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH

Comm for Data Leaders

Special topics arranged as the need and availability arises. Topics are usually offered on a one-time basis. Since the content of this course changes each time it is offered, it may be repeated for credit. Consult the department for section assignment.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• F 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Casandra Campbell
  Info
• 1.5 points

TOPICS IN OR

MACHINE LEARNING IN PRACT

Special topics arranged as the need and availability arises. Topics are usually offered on a one-time basis. Since the content of this course changes each time it is offered, it may be repeated for credit. Consult the department for section assignment.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• T 5:40 p.m.-8:10 p.m.
• Instructor: Gary Kazantsev
  Info
• 3 points

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CHEMICAL ENGI

AI IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERIN

• Department: Chemical Engineering
• TR 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Venkat Venkatasubramanian
  h-index: 58 Info
• 3 points

BIOMEMS:CELL/MOLECULAR APPLIC

Topics include biomicroelectromechanical, microfluidic, and lab-on-a-chip systems in biomedical engineering, with a focus on cellular and molecular applications. Microfabrication techniques, biocompatibility, miniaturization of analytical and diagnostic devices, high-throughput cellular studies, microfabrication for tissue engineering, and in vivo devices.

• Department: Biomedical Engineering
• W 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Samuel Sia
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 39 Info
• 3 points

AEROSOLS

Aerosol impacts on indoor and outdoor air quality, health, and climate. Major topics include aerosol sources, physics, and chemistry; field and laboratory techniques for aerosol characterization; aerosol direct and indirect effects on climate; aerosols in biogeochemical cycles and climate engineering; health impacts including exposure to ambient aerosols and transmission of respiratory disease.

• Department: Chemical Engineering
• MW 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Vivian F McNeill
  Info
• 3 points

Multilingual Worlds: Translation, Gender

Translation, Gender, Gree

Moving between different languages and alphabets is a constitutive aspect of the diasporic experience. To remember or forget the mother tongue, to mix up two or more languages, to transcribe one writing system onto another are all modes of negotiating geographical displacement. This course introduces students to literature about and by Greeks of the diaspora in Europe, the Balkans and America over the past two centuries exploring questions of migration, translation and gender with particular attention to the look and sound of different alphabets and foreign accents – “It’s all Greek to me!” Authors include Benjamin, Broumas, Chaplin, Chow, Conan Doyle, Kafka, Kazan, Morrison, Papadiamantis, Queen, Valtinos and Venuti.

• Department: Classics
• T 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Karen Van Dyck
  Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

DISCRETE CONTROL SYSTEMS

The course studies control strategies and their implementation in the discrete domain. Introduction with examples; review of continuous control and Laplace Transforms; review of continuous state-space representation and Solutions; review of  difference equations, discretization in time and frequency, the WKS (aka Shannon) sampling theorem, windowing, filters, Transforms: Fourier series, Fourier transform, z-transform and their inverses; Ideal sampler, Sample-and-hold devices, zero, one, polygonal, and slewer hold; Transfer functions, block diagrams, and signal flow graphs for discrete systems; Discrete State-Space transformation, controllabililty, observability, and stability in the state-space domain. Discrete time and z domain analysis, steady state analysis, discrete-time root-locus, and pole-zero placement; Discrete Nyquist stability criterion, Bode plot, Gain and Phase Margin analysis, Nichols chart, bandwidth and sensitivity analysis; Design criteria, self-tuning regulator, Kalman filter, and simulation, followed by advanced stability analysis such as Lyapunov stability; Overview of the discrete Euler-Lagrange equations, discrete maximum and minimum principle, optimal linear discrete regulator design, optimality and dynamic programming.

• Department: Mechanical Engineering
• W 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Homayoon Beigi
  Info
• 3 points

DISCRETE CONTROL SYSTEMS

The course studies control strategies and their implementation in the discrete domain. Introduction with examples; review of continuous control and Laplace Transforms; review of continuous state-space representation and Solutions; review of  difference equations, discretization in time and frequency, the WKS (aka Shannon) sampling theorem, windowing, filters, Transforms: Fourier series, Fourier transform, z-transform and their inverses; Ideal sampler, Sample-and-hold devices, zero, one, polygonal, and slewer hold; Transfer functions, block diagrams, and signal flow graphs for discrete systems; Discrete State-Space transformation, controllabililty, observability, and stability in the state-space domain. Discrete time and z domain analysis, steady state analysis, discrete-time root-locus, and pole-zero placement; Discrete Nyquist stability criterion, Bode plot, Gain and Phase Margin analysis, Nichols chart, bandwidth and sensitivity analysis; Design criteria, self-tuning regulator, Kalman filter, and simulation, followed by advanced stability analysis such as Lyapunov stability; Overview of the discrete Euler-Lagrange equations, discrete maximum and minimum principle, optimal linear discrete regulator design, optimality and dynamic programming.

• Department: Electrical Engineering
• W 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Homayoon Beigi
  Info
• 3 points

JEWS-LATER ROMAN EMP,300-600CE

This course will explore the background and examine some of the manifestations of the first Jewish cultural explosion after 70 CE. Among the topics discussed: the Late Roman state and the Jews, the rise of the synagogue, the redaction of the Palestinian Talmud and midrashim, the piyyut and the Hekhalot.

• Department: History
• M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Seth R Schwartz
  CULPA: 1 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

DYNAMIC PRICING/REVENUE MGMT

Focus on capacity allocation, dynamic pricing and revenue management. Perishable and/or limited product and pricing implications. Applications to various industries including service, airlines, hotel, resource rentals, etc.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• TR 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Vineet Goyal
  h-index: 21 Info
• 3 points

INTRODUCTION TO ROBOTICS

Overview of robot applications and capabilities. Linear algebra, kinematics, statics, and dynamics of robot manipulators. Survey of sensor technology: force, proximity, vision, compliant manipulators. Motion planning and artificial intelligence; manipulator programming requirements and languages.

• Department: Mechanical Engineering
• T 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Sunil Agrawal
  Wikipedia h-index: 65 Info
• 3 points

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

Additive manufacturing processes, CNC, Sheet cutting processes, Numerical control, Generative and algorithmic design. Social, economic, legal, and business implications. Course involves both theoretical exercises and a hands-on project.

• Department: Mechanical Engineering
• T 6:10 p.m.-8:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Jonathan D Blutinger
  Info
• 3 points

Frontiers of Justice

Frontiers of Justice is designed to encourage students and equip them with the skills to become active and effective  “Change Agents” within their academic institutions and larger communities.. Oriented by the question,
What does justice look like?
, this course aims to raise political and social awareness and engagement with the challenges facing New York City and strengthen ties between Columbia University, disadvantaged communities, and city government agencies and community organizations. Through sharing ideas about how to make structural and systemic change in ways that integrate science, law, politics, history,  narrative and community engagement, the course is intended to support students in working to break down racial and ethnic barriers and toward a more fair and just society.

• Department: Psychology
• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Peter Dixon
  Info
• 4 points

Industrial Automation

Introduction to industrial automation technologies. Recognizing, modeling and integration of industrial automation problems. Hands-on experiments with robots, computer vision, data management and programming. Sensors engineering and measurement tools; process control; automation hardware and software architectures; programmable logic controllers.

• Department: Mechanical Engineering
• R 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Ali Dadgar
  Info
• 3 points

AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE II

(Lecture). This survey of African American literature focuses on language, history, and culture. What are the contours of African American literary history? How do race, gender, class, and sexuality intersect within the politics of African American culture? What can we expect to learn from these literary works? Why does our literature matter to student of social change? This lecture course will attempt to provide answers to these questions, as we begin with Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) and Richard Wrights Native Son (1940) and end with Melvin Dixons Loves Instruments (1995) with many stops along the way. We will discuss poetry, fiction, drama, and non-fictional prose. Ohter authors include Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Malcom X, Ntzozake Shange, Audre Lorde, and Toni Morrison. There are no prerequisites for this course. The formal assignments are two five-page essays and a final examination. Class participation will be graded.

• Department: English and Comparative Literature
• TR 11:40 a.m.-12:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Zoe L Henry
  Info
• 3 points

ADVANCED HINDI II

This is a third year (or sixth semester) course in the Hindi-Urdu program that aims to continue building upon the existing listening, speaking, reading, writing and cultural skills in Hindi and Urdu. Students will be exposed to a variety of authentic materials, such as stories, plays, newspapers, magazines, videos and film clips. They will be expected to expand their vocabulary, enhance their grammatical accuracy and develop their cultural appropriateness through their enthusiastic participation in classroom activities and immersing themselves in the speech community outside.

The objective of the course is to promote meaningful interaction with literary texts and to strengthen students’ language skills to understand and describe situations and people in diverse academic settings of modern Hindi. Writing in the target language will be emphasized throughout the semester to enable students to use their diverse vocabulary and grammatical structures. The students will gain better understanding of the craft of creative writing in Hindi as the writers explore the innermost sentiments and compulsions of their characters to make us wonder about life, language and emotions, all in conjunction with each other.

• Department: Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
• TR 10:10 a.m.-noon
• 5 points

READING (IN THEORY)

This reading-intensive course will engage, over time with essential texts of the current critical canon. Offered over a series of semesters, it is aimed at developing a practice of reading: close or distant, and always attentive. Let us say: slow reading. What does it mean to read? Where and when does reading start? Where does it founder? What does reading this author (Freud, for example) or that author (say, Foucault) do to the practice of reading? Can we read without misreading? Can we read for content or information without missing the essential? Is there such a thing as essential reading? Favoring a demanding and strenuous exposure to the text at hand, this course promises just that: a demanding and strenuous exposure to reading. The course can be repeated for credit.

• Department: Religion
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Gil Anidjar
  CULPA: 22 Info
• 3 points

TOPICS IN SOFT MATERIALS

Self-contained treatments of selected topics in soft materials (e.g. polymers, colloids, amphiphiles, liquid crystals, glasses, powders). Topics and instructor may change from year to year. Intended for junior/senior level undergraduates and graduate students in engineering and the physical sciences.

• Department: Chemical Engineering
• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Christopher J Durning
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 3 points

Climate Finance

In lieu of the failure of legislatures to pass comprehensive carbon taxes, there is growing pressure on the financial system to address the risks of global warming.  One set of pressures is to account for the heightened physical risks due to extreme weather events and potential climate tipping points.  Another set of pressures are to find approaches to incentivize corporations to meet the goals set out in the Paris Treaty of 2015.  These approaches include (1) mandates or restrictions to only hold companies with decarbonization plans, (2) development of negative emissions technologies such as direct-air capture and (3) promotion of natural capital markets that can be used to offset carbon emissions.  Moreover, financial markets also provide crucial information on expectations and plans of economic agents regarding climate change.  This course will cover both models and empirical methodologies that are necessary to assess the role of the financial system in addressing global warming.

• Department: Economics
• MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• 3 points

AIR-SEA INTERACTION

Prerequisites: solid background in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Some background in fluid mechanics (as in EESC W4925/APPH E4200) or the instructors permission. An overview of oceanic and atmospheric boundary layers including fluxes of momentum, heat, mass, (eg. moisture salt) and gases between the ocean and atmosphere; vertical distribution of energy sources and sinks at the interface including the importance of surface currents; forced upper ocean dynamics, the role of surface waves on the air-sea exchange processes and ocean mixed layer processes.

• Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
• TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Christopher J Zappa
  h-index: 31 Info
• 3 points

Recording Studio Sessions

Recording Studio Sessions places students in weekly recording sessions at Columbia’s Computer Music Center with guest bands and music ensembles. The course aims to give students as much hands-on recording studio experience as possible, with the end goal of developing studio skills that lead to the production of professional-level audio materials. Technical and preparatory information is covered during the one-hour class, immediately followed by a three-hour recording session. In addition to the recording sessions, students must watch asynchronous course materials, read weekly assignments, and mix materials from each week’s session.

• Department: Music
• T 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
• Instructor: David Adamcyk
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 3 points

READINGS IN URDU LIT

Two semesters of prior coursework in Urdu for Heritage Speakers (Urdu for Heritage Speakers I and II) or one semester of Advanced Urdu or the instructor’s permission. This course is a literary course, with in-depth exposure to some of the finest works of classical and modern Urdu poetry i.e. genres of
ghazal
 and 
nazm
. This course is open for both undergraduates and graduates. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.

• Department: Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
• TR 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Aftab Ahmad
  CULPA: 12 Info
• 4 points

REVOLUTION IN/ON THE CARIBBEAN

Although a geographically small area, the Caribbean has produced major revolutionary movements, and two globally influential revolutions: the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) and the Cuban Revolution (1959-1976). It has also produced literature and poetic discourse that has sought to revolutionize politics through language. In this course, we will examine texts that reflect on revolution and/or attempt to revolutionize by writers such as Aimé Césaire, CLR James, Derek Walcott, Alejo Carpentier, Frantz Fanon, Reinaldo Arenas, Michelle Cliff, and V.S. Naipaul, among others. We will also read essays by Hannah Arendt, André Breton, Paul Breslin, A. James Arnold, Phyllis Taoua, Robin D.G. Kelley, Brad Epps, Kimberle Lopez, Bruce King, Maria Elena Lima, Yoani Sánchez, and Audre Lorde. In addition, we will listen to a variety of music by Caribbean and African American musicians that take revolution as its theme in form and/or content.

• Department: English and Comparative Literature
• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Frances Negron-Muntaner
  CULPA: 18 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

BUSINESS ANALYTICS

This course focuses on how to identify, evaluate, and capture business analytic opportunities that create value. The course covers basic analytic methods alongside case studies on organizations that successfully deployed these techniques. The first part of the course is on using data to develop insights and predictive capabilities with machine learning techniques. The second part focuses on the use of A/B testing, causal inference, ethics, and optimization to support decision-making.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Adam N Elmachtoub
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 13 Info
• 3 points

PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

• Department: Philosophy
• R 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Christopher Peacocke
  CULPA: 4 Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Biodiversity and the Climate Crisis

BIODIVERSITY & THE CLIMAT

The ‘twin crises’ of biodiversity and climate change are inextricably linked. Biodiversity, much like climate, is a fundamental characteristic of our Earth system and includes not only individual plant, animal, and microbial species, but also their ecological interactions at local, regional, and global scales. Climate change is exacerbating biodiversity loss, which further reduces ecosystem resilience and efficiency, jeopardizing the delivery of services essential to human well-being such as water purification, flood control, soil fertility, pollination and seed dispersal, temperature moderation, direct material and non-material benefits, carbon sequestration, control of non-indigenous species, and regulation of zoonotic diseases. In this course we will use a combination of lectures, student-led discussions, and research papers to explore these interconnections, focusing on food security, habitat types, tipping points, equity, and how biodiversity can both support and be affected by climate mitigation and adaption strategies.

• Department: Earth Institute
• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Jenna M Lawrence
  CULPA: 6 Info
• 3 points

Climate and Sustainable Water Systems

CLIM & SUSTAINABLE WATER

Sustainable water supply, essential for life, is complex and challenging, particularly in the context of climate change. Changing climate affects the availability and quality of water globally. In turn, human use of water produces greenhouse gasses (GHGs) that further exacerbate climate change. Spanning global and individual scale, this course will examine changing interactions of climate and water, implications for human water supply, and steps toward greater sustainability.

Part 1
of the course establishes baseline understanding of natural and human water systems in the context of climate change. What it takes to transform water from its source to “fit-for-purpose” water for domestic, commercial, industrial, and agricultural uses will be examined. The implications of climate change for water systems and the impacts of water development on climate change will also be assessed. The growing challenges of water security, water quality, and water affordability/accessibility will be considered, along with institutional models for water delivery.

Part 2
will delve into pathways toward more sustainable water supplies, with emphasis on safe and affordable drinking water. Means of adaptation and resilience will be explored, from evolving human uses to optimizing water storage and delivery. Throughout Part 2, case studies will bring concepts to reality, engaging students in further exploring strategies and actions to address crucial issues for water sustainability. Practicing leaders from the water field will bring real-world perspectives as guest speakers, sharing direct experience with a specific problem, and engaging with the class in a broader discussion of the issues, led by the instructor.

• Department: Earth Institute
• W 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Cindy Paulson
  Info
• 3 points

Artificial Intelligence Capstone Project

AI Capstone Project

Technically rigorous project studio where small teams apply artificial intelligence to consequential real-world problems. Teams may work with enterprise partners, Columbia faculty or research groups, Columbia administrative units, or on approved student-originated AI ventures. Every project makes AI central to work.

• Department: Engineering
• W 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
• Instructor: Alexis R Moore
  Info
• 1.5-3 points

RACE:TANGLED HIST-BIOL CONCEPT

• Department: Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
• MW 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Jill S Shapiro
  CULPA: 46 Info
• 4 points

RISE OF MODERN TIBET:1600-1913

Rise of Modern Tibet

• Department: East Asian Languages and Cultures
• TR 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Gray W Tuttle
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 4 points

INTRO TO FINANCIAL ENGINEERING

Prerequisite(s): IEOR E4106 or E3106. Required for undergraduate students majoring in OR:FE. Introduction to investment and financial instruments via portfolio theory and derivative securities, using basic operations research/engineering methodology. Portfolio theory, arbitrage; Markowitz model, market equilibrium, and the capital asset pricing model. General models for asset price fluctuations in discrete and continuous time. Elementary introduction to Brownian motion and geometric Brownian motion. Option theory; Black-Scholes equation and call option formula. Computational methods such as Monte Carlo simulation.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• MW 1:10 p.m.-2:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniel Lacker
  CULPA: 4 h-index: 13 Info
• 3 points

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Prior knowledge of Python is recommended. Provides a broad understanding of the basic techniques for building intelligent computer systems. Topics include state-space problem representations, problem reduction and and-or graphs, game playing and heuristic search, predicate calculus, and resolution theorem proving, AI systems and languages for knowledge representation, machine learning and concept formation and other topics such as natural language processing may be included as time permits.

• Department: Computer Science
• MW 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• MW 5:40 p.m.-6:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Tony B Dear
  CULPA: 17 Info
• 3 points

CREATIVITY/TECH:WAR & COMMERCE

This course examines the ways that technological shifts have catalyzed innovation and social change in human societies. The focus is on the social basis for creativity. Analysis centers on the conflicts, disruptions and tensions that emerge in society when new and/or competing technologies are introduced. Students will explore two substantive spheres of social life. The first is war. Throughout recorded history, participants have sought to garner competitive advantages in battle via technological innovation. We look at several moments in which the development of a particular innovation helped bring about massive societal change. The second focus is on commerce. The class will examine the impact of digital technologies on those who work in creative industries undergoing transformation via technology and diffusion of tech-inspired ideas. The learning objectives for students are: • To situate technology within a wider social and historical context. • To consider creativity as a social activity, not only as individual aptitude. • To place the contemporary period of so-called “fast paced technological progress” within a sociological framework of change and innovation.

• Department: Sociology
• T 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Sudhir A Venkatesh
  CULPA: 11 Wikipedia Info
• 4 points

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

Digital communications for both point-to-point and switched applications is further developed. Optimum receiver structures and transmitter signal shaping for both binary and M-ary signal transmission. An introduction to block codes and convolutional codes, with application to space communications.

• Department: Electrical Engineering
• W 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
• Instructor: Alexei Ashikhmin
  Info
• 3 points

MONTE CARLO SIMULATION METHODS

Monte Carlo Simulation

This graduate course is only for M.S. Program in Financial Engineering students. Multivariate random number generation, bootstrapping, Monte Carlo simulation, efficiency improvement techniques. Simulation output analysis, Markov-chain Monte Carlo. Applications to financial engineering. Introduction to financial engineering simulation software and exposure to modeling with real financial data. Note: Students who have taken IEOR E4404 Simulation may not register for this course for credit.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
• Instructor: Ali Hirsa
  h-index: 8 Info
• 3 points

Foundations of Financial Technology

Foundations of FinTech

Introduces emerging area of Financial Technology (FinTech) within decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchains. Topics: blockchain fundamentals: major (permissionless) blockchain protocols, permissioned blockchains, and their applications; DeFi fundamentals: Layer-2 primitives (AMMs, lending, liquidity staking, MEV, etc) and stablecoins; markets and trading: market microstructure and on-chain data analytics; and emerging applications: institutional DeFi, real-world asset tokenizations (RWAs), and AI integration. Emphasis on both mathematical foundations and empirical designs.

• Department: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
• TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Wenpin Tang
  h-index: 6 Info
• 3 points