MARKETIZATION & PRIVATIZATION IN EDUCATI

MARKETIZATION_IN EDUCATIO

It has become commonplace for governments to partner with the private sector to deliver public goods and services; this is seen as a way to increase efficiency and decrease costs. Often, this privatization goes hand in hand with an adoption of market values. Nowhere are these trends more evident – or important – than public education. Arguments for educational privatization are often thought of in terms of economics – does it save money? – or limited measures of student achievement - does it raise test scores? In this course, we acknowledge these questions, but we also go beyond them to explore the political and social dimensions of privatization. We ask: Who wins and who loses when public schools privatize? What happens when market values are normalized and prioritized in our schools?

The following questions frame our explorations:

·How does privatization in education differ from privatization in other sectors? 

·What are the implications of educational privatization and marketization for democracy and the public good?

·Who profits from privatization and how does this support or interfere with educative goals?

·How are philanthropy, venture capital, and corporate partnerships reshaping the way schools serve students?

·Does privatization expand opportunities for marginalized students, deepen existing inequalities, or both?

·How does privatization affect the teacher workforce? How does it affect the nature of teachers’ work and student learning?

·How is privatization proceeding globally? How is privatization linked with global policy spread?

·What forms do resistance to privatization take? What ethical considerations should we take up around privatization?

 

This course includes an empirical research component which provides scaffolding and support for students who eventually plan to write a senior thesis.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Rachel Throop
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 4 points

COLL: CAPITALISM AND ITS CRITICS

COLL: CAPITALISM & ITS CR

Capitalism is usually thought of as an economic system, but what does it have to do with politics? This course examines how thinkers of contrasting perspectives have understood capitalism politically. Some have celebrated the market as an escape from coercion, while others criticize it as a source of disguised domination; some see capitalism as leveling social hierarchies, while others point to its creation of class and racial hierarchy; some see capitalism as an engine of wealth creation and heightened living standards, while others emphasize its destruction of existing ways of life and production of inequality; some see capitalism as an engine of peace, while others emphasize its reliance on violence. In particular, we will consider the relationship between state and market, moral critiques of markets and exchange, analyses of the role of force and violence in accumulation, and theories of freedom and domination.

• Department: Political Science @Barnard
• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Alyssa Battistoni
  Info
• 4 points

DISCRETE TIME MODELS IN FINANC

Prerequisites: (MATH UN1102 and MATH UN1201) or (MATH UN1101 and MATH UN1102 and MATH UN1201) and MATH UN2010 Recommended: MATH UN3027 (or MATH UN2030 and SIEO W3600). Elementary discrete time methods for pricing financial instruments, such as options. Notions of arbitrage, risk-neutral valuation, hedging, term-structure of interest rates.

• Department: Mathematics
• MW 6:10 p.m.-7:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Mikhail Smirnov
  CULPA: 16 Info
• 3 points

PROJECT LAB-MOLECULAR GENETICS

Multicellular animals contain a diverse array of cell types, yet start from a single cell. How do cells decide what kind of cell to be? In this lab course, we will use the tools of molecular biology and genetics to explore this fascinating question. We will use the nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans
, a powerful model organism used in hundreds of research labs. The course will be divided into three modules:
C. elegans
genetics, molecular cloning, and genetic screening. Laboratory techniques will include PCR, gel electrophoresis, restriction digest, ligation, transformation, RNAi, and
C. elegans
maintenance. Students will pursue original projects; emphasis will be placed on scientific thinking and scientific communication. 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). Prerequisites: UN2005/UN2401 and UN2006/UN2402, or the equivalent at a different institution.

• Department: Biological Sciences
• MW 12:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Michelle Attner
  Info
• 5 points

MATH & THE CITY

Prerequisites: the instructors permission. In partnership with NYC public school teachers, students will have opportunities to engage in mathematical learning, lesson study, curriculum development, and implementation, with a focus on using the City as a resource. Students will explore implications for working with diverse populations. Non-math majors, pre-service elementary students and first-year students welcome. Fieldwork and field trips required. Note: Students in the Childhood Urban Teaching Program may use this course as a pedagogical elective.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Ishrat Ahmed
  Info
• 4 points

ARTS AND HUMANITIES IN THE CITY:CRITICAL

ARTS & HUMANITIES IN THE CITY

Using the theme of “Arts and Humanities in the City”, this seminar will build participants’ knowledge of critical literacy, digital storytelling methods, and ways to use New York City as a resource for teaching the Arts (Dance, Theatre, Music, and Visual Arts), Social Studies, and English Language Arts in grades K-12. Critical literacy is an approach to teaching and learning that focuses on developing students’ abilities to read, analyze, understand, question, and critique hidden perspectives and socially-constructed power relations embedded in what it means to be literate in a content area.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• F 10:10 a.m.-noon
• 4 points

COLL: POLITICAL VIOLENCE & TERRORISM

COLL:POL VIOLENCE & TERRO

When is violence used against noncombatants in conflicts and what is the impact of such violence? This course focuses on violence against civilians by armed organizations, whether states or non-state actors. We will examine a variety of explanations for such violence, including rationalist, psychological/emotion-based, and organizational approaches. We will also discuss the impact of political violence. Does it get the job done, so to speak? Does violence move terrorist groups closer to their goals? Does indiscriminate violence by the state spur rebellion or suppress insurgencies? Does insurgent violence against civilians make insurgencies more or less effective? While we emphasize violence intentionally causing harm to civilians we will also consider collateral damage.

 

In addition to our discussions of this literature we will explore what light selected empirical evidence might shed on our questions. You will each select a theoretical problem of interest—e.g., two competing theories, a theory that might be revised or applied in a new context—and write a paper addressing this problem on the basis of empirical research (either through qualitative case studies or quantitative analysis). Your ongoing research will be shared when relevant during our class discussions, and the final weeks of the semester will be set aside for a research workshop.

• Department: Political Science @Barnard
• M 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Marjorie Castle
  Info
• 4 points

PROJECT LAB IN MICROBIOLOGY

Prerequisites: one year of Intro Bio. An introductory biology or chemistry lab is recommended. Bacteria are not just unicellular germs. This lab course will broaden your awareness of the amazing world of microbiology and the diverse capabilities of microbes. The focus will be on bacterial multicellularity, pigment production, and intercellular signaling. Pigment-producing bacteria will be isolated from the wild (i.e. Morningside Campus or your skin), and characterized using standard genetic tools (PCR, DNA gel electrophoresis, transformation, screen) and microbiology techniques (isolation of bacteria and growth of bacterial colonies, media preparation, enrichment techniques for pigments). These techniques will also be applied in the study of bacterial multicellularity and signaling in the standard lab strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa. SCE 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
• TR 1:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Lars E Dietrich
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 5 points

SCIENCE & ENGINEERING IN THE CITY

SCIENCE & ENGINEERING IN_

This course will introduce students to the theories and practices of teaching science and engineering in ways that center: a) engaging students and families in active exploration, engineering design, and scientific explanation; b) building strategically on what students already know, including their cultural and linguistic resources; c) enhancing students’ motivation and attitudes towards learning science and engineering; and d) designing assessments that foster ongoing engagement and learning.

Students in the course will form teams to co-plan and co-teach enrichment science and engineering lessons in local afterschool programs, culminating in the development and implementation of a sustainability engineering design unit. Undergraduates will complete 35 hours of fieldwork during the semester. In addition, teams will plan and implement a Family Engineering Night in the afterschool programs to promote family engagement in science and engineering and allow students to showcase what they are learning.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Maria S Rivera Maulucci
  h-index: 10 Info
• 4 points

SENIOR THESIS II

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and completion of all courses (except for the senior requirement) required for the economics track, political economy track, or economics and mathematics majors. Exceptions to these prerequisites may be granted by the chair of the department only. Tutorials and conferences on the research for and writing of the senior thesis. This is the 2nd semester of a two-semester course sequence.

• Department: Economics @Barnard
• MW 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• TR 8:40 a.m.-9:55 a.m.
• Instructor: Elizabeth O Ananat
  CULPA: 2 h-index: 18 Info
• Instructor: Sharon Harrison
  CULPA: 38 h-index: 13 Info
• Instructor: Kurt Semm
  Info
• 4 points

SENIOR SEMINAR

EMPIRICAL MACRO FINANCE

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and the completion of all courses (except for the senior requirement) required for the economics track, political economy track, or economics and mathematics majors. Exceptions to these prerequisites may be granted by the chair of the department only. Seminar sections are limited to 15 students. A topic in economic theory or policy of the instructors choice. See department for current topics and for senior requirement preference forms.

• Department: Economics @Barnard
• R 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Martina Jasova
  CULPA: 7 h-index: 7 Info
• 4 points

SENIOR SEMINAR

Senior Sem:women in Developmnt

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and the completion of all courses (except for the senior requirement) required for the economics track, political economy track, or economics and mathematics majors. Exceptions to these prerequisites may be granted by the chair of the department only. Seminar sections are limited to 15 students. A topic in economic theory or policy of the instructors choice. See department for current topics and for senior requirement preference forms.

• Department: Economics @Barnard
• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Anja Tolonen
  CULPA: 3 h-index: 8 Info
• 4 points

SENIOR SEMINAR

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and the completion of all courses (except for the senior requirement) required for the economics track, political economy track, or economics and mathematics majors. Exceptions to these prerequisites may be granted by the chair of the department only. Seminar sections are limited to 15 students. A topic in economic theory or policy of the instructors choice. See department for current topics and for senior requirement preference forms.

• Department: Economics @Barnard
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• R 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• M 12:10 p.m.-2 p.m.
• Instructor: Lalith Munasinghe
  CULPA: 33 Info
• Instructor: Randall Reback
  CULPA: 17 h-index: 14 Info
• Instructor: Ashley Wong
  Info
• 4 points

STUDENT TEACHING/URBAN SCHOOLS

Prerequisites: completion of EDUC BC2052 or EDUC BC2062 and EDUC BC2055, with grades of B or better. NYCDOE Fingerprinting. Corequisites: EDUC BC3064. Enrollment limited. Supervised student teaching in elementary schools includes creating lesson plans, involving students in active learning, using cooperative methods, developmentally appropriate assessment, and meeting the needs of diverse learners in urban schools. Teaching skills developed through weekly individual and/or group supervision meetings (to be scheduled at the beginning of the semester), conferences, and portfolio design. Requires 100 hours of teaching at two different grade levels, full-time for one semester. Note: Students are only permitted to leave their student teaching placements early twice a week, once for EDUC BC3064 and one other day for one additional course having a start time of 2 pm or later. Students are only permitted to take one additional course while enrolled in EDUC BC3063 and EDUC BC3064.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Lisa Edstrom
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 6 points

SECONDARY STU TCHNG URB SCHLS

Prerequisites: Completion of EDUC BC2052 or EDUC BC2062 and EDUC BC2055, with grades of B or better. NYCDOE Fingerprinting required. Corequisites: EDUC BC3064. Enrollment limited. Supervised student teaching in secondary schools includes creating lesson plans, involving students in active learning, using cooperative methods, developmentally appropriate assessment, and meeting the needs of diverse learners in urban schools. Teaching skills developed through weekly individual and/or group supervision meetings (to be scheduled at the beginning of the semester), conferences, and portfolio design. Requires 100 hours of teaching at two different grade levels, full-time for one semester. Note: Students are only permitted to leave their student teaching placements early twice a week, once for EDUC BC3064 and one other day for one additional course having a start time of 2 pm or later. Students are only permitted to take one additional course while enrolled in EDUC BC3064 and EDUC BC3065.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• 6 points

RESEARCH SEM ECONOMIC HIST II

Must be supervised by a faculty member approved by te program adviser. This is the 2nd semester of a two-semester course sequence.

• Department: Economics @Barnard
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: David Weiman
  CULPA: 40 Info
• 4 points

Education, Crisis and Futures

Education is a social project of making futures. It is a field where people imagine selves and worlds to come
while navigating current constraints and past legacies. Even in the face of various crises that disrupt
educational systems globally, education is often understood as a crisis response and charged with the task of
forging alternative futures and driving social and economic progress.
In this course, we will interrogate the politics of crisis and futurity in education. First, we will explore how
notions of crisis are mobilized to define problems and solutions in education research and policy. In this
exploration, we will ask how histories and politics of domination along lines of race, class, gender, and other
social categories are articulated or silenced in discourses of educational crisis. We will attend to how crises
create both danger and opportunity by considering how they serve to justify violent, dispossessive restructuring
and how they lay bare structures of inequality in ways that generate collective action and transformation.
Next, we will Interrogate education’s futural orientations. We will probe familiar progress narratives and explore
what roles education plays in shaping how marginalized communities imagine and enact futures beyond the
status quo, attending to both its affordances and limitations. Throughout the course, we will draw on
speculative fiction and on scholarship in anthropology, Black studies, and comparative education to investigate
the politics of crisis and futurity in diverse educational contexts. We will engage study as speculative practice
through collaborative and independent exercises that invite us to develop praxes for just futures of education.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Amelia S Herbert
  Info
• 4 points

The Science of World History

This seminar prepares students to engage with material sciences used in historical studies. Students will examine how ice cores, tree rings, isotopes, bone morphology, genetic materials, and chemical compositions have all been used as keys into the human past, appraising successes and failures. Assignments will offer temporal depth and geographic breadth, ranging from the micro to the global. This course contributes to curricula for the Columbia Center for Science and Society, emphasizing connectivity, migration, and the environment to support the Climate Humanities minor while examining to how material studies are used in broader support of the Science and Society minor. Students from the sciences will meanwhile have an opportunity to develop skills in navigating and communicating within humanistic understandings of rigor. This course will culminate in students selecting a site, collection, or method to evaluate how studies have measured against apparent possibilities for scientific research and historical interpretation in that field.

• Department: History @Barnard
• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Matthew Delvaux
  Info
• 4 points

HISTORY OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE

This seminar examines the history of the French language, both in France and in the many areas of the world in which French is a primary language. In the first part of the semester we engage in a chronological study of how the language emerged from a fusion of late medieval Latin with Germanic dialects to become a strong national institution. The development of the language is contextualized by consideration of the social and political history of France. We also devote two weeks of discussion to the situation of the French language today, with topics such as linguistic legislation, regional languages and dialects today, and gender inclusivity. This diachronic approach is carried over into the second part of the semester in which we concentrate on French in several regions outside of France including the Caribbean, North Africa, Central Africa, and North America.  Here we examine how the language was first introduced, what it represented at different moments in history, the relation of French to other languages, and the situation of French in the region today. Work for the course includes a digital project (digital timeline and map, and website) to document visually the presence of French in the world, across history and in the 21st century.

• Department: French @Barnard
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Laurie Postlewate
  CULPA: 17 Info
• 4 points

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY II-LECTURES

Prerequisites: CHEM UN3079 Corequisites: CHEM UN3086 CHEM UN3080 covers the quantum mechanics of atoms and molecules, the quantum statistical mechanics of chemical systems, and the connection of statistical mechanics to thermodynamics. Although CHEM UN3079 and CHEM UN3080 are separate courses, students are expected to take both terms sequentially. A recitation section is required. Please check the Directory of Classes for details and also speak with the TA for the course.

• Department: Chemistry
• MW 10:10 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Instructor: Diptarka Hait
  Info
• 4 points

Economics of Work and Play

In 1930 Keynes predicted a 15-hour work week by the 21st century because he expected we would be at the foothills of the "economic promised land." He was more than right about technological progress and staggering productivity growth –– but dead wrong about the role work would play in our lives. Here we are, working 40+ hour weeks in mostly drab jobs, often under precarious employment conditions. 

 

This course is centered on the concept of "work." The broad objectives of the course are: first, to facilitate a critical understanding of the meaning and significance of work for human life; second, to develop a set of theoretical and analytical tools to dissect and analyze specific work arrangements that we in fact encounter in the real world; and third, and perhaps more importantly, to imagine alternative arrangements of work life that might be better suited for human flourishing. 

 

We begin with some of the central ideas in modern labor economics, including definition of work, labor supply and demand, market mechanisms of wage determination, human capital theory and incentive-based management. We then assess the underlying assumptions implied in this body of knowledge –– for example, from labor as input in production to profit maximization and utility maximization based on stable consumer preferences over material goods and services and leisure time. The springboard for this critical analysis is a set of alternative viewpoints on what constitutes "work activity" from various other academic disciplines including philosophy, anthropology, linguistics and psychology. These readings, with their origins in different historical and intellectual settings and founded on different conceptions of human nature, stand in sharp contrast to this neoclassical economic view of "man" and "work.”

 

The course will have a two-part structure. The first half of the course will consist of a series of lectures on modern labor economic models emphasizing the assumptions, theories and labor market “facts” that these models are designed to explain. The second half of the course will shift to a more discussion-based format that is better suited to a close "exegesis" of the required texts as critique of this neoclassical paradigm of work.

• Department: Economics @Barnard
• TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Lalith Munasinghe
  CULPA: 33 Info
• 3 points

INTERMEDIATE LABORATORY WORK

Prerequisites: phys UN2601 or phys un2802 Primarily for junior and senior physics majors; other majors must obtain the instructors permission. Each experiment is chosen by the student in consultation with the instructor. Each section meets one afternoon per week, with registration in each section limited by the laboratory capacity. Experiments (classical and modern) cover topics in electricity, magnetism, optics, atomic physics, and nuclear physics.

• Department: Physics
• W 1:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• F 1:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Tanya Zelevinsky
  CULPA: 9 Wikipedia Info
• Instructor: Morgan May
  CULPA: 3 Info
• 2 points

DIGITAL SYSTEMS LABORATORY

Companion lab course for CSEE W3827. Experiments cover such topics as logic gates; flip-flops; shift registers; counters; combinational logic circuits; sequential logic circuits; programmable logic devices. The lab generally meets on alternate weeks.

• Department: Electrical Engineering
• M 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• T 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• F 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: Kenneth Shepard
  CULPA: 2 Wikipedia h-index: 64 Info
• 1 points

Tempo - Bodies in Motion: Leisure, exerc

MOVING BODIES IN GERMAN L

This course introduces students of German on the advanced level of language acquisition to depictions of wayfarers in Romantic and modern literature. It includes more recent, 21st-century developments such as literary representations of extreme or physically challenging adventure sports. The selection of texts is geared toward exploring the human experience of leisurely or athletic experiences in urban or natural surroundings. The literary sources make us aware of how the experience of hiking, walking, swimming or climbing is inextricably tied to an understanding of the value of outdoor activities while acknowledging the strong impact of modern technology (maps, GPS, special gear or means of transportation) and recognizing changing attitudes toward strenuous or even risky movements in mountains, rivers, seas or deserts. First, a number of memorable Romantic songs and short poems will give us the opportunity to quickly identify central themes; as we move from poetry to prose, we will continuously adhere to the principle of simplicity and conciseness; this is why we will limit the scope of analysis by using excerpts from novels or longer stories. This way we can spend time on expanding your vocabulary; other features—such as grammar, central motifs, and stylistic features will be of equal importance. Our aim is to reduce the complexity of a text written in German to manageable level and develop our own lexicon for discussing the main topic of “bodies in motion.”

• Department: German @Barnard
• TR 4:10 p.m.-5:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Erk Grimm
  CULPA: 10 Info
• 3 points

Black Women's Freedom Narratives

Black Women's Narratives

During the journey of this course, we will individually and collectively utilize myriad
materials to examine the intricacies, nuances, and trajectories of freedom,
primarily in literary texts grounded in the United States. However, a couple
of required books are centered beyond the geographical and imaginary
boundaries of the United States. Even though one of the texts for this course
is a “traditional” slave narrative of a previously enslaved woman of African
descent in the Caribbean (The History of Mary Prince), we will examine
different narratives of Black women from the colonial period to the
contemporary era that engage and reckon with the processes of freedom-
imagining, freedom-creating, and freedom-making. We will approach the
subject matter utilizing a variety of genres (e.g., slave narratives, oral
histories, speeches, essays, poems, as well as novels (epistolary and science
fiction). For this course, students will submit 2 short essays and a final
paper/project. Small groups of 2-3 students will also co-lead some sections
of class discussions on selected reading assignments.

• Department: Africana Studies (AFSB)
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Celia E Naylor
  CULPA: 2 Info
• 4 points

ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS LABORATORY

Companion lab course for ELEN E3331. Experiments cover such topics as macromodeling of nonidealities of opamps using SPICE; Schmitt triggers and astable multivibrations using op-amps and diodes; logic inverters and amplifiers using bipolar junction transistors; logic inverters and ring oscillators using MOSFETs; filter design using opamps. The lab generally meets on alternate weeks.

• Department: Electrical Engineering
• M 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• T 4:10 p.m.-6:40 p.m.
• F 1:10 p.m.-3:40 p.m.
• Instructor: David G Vallancourt
  CULPA: 28 Info
• 1 points

Quantum Simulation and Computing Lab

Quantum Simul. & Computin

The “Quantum Simulation and Computing Lab” will give students hands-on experience in quantum optics, quantum simulation and quantum computing. The course combines lectures, tutorials, and two lab sections. In one lab section, students will do experiments with entangled photons. In the second lab section, students will program quantum computers and run algorithms on them using the IBM Qiskit platform.

The course starts with a recap of linear algebra and quantum mechanics, followed by an introduction to quantum optics and quantum information. Two-level systems, Bloch sphere, quantum gates, and elementary quantum algorithms will be discussed. Quantum teleportation and quantum key distribution will be introduced as applications of entanglement. The lecture content will be directly applied in experiments with entangled photons. In the following, state-of-the-art quantum algorithms will be discussed, related to cutting-edge research results in quantum computing. This includes quantum Fourier transform, quantum simulation of the Schroedinger equation, and the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm. During the course students will do one experimental project with entangled photons and one quantum programming project. Students will be guided to implement a quantum algorithm of their choice and run it on a quantum computer (IBM, IonQ, QuEra).

• Department: Physics
• 3 points

PHYSICL-ANALYTCL LABORATORY II

Prerequisites: CHEM UN3085 , CHEM UN3080 is acceptable corequisite for CHEM UN3086. A student-centered experimental course intended for students who are co-registered or have complete CHEM UN3079 and CHEM UN3080. The course emphasizes techniques of experimental physical chemistry and instrumental analysis, including vibrational, electronic, and laser spectroscopy; electroanalytical methods; calorimetry; reaction kinetics; hydrodynamic methods; scanning probe microscopy; applications of computers to reduce experimental data; and computational chemistry. Students must also attend the compulsory Mentoring Session. Please check the Directory of Classes for details.

• Department: Chemistry
• T noon-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Luis A Avila
  CULPA: 22 Info
• 4 points

QUANTUM PHYSICS LABORATORY

Experiments illustrating phenomenological aspects of the early quantum theory: (i) Hydrogenic Spectra: Balmer Series - Bohr-Sommerfeld Model; (ii) Photoelectric Effect: Millikans Determination of h/e; (iii) Franck-Hertz Experiment; and (iv) Electron Diffraction Phenomena. Substantial preparation required, including written and oral presentations, as well as an interest in developing the knack and intuition of an experimental physicist. This course is best taken concurrently with PHYS BC3006 Quantum Physics.

• Department: Physics and Astronomy @Barnard
• W 4 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Reshmi Mukherjee
  CULPA: 7 Wikipedia h-index: 63 Info
• 3 points

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

Prerequisites: Science majors should have completed one introductory course that covers biology, ecology, evolution or conservation priort to taking this course. Non-science majors should have some exposure to these same topics but are not required to have taken courses in advance of this class.

• Department: Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
• M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Dustin Partridge
  Info
• 3 points

ADV ELECTROMAGNETISM LAB

Classical electromagnetic wave phenomena via Maxwells equations, including: (i) Michaelson and Fabry-Perot Interferometry, as well as a thin-film interference and elementary dispersion theory; (ii) Fraunhofer Diffraction (and a bit of Fresnel); (iii) Wireless Telegraphy I: AM Radio Receivers; and (iv) Wireless Telegraphy II: AM Transmitters. Last two labs pay homage to relevant scientific developments in the period 1875-1925, from the discovery of Hertzian waves to the Golden Age of Radio. Complements PHYS W3008 Electromagnetic Waves and Optics.

• Department: Physics and Astronomy @Barnard
• F 10:30 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Stiliana Savin
  CULPA: 4 Info
• 3 points

Science of Well-Being and Human Potentia

What does it mean to reach your full potential? Can science inform how you can live 
your own 
best life? The main mission of this seminar is to provide an up-to-date understanding of theoretical, empirical, and applied advances in the science of well-being and human potential. Consideration will be given to conflicting viewpoints and their respective empirical support. The course is grounded in the core principles of humanistic psychology, and will cover essential human needs, including security, growth, mindfulness, connection, self-esteem, love, creativity, character, resiliency, purpose, flow, gratitude, awe, and other forms of transcendence. We will also cover the latest science of human performance, including the development of intelligence, talent, and creativity. Throughout this seminar you will engage in experiential learning and practical exercises to further help you nurture what’s best within you— and become a 
whole person
— which will inform our theoretical and empirical understanding of the latest scientific findings. My hope is that in addition to enhancing your appreciation of how the scientific method can increase your understanding of human potential more generally, the exercises and readings in this course will also help you in your own personal journey to realize your greatest strengths and become more fully human— accepting and becoming flexible with the totality of who you are, so that you can become the person you most want to become.

PLEASE NOTE:  Students may not get credit for both PSYC BC3008 and PSYC UN3820

• Department: Psychology @Barnard
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Scott B Kaufman
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 40 Info
• 4 points

INDIVIDUAL SENIOR PROJECTS

Prerequisites: Meets senior requirement. Instructor permission required. The instructor will supervise the writing of long papers involving some form of sociological research and analysis.

• Department: Sociology @Barnard
• Instructor: Deborah Becher
  CULPA: 8 h-index: 4 Info
• Instructor: Elizabeth Bernstein
  CULPA: 27 Info
• Instructor: Maricarmen Hernandez
  Info
• Instructor: Debra Minkoff
  CULPA: 6 h-index: 17 Info
• Instructor: Mignon R Moore
  CULPA: 9 h-index: 17 Info
• Instructor: Jonathan Rieder
  CULPA: 17 Info
• Instructor: Angela Simms
  Info
• Instructor: Amy Zhou
  Info
• Instructor: Randa B Serhan
  CULPA: 2 Info
• 4 points

Senior Research Seminar: Inquiry

SENIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR I

This is the second semester of a year-long senior capstone experience for Educational Studies majors. Over the course of the year, you will design and carry-out an inquiry project, and you will report on this project through an appropriate medium, for a specific purpose and audience.

• Department: Education @Barnard
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Thea R Abu El-Haj
  Info
• 4 points

ARTEMIS RISING SHORT COURSE IN FILMMAKIN

ARTEMIS COURSE IN FILMMAK

The Artemis Rising Short Course in Filmmaking is a two to four-week course offered each semester on a special topic of filmmaking presented by an Artemis Rising Foundation Filmmaker Fellow (ARFF). This series was endowed by the Artemis Rising Foundation to bring world-class filmmakers with hands-on experience and fresh perspectives to Barnard to connect with students interested in filmmaking as a vocation and media literacy.

It can only be taken for pass/fail for 1 point.
Students must attend all four class sessions and write a final paper in order to receive credit for this course. 
To see the dates/times that the Artemis Rising Short Course will meet this semester, the current course description, and the biography of the visiting filmmaker, please visit the ARFF website:
https://athenacenter.barnard.edu/arff
.

• Department: Film @Barnard
• W 11 a.m.-1:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Alice A Reagan
  CULPA: 1 Wikipedia Info
• 1 points

ARTEMIS RISING SHORT COURSE IN FILM PROD

ARTEMIS COURSE:FILM PRODU

The Artemis Rising Short Course in Film Production is a one-point credit short workshop presented by an Artemis Rising Foundation Filmmaker Fellow (ARFF).  It consists of four workshops on a special aspect of film production and one final project. This series was endowed by the Artemis Rising Foundation to bring world-class filmmakers with hands-on experience and fresh perspectives to Barnard to connect with students interested in filmmaking as a vocation and media literacy.

It can only be taken for pass/fail for 1 point. 
Students must attend all four class workshops and produce one final project in order to receive credit for this course. 
To see the dates/times that the Artemis Rising Short Course will meet this semester, the current course description, and the biography of the visiting filmmaker, please visit the ARFF website:
https://athenacenter.barnard.edu/arff
.

• Department: Film @Barnard
• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Alice A Reagan
  CULPA: 1 Wikipedia Info
• 1 points

SENIOR THESIS

French majors will write their senior thesis under the supervision of the instructor.

• Department: French @Barnard
• T 6:10 p.m.-7:25 p.m.
• Instructor: Brian D O'Keeffe
  CULPA: 28 Info
• 4 points

More than Real: Dreams, Imagination, and

More Than Real

This course is thematic, though a loose history of dreaming, imaginative praxis, and virtual reality environments across South Asia will emerge through the networked conversations across texts. The advantage of a thematic course allows us to cover various genres such as: ritual manuals; epic; poetry; philosophical argument; biographical accounts; prophecies; conversion stories; and medical textbooks to name a handful. At the end of the course, we will see how the texts encountered in the first part have been repurposed to speak to social justice movements around caste - both within South Asia and the diaspora population in the U.S. The thematic of dreaming and imagination also provides flexibility in method: because students will have the opportunity to study conversations between different historical actors across religious traditions about dreams, they will also have the opportunity to revise problematic accounts of religious pluralism and communalism in South Asia. Students will read primary texts from Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, and Sikh traditions to name a handful. Students can look forward to reading about worlds within rocks; falling asleep and waking up as another person only to die in the dream world, wake up and then realize your dream-life family is somehow real and looking for you; how to finally interpret those pesky dreams about teeth falling out; dismembered bodies generating the universe; daydreaming about a cloud that thinks mountain peaks look like nipples; how to build a mind-temple that Shiva prefers to the physical one with fancy rock; and much more!

• Department: Religion @Barnard
• R 10:10 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Meghan E Hartman
  Info
• 4 points

SUPERVISED INDEPENDENT RES

Prerequisites: the instructors permission for entrance, and the departmental representatives permission for aggregate points in excess of 12 or less than 4. This course may be repeated for credit (see major and concentration requirements). Individual research under the supervision of a member of the staff. Research areas include organic, physical, inorganic, analytical, and biological chemistry. Please note that CHEM UN3098 is offered in the fall and spring semesters.

• Department: Chemistry
• Instructor: Vesna Gasperov
  CULPA: 1 h-index: 4 Info
• 4 points

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: Peter D Balsam
  CULPA: 25 Info
• Instructor: Elizabeth P Bauer
  CULPA: 3 h-index: 21 Info
• Instructor: Bj Casey
  Info
• Instructor: John Glendinning
  CULPA: 23 h-index: 39 Info
• Instructor: Gabrielle J Gutierrez
  Info
• Instructor: E'Mett McCaskill
  CULPA: 38 Info
• Instructor: Kara Pham
  CULPA: 9 Info
• Instructor: Russell D Romeo
  CULPA: 9 Info
• Instructor: Rae Silver
  Wikipedia h-index: 69 Info
• 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

JOURNALISM & PUBLIC LIFE

An introduction to the conventions, traditions, values, assumptions, and arguments that have shaped the institution of journalism and its central role in public life. Through close readings/viewings of current and classic works of journalism as well as secondary sources, we explore some of the Big Questions: What is journalism for? What is its role in public life, and how has that changed over time? Is objectivity dead--or should it be? How have new technologies affected our expectations? Is sensationalism bad for you? Can anything be done about "fake news"? What is the future of journalism? The focus is on the American experience from the colonial era to the present day, though it will be placed in a global context.

• Department: Journalism
• TR 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
• Instructor: Andie Tucher
  Info
• 3 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

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
.
The most exciting, and the most terrifying, aspect of writing fiction is that there are no rules that cannot, under certain conditions, be broken. Good fiction makes and lives by its own rules. In this course, we will discuss common tenets of fiction writing—regarding character, plot, point-of-view, and more—and also examine cases in which writers break rules for the better. This course involves attentive reading of stories by various authors, discussions of craft, in-class writing, and workshops of student fiction. Readings may include Shirley Hazzard, Elias Khoury, James Wood, Elena Ferrante, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Sylvia Townsend Warner, among others.

• Department: English @Barnard
• M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Faculty
  h-index: 37 Info
• 3 points