Transferring electrons. Making and breaking chemical bonds. These are among the atomic- and molecular-scale happenings that we will explore in this course, combining discussions of chemical principles with hands-on laboratory experiments. \ This is an auspicious year for chemistry: 2019 has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO as the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, in honor of the 150th anniversary of Dmitri Mendeleev’s publication of his periodic table. Along these lines, we will investigate some elemental properties through laboratory experiments on oxidation-reduction reactions and acid-base chemistry. We will also use hand-held models and computer software to visualize three-dimensional molecular structures and to calculate the distribution of electrons within molecules. Finally, we will consider connections of chemistry to philosophical, artistic, and literary questions, such as levels of “truth” in scientific theories. Curiosity and interest in chemistry are pre-requisites, but no special chemistry knowledge or background is required.
Appropriate for Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11
This course is an examination of the interaction between the discipline of psychology and the criminal justice system. It examines the aspects of human behavior directly related to the legal process such as eyewitness memory, testimony, jury decision making, and criminal behavior in addition, the course focuses on the ethical and moral tensions that inform the law.
Appropriate for Grade Levels: 9, 10, 11
This intensive, non-credit preparatory course is designed to equip MPA-EPM students with the foundational mathematical skills needed for success in the program. Topics include algebra, functions, systems of equations, and differential calculus, with a focus on applications relevant to economics and policy analysis. Completion of Math Bootcamp is essential for success in
Mathematics for Economists
, which builds directly on this material.
This course will introduce and explore core concepts related to neuroscience, with an emphasis on psychobiology (or biological psychology), namely the biological basis of mental states and behavior.Topics will include nerve cells and impulses, synaptic transmission, hormone/endocrine signaling,neuroanatomy, sensation and perception, regulation of sleep and wake states, physiologic homeostasis,emotion, learning/memory, neurocognition, and psychological disorders.
An introduction to the enormous diversity of life on Earth. From bacteria to mammals, this course will survey species diversity, with an emphasis on ecological interactions and conservation. The course will also use basics of genetics and evolutionary biology to explore how diversity is generated and maintained. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills a science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.
The purpose of this foundational course is to introduce Columbia undergraduate students, in the context of their Global Core curriculum, to the seminal field of critical theory. The historical domain of this course is within the last century and its geographical spectrum is global. European critical thinkers are included in this course but not privileged. Thinkers from Asia, Africa, Europe, North, South, and Latin America, are examined here in chronological order and in equal democratic footing with each other. This course as a result is decidedly cross-cultural, one step forward towards de-alienating critical thinkers from around the globe and the issues they address without pigeonholing them as something “other” or “different.” The course is designed and offered in the true spirit of the “Global Core.” The purpose of the course is to reach for the common denominator of serious critical thinking about the fate of our humanity and the health of our social relations in an increasingly fragile world—where the false binaries of “the West” and “the Rest” no longer hold. The roster of critical thinkers we will examine is by no means exhaustive but representative. Any number of other critical thinkers can be added to this roster but none of those we will examine can be excluded from them. The course is divided into thirteen successive weeks and for each week a number of seminal, original, and groundbreaking texts are identified. Each week we will examine selected passages from these texts. The course is designed as a lecture course, and my lectures are based on the totality of these texts but students will be assigned specific shorter passages to read.
Introduction to the science of human behavior. Topics include history of psychology, brain function and development, sleep and dreams, sensation and perception, learning and memory, theories of development, language and cognition, research methods, emotion, mental illness, and therapy.
Successfully selling a television show requires a writer to have a unique POV, engaging characters and a solid story engine. A series creator must develop two important documents to help them sell their show to television executives – the series bible and the pilot script. Through a number of creative exercises, students will learn the intricacies of the unique screenwriting formats that are the half-hour and hour-long teleplays. Together we will cover the differences between an episode arc and a seasonal one, the requirements of A/B/C story plotting, and how to write an effective show bible.
We will survey popular tv series from diverse voices, primarily focusing on women showrunners and/or series with strong female leads (including New Girl, Stranger Things, Never Have I Ever, Abbott Elementary, Ginny & Georgia, Derry Girls and more). By the end of the course, students will have a written mini series bible, a detailed pilot outline and the first act of their pilot script, which will be the springboard for creating a series that truly stands out!
Fundamentals of visual vocabulary. Students work from observation using still-life objects and the human figure. Emphasizes the relationship of lines and forms to each other and to the picture format. Materials used: vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, pencil, pen, ink, and brushes. Class assignments, discussions, and critiques.
The Fiction Writing Workshop is designed for students who have little or no experience writing imaginative prose. Students are introduced to a range of craft concerns through exercises and discussions, and eventually produce their own writing for the critical analysis of the class. Outside readings supplement and inform the exercises and longer written projects. Enrollment limited to 15.
The anthropological approach to the study of culture and human society. Using ethnographic case studies, the course explores the universality of cultural categories (social organization, economy, law, belief systems, arts, etc.) and the range of variation among human societies.
Corequisites: MDES UN1001. Discussion sections (TWO) to accompany the course MDES UN1001, Critical Theory: A Global Perspective.
“Space” and “time” are concepts that we use constantly, but what are they, really? This course is an exploration of how space and time operate across various academic disciplines and in everyday life. We begin in physics and astronomy, and proceed to the humanities, social sciences, and the arts. Using tools ranging from mathematical problem-solving, thought experiments and proofs, to literary analysis, we will demonstrate that space and time are, paradoxically, natural and easy-to-grasp while also complex, elusive, and indefinable
Prerequisites: Mathematics score of 550 on the SAT exam, taken within the past year. Recommended: MATH S0065. Algebra review, graphs and functions, polynomial functions, rational functions, conic sections, systems of equations in two variables, exponential and logarithmic functions, trigonometric functions and trigonometric identities, applications of trigonometry, sequences, series, and limits.
This 3-week course will introduce you to basic concepts in American Constitutional Law - including the founding and development of the US Constitution and the historical context of major controversies of the US Supreme Court -- such as slavery, gun rights, reproductive freedom, and free speech in the age of social media. You will also learn how to read Supreme Court cases, and be given the tools to evaluate the different approaches Justices use to interpret the Constitution. You will emerge with a deeper understanding of the role the Constitution and the Supreme Court play in American society in 2024.
A general introduction to computer science for science and engineering students interested in majoring in computer science or engineering. Covers fundamental concepts of computer science, algorithmic problem-solving capabilities, and introductory Java programming skills. Assumes no prior programming background. Columbia University students may receive credit for only one of the following two courses: 1004 or 1005.
Dinosaurs
explores how science works and provide practical knowledge about the history of life and how we have come to understand it. We learn how to analyze the evolutionary relationships of organisms and examine how dinosaurs came to be exemplars of a very successful group of organisms dominant on land for 140 million years. We will delve deeply into how direct descendants of small carnivorous theropod dinosaurs evolved into birds, still more diverse than mammals, dominating the air. The Mesozoic, a “hot-house world”, with no ice caps and was the kind of world we are hurtling towards because of our input of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and we will look at how their time is a natural experiment for our future. The non-avian dinosaur met their end in a remarkable cataclysm discovered by detective work that we will delve deeply into as a paradigm of the scientific method Finally, they are fun and spectacular - monsters more fantastic than any person has invented in legend or religion - and they are still with us!
Wall Street has been imagined as a site of democracy, capitalism, and the pursuit of the American Dream; it has also been imagined as a place of immorality, filled with greedy global elite male financiers taking advantage of the “99 percent”. This seminar will consider how capital, gender, race, culture, and power shape understandings of Wall Street in the popular imagination, and how people’s everyday practices reshape that understanding. Drawing on a variety of texts –anthropological, sociological, political-economic, historical, literary, and cinematic – we will examine the ways new forms of capital produce financial subjects, class difference, and crisis, within the global economy. We will also explore the ways Occupy Wall Street, Me Too, Black Lives Matter and other social movements are recapturing the radical imagination and the possibilities of new forms of resistance to capitalism that often intersect with sexism, racism, and other systems of power. Using interdisciplinary methodologies such as fieldwork, archival research, and literary analysis students will produce short papers and one research paper that allows them to take advantage of conducting research in New York City.
What makes New York City both impossible and irresistible? This course explores how writers have captured the city’s contradictions, its energy, diversity, and constant reinvention across more than a century of literature. From Walt Whitman and Emma Lazarus to Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, June Jordan, and Colson Whitehead, students will encounter New York as both subject and muse. Through close reading, discussion, and creative writing, you will develop your own voice in dialogue with the city’s literary past and present. Visits to the Museum of the City of New York, the Tenement Museum, literary Harlem, and the Nuyorican Poets Café will bring these works off the page and into the streets of the city they celebrate.
What does it mean to “close read”? Does an author’s life, or the time and place of writing, change how we understand a text? This course introduces students to reading habits, writing practices, and interpretive approaches that deepen how we engage with novels, poems, and other cultural works. Together we will experiment with ways of developing a written voice—identifying what moves us in a text, crafting an argument, and responding to other interpretations. Our main reading, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, will anchor our explorations at the intersection of creativity and science, nature and technology, and personal ambition and societal responsibility. Students will participate in additional readings, films, and hands-on experiences and will also take part in a writing workshop at Tom’s Restaurant, visit the Shelley archives at the New York Public Library, and work with zines and diaries from Barnard’s Special Collections to connect literature, place, and creative process.
How does design operate in our lives? What is our design culture? In this course, we explore the many scales of design in contemporary culture -- from graphic design to architecture to urban design to global, interactive, and digital design. The format of this course moves between lectures, discussions, collaborative design work and field trips in order to engage in the topic through texts and experiences.
How does design operate in our lives? What is our design culture? In this course, we explore the many scales of design in contemporary culture -- from graphic design to architecture to urban design to global, interactive, and digital design. The format of this course moves between lectures, discussions, collaborative design work and field trips in order to engage in the topic through texts and experiences.
Prerequisites: Non-native English speakers must reach Level 10 in the American Language Program prior to registering for ENGL S1010. University Writing: Contemporary Essays helps undergraduates engage in the conversations that form our intellectual community. By reading and writing about scholarly and popular essays, students learn that writing is a process of continual refinement of ideas. Rather than approaching writing as an innate talent, this course teaches writing as a learned skill. We give special attention to textual analysis, research, and revision practices.