This lecture course offers a comprehensive and chronological overview of the major masterpieces of art and architecture of the Muslim world between circa 700-1000 AD. Topics concerning the rise of Arabic as the official language of the new Muslim Empire and the aesthetic transformation it went from script to calligraphy, the shaping of sacred spaces and liturgical objects, rulers’ iconographies and urban designs, as well as daily-life objects, will be discussed. Mecca, Madina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Fustat (old Cairo), Qayrawan, Cordoba, Baghdad, Samarra, Balkh, Bukhara and early Fatimid Cairo are the major playgrounds to illustrate particular moments of shifting powers and aesthetic paradigms in the early days of the Muslim empire, suggesting a more differentiate picture of the arts of Islam in the age of imagining a world-wide empire. The past narratives for these regions will be critically presented by both looking at the medieval sources and the modern historiographies for these regions and by highlighting the varied ideologies at play. Taking this critical vein of studying the arts of the early Muslim age, past narratives will be reconsidered, while enhancing our awareness to the complicated, if not sometimes manipulated, processes of giving works of arts meanings and values.
Every new educational innovation comes with proponents who tout dramatic improvements in efficiency alongside naysayers who claim the end of human thought has arrived. The advent of AI in education is the latest chapter in this old argument, raising the questions: What is the actual impact of AI tools on education? On students and faculty? On modes of thought? Drawing on philosophy, ethics, and educational psychology, students construct a personal framework for evaluating educational strategies and tools. They apply that framework to five essential aspects of the educational experience — self-testing, note-taking, tutoring, study planning, and writing — using hands-on experimentation with analog, digital, and AI-enhanced approaches. The course concludes by examining AI's impact on mental health and psychological well-being. Students leave with a system for evaluating educational tools as they continue to evolve.
Prerequisites: Advanced Placement in physics and mathematics, or the equivalent, and the instructor's permission. (A special placement meeting is held during Orientation.) This accelerated two-semester sequence covers the subject matter of PHYS UN1601, PHYS UN1602 and PHYS UN2601, and is intended for those students who have an exceptionally strong background in both physics and mathematics. The course is preparatory for advanced work in physics and related fields. There is no accompanying laboratory; however, students are encouraged to take the intermediate laboratory, PHYS UN3081, in the following year.
This survey lecture course will provide students with a broad overview of the history of South Asia as a region - focusing on key political, cultural and social developments over more than two millennia. The readings include both primary sources (in translation) and secondary works. Our key concerns will be the political, cultural and theological encounters of varied communities, the growth of cities and urban spaces, networks of trade and migrations and the development of both local and cosmopolitan cultures across Southern Asia. The survey will begin with early dynasties of the classical period and then turn to the subsequent formation of various Perso-Turkic polities, including the development and growth of hybrid political cultures such as those of Vijayanagar and the Mughals. The course also touches on Indic spiritual and literary traditions such as Sufi and Bhakti movements. Near the end of our course, we will look forward towards the establishment of European trading companies and accompanying colonial powers.
MANDATORY Discussion Section for HSME 2811 South Asia: Empire and Aftermath. Students must also be registered for HSME 2811.
Prerequisites: () Enrollment is limited to 16; must attend first lab to hold place. Studies of the structure, ecology, and evolution of plants. Laboratory exercises include field problems, laboratory experiments, plant collections and identification, and examination of the morphology of plant groups.
This course explores Korea’s history from the late nineteenth century to the present with a particular focus on caste/class, gender, war and industrialization. Using primary and secondary texts as well as documentary film and literary ephemera, the seminar analyses such topics as the relationship between imperialism and rebellions in the nineteenth century; the uneven experience of Japanese colonial rule; Korea’s early feminist movement; how North Korea became a communist society; the deep scars of the Korean War; cultures of industrialism in South and North Korea; counter-cultural movements in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s South Korea; and contemporary challenges facing the peninsula. This course will give students a thorough grounding in modern Korean history and introduce them to major interpretative currents in the study of Korean history.
Required discussion section for “Making Modern Korea” lecture (HIST 2851)
What explains Russia’s foreign and security policy choices and its terrible relationship with the West today? We will discuss and debate the motivations behind Moscow’s actions, asking whether they have been driven by realist great power considerations; by Russia’s domestic patronage system and Russian President Putin’s desire to stay in power; by an ideology of ethnic Orthodox nationalism or neo-Eurasianism; or by decision-making factors that are either unique to Putin or common across human psychology. In turn we will examine how choices made by the United States and the European Union have affected Russia, and evaluate what all of this means for concrete recent and current Russian and Western foreign and security policy choices. Students will be encouraged to come up with their own answers to these riddles in class discussions and written assignments, and the course concludes with a rigorous negotiation simulation where students will apply the knowledge gained in this course in a practical exercise. This course has no prerequisites, and no background knowledge is expected.
Several members of the faculty each offer a brief series of talks providing context for a current research topic in the field and then present results of their ongoing research. Opportunities for future student research collaboration are offered. Grading is Pass/Fail.
A continuation of the study of the written and spoken language of Turkey, with readings of literary, historical, and other texts. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
If you are interested in biology, come hear Columbia University professors discuss their biology-related research. Find out how the body works, the latest therapies for disease and maybe even find a lab to do research in. Prerequisite: G Chem I & II; Co-requisite: Intro bio I.
This course surveys the second half of the most violent century in human history. It examines the intersection of war and human society in the years after 1945 by focusing on two monumental and intertwined historical processes: Decolonization and the Cold War. While the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union would fail to produce any general wars between two belligerents, this superpower rivalry would help to make the global process of decolonization in the developing a particularly violent affair.
Required course for department majors. Not open to Barnard or Continuing Education students. Students must receive instructors permission. Introduction to different methodological approaches to the study of art and visual culture. Majors are encouraged to take the colloquium during their junior year.
The goal of this course is to gain an understanding of the chemical principles that govern biological systems. We will look at the structure and function of biomolecules (proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and lipids), with an emphasis on interactions between them, enzyme kinetics, and metabolic pathways. Key topics will include protein folding and function, enzyme mechanisms, bioenergetics, and the regulation of key metabolic cycles. In addition to lecture we will spend time examining case studies and selected articles from primary literature, and engaging in group discussions.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing. Required for all sociology majors. Prerequisite: at least one sociology course of the instructor's permission. Theoretical accounts of the rise and transformations of modern society in the19th and 20th centuries. Theories studied include those of Adam Smith, Tocqueville, Marx, Durkheim, Max Weber, Roberto Michels. Selected topics: individual, society, and polity; economy, class, and status: organization and ideology; religion and society; moral and instrumental action.
History and development of aviation and spaceflight; application of fundamental physics to analyze atmospheric and space flight; core principles of aerodynamics, propulsion, and flight mechanics; basic aircraft performance and stability characteristics; influence of space and atmospheric environment on vehicles; key lightweight materials and structural design considerations in aerospace applications. Course intended for undergraduate students. Students who take AERO E3001 may not take AERO E4001.
Focuses on the history of theatre dance forms originating in Europe and America from the Renaissance to the present. Includes reading, writing, viewing, and discussion of sources such as film, text, original documentation, demonstration, and performance.
Prerequisites: GERM UN2102. If you have prior German outside of Columbia’s language sequence, the placement exam is required. Note: UN3001 and UN3002 are not sequential.
German UN3001 is an ambitious socio-cultural exploration of Berlin. Designed to follow up the language skills acquired in first- and second-year language courses (or the equivalent thereof), this course gives students greater proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing German while focusing on topics from German society today through various German media, such as internet, film, and literature through the lens of Germany’s capital, Berlin. Topics discussed include: cultural diversity in Berlin's multi-cultural neighborhoods; questioning and reflecting upon Berlin's recent past; developing your own Berlin experience and presenting your interests in various forms, such as presentations, an essay, your CV, an application letter and interview for an internship in Berlin. The course represents a gateway class to literature courses and counts towards the major and concentration in German. Taught in German.
Prerequisites: Physics BC2002 or the equivalent. Corequisites: Calculus III. Nonlinear pendula, transverse vibrations-elastic strings, longitudinal sound waves, seismic waves, electromagnetic oscillations - light, rainbows, haloes, the Green Flash; polarization phenomena - Haidingers Brush, Brewsters angle, double refraction, optical activity; gravity - capillary waves; interference, diffraction, lenses - mirrors. PLEASE NOTE: Students who take PHYS BC3001 may not receive credit for PHYS BC3010.
The history of Slavic peoples - Russians, Czechs, Poles, Serbs, Croats, Ukrainians, Bulgarians - is rife with transformations, some voluntary, some imposed. Against the background of a schematic external history, this course examines how Slavic peoples have responded to and have represented these transformations in various modes: historical writing, hagiography, polemics, drama and fiction, folk poetry, music, visual art, and film. Activity ranges over lecture (for historical background) and discussion (of primary sources).
Prerequisites: the departments permission. Required for all thesis writers.
In this course, you will conduct independent projects in photography in a structured setting under faculty supervision. You are responsible for arranging for your photographic equipment in consultation with the instructor.
This course will afford you a framework in which to intensively develop a coherent body of photographs, critique this work with your classmates, and correlate your goals with recent issues in contemporary photography.
Students are required to enroll in an additional fifteen contact hours of instruction at the International Center for Photography. Courses range from one-day workshops to full-semester courses.
Permission of instructor only. The class will be limited to 20 students.
This course offers an expansive journey into the Chinese language and culture. It focuses on essential semi-formal and formal writing skills while refining discourse-level competency. Students will enhance their linguistic abilities and communication skills in Chinese through reading and writing assignments, oral presentations, and discussions. This approach fosters adept communication and a deeper connection with the complexities of Chinese culture, preparing students to engage thoughtfully with contemporary issues and traditions.
Prerequisites: GRKM un2102 This course builds on the elements of the language acquired in GRKM1101 through 2102, but new students may place into it, after special arrangement with the instructor. It introduces the students to a number of authentic multimodal materials drawn from a range of sources which include films, literary texts, media, music etc. in order to better understand Greece’s current cultural, socio-economic, and political landscape. In doing so, it aims to foster transcultural understanding and intercultural competence, while further developing the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Topics of discussion include language, gender equality, youth unemployment, education, queer identities, refugees, and the multilayered aspects of the crisis.Pre-requisite for this class: GRKM 2102 or placement test. Instructor’s permission required if the students have not taken GRKM2102 or equivalent.
This lecture course in political theory examines pressing questions related to borders, migration, exile, and displacement: Why do we have borders, and how are they constructed and governed? How do borders relate to political membership and rights? What can borders teach us about modern sovereign power? Are there any limits to state coercion and violence in border enforcement? In what ways do borders manifest racial hierarchies and divides within the global order? How do we rethink political responsibility in response to problems of rightlessness generated by borders? In addressing these questions, the course prioritizes borders as crucial sites for understanding and interrogating key political concepts such as sovereignty, membership, rights, and violence.
Prerequisites: one year of biology; a course in physics is highly recommended. This is an advanced course intended for majors providing an in depth survey of the cellular and molecular aspects of nerve cell function. Topics include: the cell biology and biochemistry of neurons, ionic and molecular basis of electrical signals, synaptic transmission and its modulation, function of sensory receptors. Although not required, it is intended to be followed by Neurobiology II (see below).
Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Course develops physical, vocal, and imaginative range and skills needed to approach the text of a play: text analysis, speech exercises, non-verbal behavior, improvisation designed to enhance embodiment, movement, and projection.
Gateway course to advanced courses; transfer students who have previous college-level course may be exempted with approval of Chair
.
May be retaken for full credit.
Prerequisites: CHNS C1222 or F1222, or the equivalent. Admission after Chinese placement exam and an oral proficiency interview with the instructor. Especially designed for students who possess good speaking ability and who wish to acquire practical writing skills as well as business-related vocabulary and speech patterns. Introduction to semiformal and formal Chinese used in everyday writing and social or business-related occasions. Simplified characters are introduced.
Intended for those WITHOUT prior knowledge of statistics. Some background in ecology, evolutionary biology required. This is an introduction to the theoretical principles and practical application of statistical methods in ecology and evolutionary biology. The course will cover the conceptual basis for a range of statistical techniques through a series of lectures using examples from the primary literature. The application of these techniques will be taught through the use of statistical software in computer-based laboratory sessions.
Prerequisites: JPNS C1202 or the equivalent. Readings in authentic/semi-authentic texts, videos, and class discussions.
Prerequisites: KORN W1202 or the equivalent and consultation with instructor. (See Entrance to Language Courses Beyond the Elementary Level in the main bulletin under Department of Instruction -- East Asian Languages and Cultures.) Readings in modern Korean. Selections from modern Korean writings in literature, history, social sciences, culture, and videos and class discussions.
Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Students must have taken Acting I or equivalent to be eligible for Acting II sections. Acting II will offer several different sections, focusing on a specific range of conceptual, embodiment, and physical acting skills. Please check with the Theatre Department website forspecific offerings and audition information. May be retaken for full credit. All sections of Acting II fullfull the “Arts and Humanities” Foundations requirement at Barnard College.
Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Students must have taken Acting I or equivalent to be eligible for Acting II sections. Acting II will offer several different sections, focusing on a specific range of conceptual, embodiment, and physical acting skills. Please check with the Theatre Department website forspecific offerings and audition information. May be retaken for full credit. All sections of Acting II fullfull the “Arts and Humanities” Foundations requirement at Barnard College.
Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Students must have taken Acting I or equivalent to be eligible for Acting II sections. Acting II will offer several different sections, focusing on a specific range of conceptual, embodiment, and physical acting skills. Please check with the Theatre Department website forspecific offerings and audition information. May be retaken for full credit. All sections of Acting II fullfull the “Arts and Humanities” Foundations requirement at Barnard College.
Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Students must have taken Acting I or equivalent to be eligible for Acting II sections. Acting II will offer several different sections, focusing on a specific range of conceptual, embodiment, and physical acting skills. Please check with the Theatre Department website forspecific offerings and audition information. May be retaken for full credit. All sections of Acting II fullfull the “Arts and Humanities” Foundations requirement at Barnard College.
Prerequisite: Open to all Barnard and Columbia undergraduates. Permission of Instructor required; students admitted from Waiting List. Students must have taken Acting I or equivalent to be eligible for Acting II sections. Acting II will offer several different sections, focusing on a specific range of conceptual, embodiment, and physical acting skills. Please check with the Theatre Department website forspecific offerings and audition information. May be retaken for full credit. All sections of Acting II fullfull the “Arts and Humanities” Foundations requirement at Barnard College.
Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 12 students. Discussions on contemporary issues and oral presentations. Creative writing assignments designed to improve writing skills and vocabulary development. FREN BC1204: French Intermediate II or the equivalent level is required.
Please note that this is not a class on “biblical archaeology”. It is a course about the politics of archaeology in the context of Israel/Palestine, and the wider southwest Asia region. This course provides a critical overview of prehistoric archaeology in southwest Asia (or the Levant - the geographical area from Lebanon in the north to the Sinai in the south, and from the middle Euphrates in Syria to southern Jordan). It has been designed to appeal to anthropologists, historians, and students interested in the Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Studies. The course is divided into two parts. First, a social and political history of archaeology, emphasizing how the nature of current theoretical and practical knowledge has been shaped and defined by previous research traditions and, second, how the current political situation in the region impinges upon archaeological practice. Themes include: the dominance of "biblical archaeology" and the implications for Palestinian archaeology, Islamic archaeology, the impact of European contact from the Crusades onwards, and the development of prehistory.
Prerequisites: general physics, and differential and integral calculus. Electrostatics and magnetostatics, Laplace's equation and boundary-value problems, multipole expansions, dielectric and magnetic materials, Faraday's law, AC circuits, Maxwell's equations, Lorentz covariance, and special relativity.
This course is designed for students with at least two years of college-level Chinese who wish to improve their conversational skills. It focuses on practical speaking and listening in real- world contexts, emphasizing fluency, vocabulary expansion, and cultural competence. Students will develop confidence in expressing opinions, narrating experiences, and engaging in spontaneous conversations on everyday and contemporary topics.
Note: This Course CANNOT be used to fulfill the language requirement.
This course is designed for students with at least two years of college-level Chinese who wish to improve their conversational skills. It focuses on practical speaking and listening in real- world contexts, emphasizing fluency, vocabulary expansion, and cultural competence. Students will develop confidence in expressing opinions, narrating experiences, and engaging in spontaneous conversations on everyday and contemporary topics.
Note: This Course CANNOT be used to fulfill the language requirement.
A cultural history of Black fashion and dress, this course examines the power of clothing as a strategic tool for self-representation, resistance, and liberation. We will examine how fashion and dress express social, political, and aesthetic realities and ambitions of Black people in diaspora, especially as they transition from enslavement to freedom, rural to urban, from colonized to liberated, and visualize a sense of cosmopolitanism on and with their adorned bodies.
In fall of 2026, the class will focus on 10 fashion objects that represent singular, transformative moments in Afrodiasporic history. Combining material history with cultural, social, and political context, this course analyzes the impact of fashion/dress makers and wearers, offering a window onto Black history through a familiar, yet contested and consequential mode of identity formation– clothing and style.
Various concepts within the field of biomedical engineering, foundational knowledge of engineering methodology applied to biological and/or medical problems through modules in biomechanics, biomaterials, and cell & tissue engineering.
Fundamentals are emphasized: the laws of thermodynamics are derived and their meaning explained and elucidated by applications to engineering problems. Pure systems are treated, with an emphasis on phase equilibrium.
Introduction to quantum mechanics: atoms, electron shells, bands, bonding; introduction to group theory: crystal structures, symmetry, crystallography; introduction to materials classes: metals, ceramics, polymers, liquid crystals, nanomaterials; introduction to polycrystals and disordered materials; noncrystalline and amorphous structures; grain boundary structures, diffusion; phase transformations; phase diagrams, time-temperature transformation diagrams; properties of single crystals: optical properties, electrical properties, magnetic properties, thermal properties, mechanical properties, and failure of polycrystalline and amorphous materials.
Prerequisites: SOCI UN1000 The Social World or Instructor Permission Required for all Sociology majors. Introductory course in social scientific research methods. Provides a general overview of the ways sociologists collect information about social phenomena, focusing on how to collect data that are reliable and applicable to our research questions.
Prerequisites: (VIAR UN1000) (Formerly R3515) This course approaches drawing as an experimental and expressive tool. Students will explore the boundaries between drawing and sculpture and will be encouraged to push the parameters of drawing. Collage, assemblage and photomontage will be used in combination with more traditional approaches to drawing. The class will explore the role of the imagination, improvisation, 3-dimensional forms, observation, memory, language, mapping, and text. Field trips to artists’ studios as well as critiques will play an important role in the course. The course will culminate in a final project in which each student will choose one or more of the themes explored during the semester and create a series of artworks. This course is often taught under the nomenclature Drawing II - Mixed Media.
Progressive social movements are often read as critiques of systemic injustice and calls to transform social arrangements. In this framework, activism is largely - if not exclusively - a
political
project that addresses issues of housing, education, employment, healthcare, elections, labor, sexual violence, immigration, war, and climate, to name a few. Of course, these efforts are central to the long history of freedom struggles. Largely missing from such mainstream conceptions of activism, however, is serious attention to its
spiritual
work. That is, the ways social movements can transform hearts, minds, and spirits as much as material conditions, public policies, and political arrangements.
This course explores the intersection of social liberation and spiritual transformation, with particular focus on black and multi-racial freedom struggles in the Americas from the 19th century to today. Conceptually, it covers scholarship that speaks broadly to questions of love, spirituality, ethics, and religion in progressive political movements. Practically, it considers how this rich tradition of spiritual activism may help us confront legacies of injustice and struggle toward a liberated world.
Prerequisites: ECON BC3035 or ECON BC3033, or permission of the instructor. Conceptualization and measurement of inequality and poverty, poverty traps and distributional dynamics, economics and politics of public policies, in both poor and rich countries.
This course introduces students to the history, aesthetics, and production techniques of house music from its emergence in Chicago in the early 1980s through later developments in New York, New Jersey, Detroit, and Europe. Combining hands-on studio practice with discussion of selected readings, the course examines how club culture, social conditions, and recording technologies shaped the sound of house music across different eras and regional scenes. Students learn historically grounded approaches to drum programming, sound design, sampling, remixing, effects processing, arrangement, and mixing through a combination of imitation studies and original creative work. By the end of the semester, each student will complete an original house track that demonstrates technical control, stylistic awareness, and historical understanding.
Prerequisites: ECON BC3035 and ECON BC2411 or permission of the instructor. Analyzes education policies and education markets from an economic perspective. Examines challenges that arise when researchers attempt to identify the causal effects of inputs. Other topics: (1) education as an investment, (2) public school finance, (3) teacher labor markets, (4) testing/accountability programs, (5) school choice programs, and (6) urban public school reforms.
Prerequisites: LATN UN2102 or the equivalent. Selections from Vergil and Horace. Combines literary analysis with work in grammar and metrics.
Lectures and hands-on experiments on the characterization of microstructure in crystalline and amorphous solids. Optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Metallography, sample preparation and analysis. Stereology. Crystal structure determination with x-ray diffraction. Elemental analysis using energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. Atomic force microscopy.
Translation of French texts--both critical and literary, focusing on particular questions or themes. FREN BC1204: French Intermediate II or the equivalent level is required.
Required Lab for EEEB UN3005. An introduction to the theoretical principles and practical application of statistical methods in ecology and evolutionary biology. The course will cover the conceptual basis for a range of statistical techniques through a series of lectures using examples from the primary literature. The application of these techniques will be taught through the use of statistical software in computer-based laboratory sessions.
Required Lab for EEEB UN3005. An introduction to the theoretical principles and practical application of statistical methods in ecology and evolutionary biology. The course will cover the conceptual basis for a range of statistical techniques through a series of lectures using examples from the primary literature. The application of these techniques will be taught through the use of statistical software in computer-based laboratory sessions.
Prerequisites: Enrollment limited. Required field trip on first Friday of the semester. Hands-on approach to learning environmental methods. Students take a one-day cruise on the Hudson River to collect environmental samples. These samples are then analyzed throughout the semester to characterize the Hudson River estuary. Standard and advanced techniques to analyze water and sediment samples for nutrients and contaminants are taught.
Prerequisites: At least one French course after completion of FREN BC1204: Intermediate II or permission of the instructor. Oral presentations and discussions of French films aimed at increasing fluency, acquiring vocabulary, and perfecting pronunciation skills.
Prerequisites: One year of college science or EESC V2100 or permission of the instructor. Acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of environmental data, assessment of spatial and temporal variability. Focus on water quality issues and storm surges. Uses existing and student-generated data sets. Basic principles of statistics and GIS, uses standard software packages including EXCEL and ArcGIS. Includes a half-day field trip on a Saturday or Sunday. General Education Requirement: Quantitative and Deductive Reasoning (QUA).
This course is a study of the development of American political ideas, through critical analysis of the
writings of intellectuals and political leaders from the American Founding to the present. As our central
theme, we will focus on the traditions of American Political Thought (APT) as simultaneously theorizing
freedom and liberty on the one hand, and intense, often violent forms of domination on the other,
especially domination on the basis of race. Consequently, we will devote time to both classic readings in
APT (the Founders, Tocqueville, Lincoln, etc.) and to multiple strands of US political thinking that
challenge the dominant narratives of APT. In analyzing the competing traditions of equality and
inequality in theory, we will also explore the connections between this theory and practices of equality
and inequality.
In this course we will explore the experience of illness and healing in ancient Greece and Rome, with some exploration of other contexts such as Egypt, Babylonia, and Christianity down to modern Greece. The class will focus on close reading of documents, from the viewpoint of the ill and of those who try to understand illness and act on their understanding. We will pay attention to medical texts such as the diagnostic writing of the Hippocratic corpus or the treatises of Galen, but also popular texts and artifacts such as ex-votos.
Prerequisites: ECON BC3033 or ECON BC3035, and ECON BC2411 or STAT W1111 or STAT W1211, or permission of the instructor. Specification, estimation and evaluation of economic relationships using economic theory, data, and statistical inference; testable implications of economic theories; econometric analysis of topics such as consumption, investment, wages and unemployment, and financial markets.
Experiments in instrumentation and measurement: optical, pressure, fluid flow, temperature, stress, and electricity; viscometry, cantilever beam, digital data acquisition. Probability theory: distribution, functions of random variables, tests of significance, correlation, ANOVA, linear regression.
Experiments in instrumentation and measurement: optical, pressure, fluid flow, temperature, stress, and electricity; viscometry, cantilever beam, digital data acquisition. Probability theory: distribution, functions of random variables, tests of significance, correlation, ANOVA, linear regression.
Experiments in instrumentation and measurement: optical, pressure, fluid flow, temperature, stress, and electricity; viscometry, cantilever beam, digital data acquisition. Probability theory: distribution, functions of random variables, tests of significance, correlation, ANOVA, linear regression.
Experiments in instrumentation and measurement: optical, pressure, fluid flow, temperature, stress, and electricity; viscometry, cantilever beam, digital data acquisition. Probability theory: distribution, functions of random variables, tests of significance, correlation, ANOVA, linear regression.
Experiments in instrumentation and measurement: optical, pressure, fluid flow, temperature, stress, and electricity; viscometry, cantilever beam, digital data acquisition. Probability theory: distribution, functions of random variables, tests of significance, correlation, ANOVA, linear regression.
Experiments in instrumentation and measurement: optical, pressure, fluid flow, temperature, stress, and electricity; viscometry, cantilever beam, digital data acquisition. Probability theory: distribution, functions of random variables, tests of significance, correlation, ANOVA, linear regression.
Designed to provide students with an understanding of the fundamental marketing concepts and their application by business and non-business organizations. The goal is to expose students to these concepts as they are used in a wide variety of settings, including consumer goods firms, manufacturing and service industries, and small and large businesses. The course gives an overview of marketing strategy issues, elements of a market (company, customers, and competition), as well as the fundamental elements of the marketing mix (product, price, placement/distribution, and promotion).
An exploration of the early periods of French literary creation (Medieval-17th century) through works of fiction, poetry, and theatre. Special attention is given to texts that use tradition to bring about change, to provoke, to contest social norms, and to test the expected parameters of literary expression.
Prerequisites: BIOL UN2005 and BIOL UN2006 or equivalent. Come discover how the union of egg and sperm triggers the complex cellular interactions that specify the diverse variety of cells present in multicellular organisms. Cellular and molecular aspects of sex determination, gametogenesis, genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, telomerase as the biological clock, stem cells, cloning, the pill and cell interactions will be explored, with an emphasis on humans. Original research articles will be discussed to further examine current research in developmental biology. 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
This course considers how identity increased, limited, controlled, or otherwise shaped the mobility of individuals and groups in the Roman world, including women, slaves, freedpeople, and diaspora communities. We will identify the structures that produced differences in mobility and consider how such groups understood and represented themselves in a variety of media as possessing a specific, shared identity and community. The course will draw on a range of primary sources, including inscriptions and literary texts (both poetry and prose), and cover the period from the second century BCE to the third century CE.
This course courses engages the interdisciplinary study of religion online and provides practical training to students on developing digital humanities projects, in partnership with the Digital Humanities Center and the Empirical Reasoning Center, and will incorporate analysis and critical reflection into their research on religious communities. The first portion of the course focuses on understanding methodologies in studying digital religion and exploring religious communities online. Case studies focus on ascriptive and affirmative identifications of religious communities, including how religious communities use online space to redefine their public
perceptions. The latter part of the course utilizes tools of digital humanities to develop projects responsive to student interests and that allows them to analyze digital expressions of religion.
Were nations always there? Are they real or imagined? Do they come before or after nationalism and the state? How did we pass from a world of empires, duchies, and city-states to a world of nation-states? Where does legitimacy reside if not in God and his endowed kings? Is the modern world really ‘disenchanted’? How did we come to understand time, space, language, religion, gender, race, and even our very selves in the era of nations? Are we done with this era, living already in postnational times?
This course will combine older theories of nationalism (Gellner, Anderson, Hobsbawm, Smith) with recent approaches of the phenomenon after the ‘Imperial/Global/Transnational Turn’ and late studies in Gender, Race, Culture and Nationalism, in order to offer new answers to old questions. We will talk about many places around the world, but the main stage where we will try out our questions is Italy and the Mediterranean.
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 and STAT UN1201 Institutional nature and economic function of financial markets. Emphasis on both domestic and international markets (debt, stock, foreign exchange, eurobond, eurocurrency, futures, options, and others). Principles of security pricing and portfolio management; the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the Efficient Markets Hypothesis.
Prerequisites: (MATH UN1101 and MATH UN1102 and MATH UN1201) and and MATH UN2010. A concrete introduction to abstract algebra. Topics in abstract algebra used in cryptography and coding theory.
Political parties have evoked widespread scorn in the U.S. since the founding era; and yet, they arose almost immediately and have endured for over two centuries. In this course, we will examine why parties formed despite the Founders’ disdain for them. (In 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go at all.” In 1800, he won the presidency as a candidate of a major party.) We will dig into scholarly debates about what exactly parties are, what purpose they serve, and how and why they have changed over time as organizations, in the electorate, and in government. Topics will include the presidential nomination process from the founding through the much-discussed 2016 primary election season, the life cycle of third parties, and the relationship between political parties and interest groups. Students will learn what is and is not unique about the current historical moment, and how history might shape our expectations of parties moving forward. Throughout the course, we will pay particularly close attention to the roots of contemporary party polarization, and the implications of this phenomenon for representation and governance. In 1950, the American Political Science Association released a report criticizing the two major parties for excessive similarity; today, party polarization evokes widespread concern. Is there an ideal level of party difference? How much is too much? We will address these difficult questions, among others, in this broad survey of American political parties.
Prerequisites: (ECON BC3035 or ECON UN3211) The purpose of the course is to think about public policy issues through an economic lens. We will explore the basic economic foundations of individual decision-making and discuss the ways in which economists hypothesize that individuals respond to the incentives embedded within public policies. We will pay particular attention to the nature and detail of existing public policies, and use economic analysis to predict how these policies might influence behavior. We will also explore some of the relevant empirical literature on a set of policy topics, to see how these predictions hold up.
In this course, we will look critically at the broadly-defined field of Digital Classics—the meeting point of Digital Humanities (DH) and the study of cultures of the ancient Mediterranean—from its origins in the late 1940s through to the present day. In addition to becoming familiar with a range of Digital Classics projects and gaining hands-on experience with some of the core tools that make Digital Classics possible in the present day, we will read theoretical scholarship in both Digital Classics and DH more generally, to think about not just what has been and can be done, but also what should (and should not) be done. We also will think about where (and whether!) to define the boundaries of “Classics” and the boundaries of “digital.” There are no prerequisites: it is NOT NECESSARY for students to have a background in coding or the field of Classics (although knowledge of either or both is welcome!). This course, like the field itself, is multidisciplinary.
When we speak of genre in film and literature, the word summons images of fantasy, science-fiction, westerns, and horror. But, in theatre, genre instead suggests tragedy and comedy, or narrative tropes like the living room drama and the revenge play. Why this disconnect? Why is it, when compared to other mediums, plays with dragons, spaceships, cowboys, and haunted houses seem so few and far between? In this course, we will explore how theatre’s medium-specific mode of staging genre, while perhaps rare, in fact stands as a unique and invaluable tool for laying bare and deconstructing the tropes and politics of genre, complicating expectations in a way often shunned, but essential for understanding the cultural structures underpinning castles, cyborgs, and six-shooters. We will attend to fantasy, science-fiction, westerns, and horror across media, focusing on theatre as a means of disrupting our understanding of both genre and theatre, coming to our own new understanding of each as inextricably twined.
Looking at both historical and lived realities of Muslims in NYC, moving from the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan to Harlem as Mecca. The course would engage both with cultural production, such as music, plays, and street art, and living communities around the Barnard campus.
The course is an introduction to the economic developments that gave rise to capitalist economies and economic globalization from 1500 to the 20th century. We apply economic and empirical reasoning to examine many transformations that have shaped the economies of the modern era—demographic, technological, and institutional changes. We compare the rise of Europe and other Eurasian civilizations, especially China. We examine the role of slavery and imperialism in global economic integration. We examine how the rise of modern capitalism influenced human material well-being and conflict and has led to the convergence and divergence of nations in the global economy.
This course seeks to impart students with knowledge of volcanic eruptions on Earth and the effects on the environment as a whole. The course will focus on the physical mechanisms responsible for eruptions, the effects eruptions have on humans and other living organisms, as well as the environment. The course will investigate how eruptions have contributed to global climate change. The course will also look at the positive effects volcanoes have had on Earth, such as providing nutrient rich soils for growing crops and providing renewable geothermal energy--a cleaner energy resource. Format: lecture, field trip, data collection and analysis, student presentations.
It’s one thing to tell a story with the pen. It’s another to transfix your audience with your voice. In this class, we will explore principles of audio narrative. Oral storytellers arguably understand suspense, humor and showmanship in ways only a live performer can. Even if you are a diehard writer of visually-consumed text, you may find, once the class is over, that you have learned techniques that can translate across borders: your written work may benefit. Alternatively, you may discover that audio is the medium for you.
We will consider sound from the ground up – from folkloric oral traditions, to raw, naturally captured sound stories, to seemingly straightforward radio news segments, to highly polished narrative podcasts. While this class involves a fair amount of reading, much of what we will be studying and discussing is audio material. Some is as lo-fi as can be, and some is operatic in scope, benefitting from large production budgets and teams of artists. At the same time that we study these works, each student will also complete small audio production exercises of their own; as a final project, students will be expected to produce a trailer, or “sizzle” for a hypothetical multi-episode show.
This class is meant for beginners to the audio tradition. There are some tech requirements: a recording device (most phones will suffice), workable set of headphones, and computer. You’ll also need to download the free audio editing software Audacity.
Prerequisites: An introductory course in economics and a functioning knowledge of high school algebra and analytical geometry or permission of the instructor. Systematic exposition of current macroeconomic theories of unemployment, inflation, and international financial adjustments.
This course seeks to examine the role families and communities play in P-12 public schools in the United States, with a focus on urban school systems. We will be using New York City as a case study, and comparing what we see happening in the nation’s largest public school district to other districts around the country. While much of our focus will be on the NYC Department of Education, which serves approximately 1.3 million students each year, students will be asked to look close to home to examine the relationships between families, communities, educators and educational institutions in their own communities.
Prerequisites: An introductory course in microeconomics or a combined macro/micro principles course (ECON BC1003 or ECON W1105, or the equivalent) and one semester of calculus or ECON BC1007, or permission of the instructor. Preferences and demand; production, cost, and supply; behavior of markets in partial equilibrium; resource allocation in general equilibrium; pricing of goods and services under alternative market structures; implications of individual decision-making for labor supply; income distribution, welfare, and public policy. Emphasis on problem solving.
Feminism is often recognized as a political movement. But is there a feminist way of thinking about politics? In this course, we’ll investigate the core premises, provocations, proposals, and tensions of feminism as they relate to specifically political problems, focusing particularly on feminist political thought as it developed in the twentieth century. Who is the subject of feminist politics? What is the meaning of “difference,” and how can—or should—feminists seek to organize across it? What are appropriate topics for politics, and what should remain private? Is the family a space for politics? The household? The body? How much of the personal can, and should, be made political? Are there feminist ways of
doing
politics? We will consider these questions with reference to texts from both feminist activists and feminist scholars.