This course will explore extraordinary artworks made by Northern European painters, sculptors, weavers, and printmakers from about 1400 to 1590. Sessions will examine outstanding productions by such figures as Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Baldung Grien, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hans Holbein, and Bernard Palissy. The themes we will discuss include the redefinition of the aims and nature of art and the artist, Protestantism and iconophobia, the ascent of the printing press, the dissemination of humanism, familial relations, courtly politics, art and knowledge, technology, the persecution of witches, as well as exploration and the broad-based shift from a European to a global mindset. The course will focus on the patterns of visual culture and how those patterns develop over time. The course is suitable for students from all disciplines and all years.
This course examines the history of architecture between roughly 1400 and 1600 from a European perspective outward. Employing a variety of analytical approaches, it addresses issues related to the Renaissance built environment thematically and through a series of specific case studies. Travelling across a geographically diverse array of locales, we will interrogate the cultural, material, urban, social, and political dimensions of architecture (civic, commercial, industrial, domestic, ecclesiastical and otherwise). Additional topics to be discussed include: antiquity and its reinterpretation; local identity, style, and ornament; development of building typologies; patronage and politics; technology and building practice; religious change and advancements in warfare; the creation and migration of architectural knowledge; role of capitalism and colonialism; class and decorum in domestic design; health and the city; the mobility of people and materials; architectural theory, books, and the culture of print; the media of architectural practice; the growth of cities and towns; the creation of urban space and landscape; architectural responses to ecological and environmental factors; and the changing status of the architect.
Students must registere for a required discussion section.
Discussion section for AHIS UN2317.
Elementary analysis and composition in a variety of modal and tonal idioms.
Adopting a long-term perspective that centers on the dynamic interplay of economy, space, and political power, this course investigates how Ukraine's geography – its richness in natural resources and trade routes; its centrality as a crossroads between sea, settlement, and steppe, and between rival religious, imperial, and national projects; its vastness, which fostered divergent developmental trajectories and deep regional diversity; and its openness, which offered few natural barriers to contact and conquest – have shaped the country’s history from antiquity to the present.
Elementary analysis and composition in a variety of tonal idioms.
Required zero-point/ungraded discussion section for “Breadbasket, Borderland, Battleground: Economy, Space, & Power in Ukraine, ca. 750 BCE – 2026 AD” lecture (HIST 2319)
The aim of music cognition is to understand the musical mind. This course is an introduction to a variety of key topics in this field, including human development, evolution, neural processing, embodied knowledge, memory and anticipation, cross-cultural perspectives, and emotions. The course explores recent research on these topics, as well as ways in which this research can be applied to music scholarship. Readings are drawn from fields as diverse as music theory, psychology, biology, anthropology, and neuroscience, and include general works in cognitive science, theoretical work focused on specific musical issues, and reports of empirical research.
This course covers all aspects of British history – political, imperial, economic, social and cultural – during the century of Britain’s greatest global power. Particular attention will be paid to the emergence of liberalism as a political and economic system and as a means of governing personal and social life. Students will read materials from the time, as well as scholarly articles, and will learn to work with some of the rich primary materials available on this period.
This course covers all aspects of British history – political, imperial, economic, social and cultural – during the century of Britain’s greatest global power. Particular attention will be paid to the emergence of liberalism as a political and economic system and as a means of governing personal and social life. Students will read materials from the time, as well as scholarly articles, and will learn to work with some of the rich primary materials available on this period.
Modern III continues training in contemporary/modern technique for the beginning-intermediate level dancer, emphasizing alignment and musicality while expanding on the dancer’s physical and intellectual understanding of articulation, phrasing, dynamics, performance and focus. Our class will incorporate relevant principals from classical modern techniques along with contemporary aesthetics, improvisation and reflection. Our class aims to create a space that is in support of your artistic development, aesthetic fluency, and creative explorations as a dancer.
Prerequisites:
Intermediate experience in ballet and/or contemporary modern
Modern IV is a contemporary technique class for the intermediate to advanced-intermediate level dancer, emphasizing alignment and musicality while expanding on the dancer’s physical and intellectual understanding of articulation, phrasing, dynamics, performance, and focus. Our class will incorporate relevant principles from classical modern techniques with contemporary aesthetics, improvisation, and reflection.
This lecture course comparatively and transnationally investigates the twentieth-century communism as a modern civilization with global outreach. It looks at the world spread of communism as an ideology, everyday experience, and form of statehood in the Soviet Union, Europe, Asia (Mao’s China), and post-colonial Africa. With the exception of North America and Australia, communist regimes were established on all continents of the world. The course will study this historical process from the October Revolution (1917) to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986), which marked the demise of communist state. The stress is not just on state-building processes or Cold War politics, but primarily on social, gender, cultural and economic policies that shaped lived experiences of communism. We will closely investigate what was particular about communism as civilization: sexuality, materiality, faith, selfhood, cultural identity, collective, or class and property politics. We will explore the ways in which “ordinary people” experienced communism through violence (anti-imperial and anti-fascist warfare; forced industrialization) and as subjects of social policies (gender equality, family programs, employment, urban planning). By close investigation of visual, material and political representations of life under communism, the course demonstrates the variety of human experience outside the “West” and capitalist modernity in an era of anti-imperial politics, Cold War, and decolonization, as well as current environmental crisis.
DISCUSSION SECTION for HIST UN 2336 Everyday Communism
This introductory lecture course introduces students with little or no prior knowledge of Korea or the
Korean language to Korean society by exploring cultural codes—shared symbols, values, and practices
that shape everyday life—through the lens of media and literature. By engaging with short stories, films,
TV shows, music, and other cultural texts, students will examine how these cultural codes influence
Korean social norms, identities, and global representations.
The course focuses on six key cultural codes—food, language, family structure, religion, economic
development, and the two Koreas—as reflected in Korean literature, film, drama, and YouTube content.
Through these themes, students will gain a foundational yet comprehensive understanding of Korean
society. At the same time, they will strengthen their critical and analytical skills in interpreting culture,
cultivating a deeper awareness of how meaning is constructed and communicated across different media.
In this course, students at all levels of experience and musical interest will participate in solo and group activities and projects with a focus on musical beat, meter, and rhythm patterns, developing a sense of steady and changing tempo, and an understanding how rhythm contributes to style in music. Rhythmic articulation, nuance, and interpretation will be developed through the impact of agogic, metric, tonal, and dynamic accent. This course combines the standards of conservatory musicianship with standards of critical thinking, here represented as critical listening. The repertoire for Musicianship: Rhythm covers vocal and instrumental music, and is open to classical, pop, jazz, folk, music theatre, computer, and international music styles and genres.
In this course, students at all levels of experience and musical interest will participate in solo and group activities and projects with a focus on scales, intervals, melodic contour and phrasing, and how they contribute to style in music. The repertoire for Musicianship: Melody covers vocal and instrumental music, and is open to classical, pop, jazz, folk, music theatre, computer, and international music styles and genres.
In this course, students at all levels of experience and musical interest will examine the phenomenon of simultaneous sound with chords and chord progressions, and experience harmony’s impact on musical structure and style. Harmonic articulation, nuance, and interpretation will be developed through the exploration of agogic, metric, tonal, and dynamic accent. The repertoire for Musicianship: Harmony covers vocal and instrumental music, and is open to classical, pop, jazz, folk, music theatre, computer, and international music styles and genres.
What was Fascism? What kind of appeal did authoritarianism and dictatorship have in interwar Europe? How did the Fascist “New Order” challenge liberal democracies and why did it fail in World War II? What was the common denominator of Fascist movements across Europe, and in particular in Mussolini’s Italy, Salazar’s Portugal, Franco’s Spain, culminating in Nazi Germany?
This class examines the history of Fascism as an ideology, constellation of political movements, and authoritarian regimes that aimed at controlling the modernization of European societies in the interwar period. Thus, the course focuses in particular on the relationship between politics, science and society to investigate how Fascism envisioned the modernity of new technologies, new social norms, and new political norms. The class will also explore Fascism’s imperialist goals, such as the calls for national renewal, the engineering of a new race, and the creation of a new world order.
This course examines the political culture of eighteenth-century France, from the final decades of the Bourbon monarchy to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Among our primary aims will be to explore the origins of the Terror and its relationship to the Revolution as a whole. Other topics we will address include the erosion of the kings authority in the years leading up to 1789, the fall of the Bastille, the Constitutions of 1791 and 1793, civil war in the Vendee, the militarization of the Revolution, the dechristianization movement, attempts to establish a new Revolutionary calendar and civil religion, and the sweeping plans for moral regeneration led by Robespierre and his colleagues in 1793-1794.
This course examines the political culture of eighteenth-century France, from the final decades of the Bourbon monarchy to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Among our primary aims will be to explore the origins of the Terror and its relationship to the Revolution as a whole. Other topics we will address include the erosion of the kings authority in the years leading up to 1789, the fall of the Bastille, the Constitutions of 1791 and 1793, civil war in the Vendee, the militarization of the Revolution, the dechristianization movement, attempts to establish a new Revolutionary calendar and civil religion, and the sweeping plans for moral regeneration led by Robespierre and his colleagues in 1793-1794.
MANDATORY Discussion Section for HIST UN 2398 The Politics of Terror: The French Revolution. Students must also be registered for HIST 2398.
This colloquium is a course on many influential texts of literature from Ancient Near Eastern cultures, including Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Canaanite, and others. The emphasis is on investigating the literary traditions of each culture – the subject matter, form, methods, and symbolism– that distinguish them from one another and from later traditions of the Middle East. The course is not
a “civilization” course, nor is it a history class, although elements of culture and history will be mentioned as necessary. The course is intended to provide a facility with, and an awareness of, the content and context of ancient works of literature in translation from the Ancient Middle East.
Students in this course will gain a familiarity with the major cultures of the Ancient Middle East, the best known and most remarked upon stories, and the legacy of those works on some later traditions. The course is organized thematically in order to facilitate comparison to the materials in similar courses at Barnard and Columbia. The approach will be immediately familiar to students who have previously taken Asian Humanities (AMEC) or Literature-Humanities (Core), but the course does not require any previous experience with literature or the Ancient Near East and is open to everyone.
All assigned readings for the course will be in English. The course meets once a week and sessions are two hours long.
How do you represent a revolution? What does it mean to picture the world as it “really” is? Who may be figured as a subject or citizen, and who not? Should art improve society, or critique it? Can it do both? These are some of the many questions that the artists of nineteenth-century Europe grappled with, and that we will explore together in this course. This was an era of rapid and dramatic political, economic, and cultural change, marked by wars at home and colonial expansion abroad; the rise of industrialization and urbanization; and the invention of myriad new technologies, from photography to the railway. The arts played an integral and complex role in all of these developments: they both shaped and were shaped by them. Lectures will address a variety media, from painting and sculpture to the graphic and decorative arts, across a range of geographic contexts, from Paris, London, Berlin, and Madrid to St. Petersburg, Cairo, Haiti, and New Zealand. Artists discussed will include Jacques-Louis David, Francisco Goya, Théodore Géricault, J.M.W. Turner, Adolph Menzel, Ilya Repin, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, James McNeill Whistler, C. F. Goldie, Victor Horta, and Paul Cézanne.
Prerequisites: a course in college chemistry and BIOL UN2005 or BIOL UN2401, or the written permission of either the instructor or the premedical adviser. Cellular biology and development; physiology of cells and organisms. Same lectures as BIOL UN2006, but recitation is optional. For a detailed description of the differences between the two courses, see the course web site or http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/advice/faqs/gs.html. SPS, Barnard, 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
Reading and grammatical analysis of a literary text, chosen from the dramatic and narrative tradition. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
(Lecture). This course examines the works of the major English poets of the period 1830-1900. We will pay special attention to Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning, and their great poetic innovation, the dramatic monologue. We will also be concentrating on poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christina Rossetti, Matthew Arnold, A. E. Housman, and Thomas Hardy.
(Lecture). This course examines the works of the major English poets of the period 1830-1900. We will pay special attention to Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning, and their great poetic innovation, the dramatic monologue. We will also be concentrating on poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Christina Rossetti, Matthew Arnold, A. E. Housman, and Thomas Hardy.
What “wows” us? How is it related to both a sense of the grand and of the small? Of the sacred and the unthinkably devastating? Of the mundane and the unique? This introductory course looks at this question by means of religion (mysticism), aesthetics (the sublime), the psychedelic, and the poetic in terms of how they condition and enable these experiences, often in joint manner. We begin by navigating through a wide range of medieval mystical texts (poetry and prose) ranging in date from Late Antiquity to the fifteenth centuries and explore how wonder, transport, and awe become articulated, often through the trope of love. The second half of the course expands to situate mystery and enchantment in relation to borderline experiences in contemporary contexts. We will explore what these borderline experiences entail, what kind of meaning they promise, and how they isolate or assimilate individuals, mark people and language, inhabit and alter our embodied selves. In addition, we will see how the legacy of mysticism has permeated later traditions of enchantment and its situatedness in contemporary culture, whether it be in the prevalence of love in pop lyric, rave culture, contemporary psychedelic experiences, the sacrality of nature, the mystification of state power, or even just the role of poetry and art in filling a spiritual role in our present. Throughout our readings, we will confront the question of what mysticism and enchantment mean, what they promise and how either can be accessed, how they might center or de-center the human (affirming or displacing the Anthropocene), how women’s and men’s mystical texts compare, and how “literariness” impacts these experiences. How does poetic form or literary prose shape the nature of borderline experience – mysticism included? What do we make of the insistence on bodily experience and how does it relate to biography? Where do we find the language and tropes of mysticism in contemporary culture (psychedelics, fascist propaganda, philosophical meditation) and to what end?
Mystical texts will include works by St. Paul, St. Augustine, Origen, Beatrice of Nazareth and her hagiographer, Hadewijch of Brabant and William of St. Thierry, Marguerite d'Oignt and Guigo II, Marguerite Porete and Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, but also works by Huxley and Bataille; all other texts will, however, be read in modern English translation. No prerequisites necessary. Please note that even while
This course provides a chronological and thematic introduction to Chinese religions from their beginnings until modern times. It examines distinctive concepts, practices and institutions in the religions of China. Emphasis will be placed on the diversity and unity of religious expressions in China, with readings drawn from a wide-range of texts: religious scriptures, philosophical texts, popular literature and modern historical and ethnographic studies. Special attention will be given to those forms of religion common to both “elite” and “folk” culture: cosmology, family and communal rituals, afterlife, morality and mythology. The course also raises more general questions concerning gender, class, political patronage, and differing concepts of religion.
This course provides a chronological and thematic introduction to Chinese religions from their beginnings until modern times. It examines distinctive concepts, practices and institutions in the religions of China. Emphasis will be placed on the diversity and unity of religious expressions in China, with readings drawn from a wide-range of texts: religious scriptures, philosophical texts, popular literature and modern historical and ethnographic studies. Special attention will be given to those forms of religion common to both “elite” and “folk” culture: cosmology, family and communal rituals, afterlife, morality and mythology. The course also raises more general questions concerning gender, class, political patronage, and differing concepts of religion.
Prerequisites: CHEM UN1403 or CHEM UN1604 or CHEM UN2045 or the instructors permission. A one-hour weekly lecture, discussion, and critical analysis of topics that reflect problems in modern chemistry, with emphasis on current areas of active chemical research.
Elementary computational methods in statistics. Basic techniques in regression analysis of econometric models. One-hour weekly recitation sessions to complement lectures.
This lab is limited to declared Film and Media Studies majors. Exercises in the writing of film scripts.
(Formerly R3401) Enables the student to realize concepts and visual ideas in a printed form. Basic techniques are introduced and utilized: the history and development of the intaglio process; demonstrations and instruction in line etching, relief, and dry point. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.
May be retaken for full credit.
Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Production Manager, Michael Banta (
mbanta@barnard.edu
). Training and practical props and/or scenic painting work on Departmental mainstage productions.
May be retaken for full credit.
Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Production Manager, Michael Banta (
mbanta@barnard.edu
). Training and practical lighting and/or sound work on Departmental mainstage productions.
May be retaken for full credit.
Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Costume Shop Manager Kara Feely (kfeely@barnard.edu). Training and practical costume construction and fitting work on Departmental mainstage productions.
May be retaken for full credit.
Prerequisites: permission of Theatre Department Production Manager, Michael Banta (
mbanta@barnard.edu
). Training and practical stage management work on Departmental mainstage productions.
May be retaken for full credit.
Prerequisites: permission of the Senior Thesis Festival coordinator. Training and practical work as student designer on the Senior Thesis Festival.
This course focuses on some of the present, and possible future, socio-ecological conditions of life on planet earth. In particular we will work to understand the historic, economic, political, and socio-cultural forces that created the conditions we call climate change. With this we will take a particular interest in the question of how race, ethnicity, Indigeneity, class, and gender articulate with the material effects of climate change. The course also focuses on how we, as scholars, citizens, and activists can work to alter these current conditions in ways that foster social and ecological justice for all living beings. Although we will ground our scholarship in anthropology, to encourage interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary thought, weekly readings will be drawn from across scholarly and activist canons. While becoming familiar with scholarly and activist conversations about space and place, risk and vulnerability, and ontology and epistemology, we will work through a series of recent events as case studies to understand causes, effects, affects, and potential solutions.
May be retaken for full credit.
Prerequisites: permission of the Senior Thesis Festival coordinator. Training and practical design work assisting student designers for the Senior Thesis Festival.
Prerequisites: PSYC UN1001 or equivalent introductory course in Psychology This course provides an in-depth survey of data and models of a wide variety of human cognitive functions. Drawing on behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging research, the course explores the neural mechanisms underlying complex cognitive processes, such as perception, memory, and decision making. Importantly, the course examines the logic and assumptions that permit us to interpret brain activity in psychological terms.
It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of the American Civil War as an event in the making of the modern United States and, indeed, of the western world. Indeed the American Civil War and Reconstruction introduced a whole series of dilemmas that are still with us. What is the legacy of slavery in U.S. history and contemporary life? What is the proper balance of power between the states and the central government? Who is entitled to citizenship in the United States? What do freedom and equality mean in concrete terms?
This course surveys the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction in all of its aspects. It focuses on the causes of the war in the divergent development of northern and southern states; the prosecution of the war and all that it involved, including the process of slave emancipation; and the contentious process of reconstructing the re-united states in the aftermath of Union victory. The course includes the military history of the conflict, but ranges far beyond it to take the measure of the social and political changes the war unleashed. It focuses on the Confederacy as well as the Union, on women as well as men, and on enslaved black people as well as free white people. It takes the measure of large scale historical change while trying to grasp the experience of those human beings who lived through it.
It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of the American Civil War as an event in the making of the modern United States and, indeed, of the western world. Indeed the American Civil War and Reconstruction introduced a whole series of dilemmas that are still with us. What is the legacy of slavery in U.S. history and contemporary life? What is the proper balance of power between the states and the central government? Who is entitled to citizenship in the United States? What do freedom and equality mean in concrete terms?
This course surveys the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction in all of its aspects. It focuses on the causes of the war in the divergent development of northern and southern states; the prosecution of the war and all that it involved, including the process of slave emancipation; and the contentious process of reconstructing the re-united states in the aftermath of Union victory. The course includes the military history of the conflict, but ranges far beyond it to take the measure of the social and political changes the war unleashed. It focuses on the Confederacy as well as the Union, on women as well as men, and on enslaved black people as well as free white people. It takes the measure of large scale historical change while trying to grasp the experience of those human beings who lived through it.
This course will provide a broad overview of the field of social neuroscience. We will consider how social processes are implemented at the neural level, but also how neural mechanisms help give rise to social phenomena and cultural experiences. Many believe that the large expansion of the human brain evolved due to the complex demands of dealing with social others—competing or cooperating with them, deceiving or empathizing with them, understanding or misjudging them. What kind of “social brain” has this evolutionary past left us with? In this course, we will review core principles, theories, and methods guiding social neuroscience, as well as research examining the brain basis of processes such as theory of mind, emotion, stereotyping, social group identity, empathy, judging faces and bodies, morality, decision-making, the impact of culture and development, among others. Overall, this course will introduce students to the field of social neuroscience and its multi-level approach to understanding the brain in its social context.
This course offers a survey of the political history of contemporary Africa, from independence to the present day, with a focus on the states and societies south of the Sahara. We will use the tools of historians to study African political life: who held political power; how they wielded it and to what ends; and what kinds of opposition they faced. An important sub-theme involves American policy and actions, including those of civil society organizations, vis-à-vis African nation-states.
This course offers a survey of the political history of contemporary Africa, from independence to the present day, with a focus on the states and societies south of the Sahara. We will use the tools of historians to study African political life: who held political power; how they wielded it and to what ends; and what kinds of opposition they faced. An important sub-theme involves American policy and actions, including those of civil society organizations, vis-à-vis African nation-states.
Discussion course for lecture UN2438 description below:
This course offers a survey of the political history of contemporary Africa, with a focus on the states and societies south of the Sahara. The emphasis is on struggle and conflict - extending to war - and peace.
(Formerly R3413) Printmaking I: Silkscreen introduces silkscreen and other silkscreen techniques. Given the direct quality of the process, the class focuses on the students personal vision through experimentation with this print medium. Individual and group critiques. Portfolio required at end. If the class is full, please visit http://arts.columbia.edu/undergraduate-visual-arts-program.
Prerequisites: CHEM UN1404 or CHEM UN1604, CHEM UN1500 and CHEMUN2443. The principles of organic chemistry. The structure and reactivity of organic molecules are examined from the standpoint of modern theories of chemistry. Topics include stereochemistry, reactions of organic molecules, mechanisms of organic reactions, syntheses and degradations of organic molecules, and spectroscopic techniques of structure determination. Although CHEM UN2443 and CHEM UN2444 are separate courses, students are expected to take both terms sequentially. Students must ensure they register for the recitation which corresponds to the lecture section. Please check the Directory of Classes for details.
Prerequisites: CHEM UN1404 or CHEM UN1604, CHEM UN1500 and CHEMUN2443. The principles of organic chemistry. The structure and reactivity of organic molecules are examined from the standpoint of modern theories of chemistry. Topics include stereochemistry, reactions of organic molecules, mechanisms of organic reactions, syntheses and degradations of organic molecules, and spectroscopic techniques of structure determination. Although CHEM UN2443 and CHEM UN2444 are separate courses, students are expected to take both terms sequentially. Students must ensure they register for the recitation which corresponds to the lecture section. Please check the Directory of Classes for details.
ORGANIC CHEMSTRY II-LECTURESTO BE ENROLLED IN UN2444 SECTION 1, YOU MUST REGISTER FOR UN2446 RECITATION
Tap II is an intermediate level tap class for students who have at least 2 years of tap dance training. We will cover tap technique, proper use of the body to enhance sound quality and style, a variety of musical genres and structures,classic tap dance routines, and improvisation.
The prerequisite for Intermediate Level Tap is previous experience in intermediate level tap classes. Students on this level are assumed to have mastered tap basics, be comfortable with intermediate level technique, and must be ready to learn at a slightly accelerated pace.
Corequisites: CHEM UN2444 Chemistry UN2448 ORGANIC CHEMISTRY RECITATIONORGANIC CHEMISTRY II-LECTURESTO BE ENROLLED IN UN2444 SECTION 2, YOU MUST REGISTER FOR UN2448 RECITATION