39 Comments
You can spend a semester learning all about this
Today is the first day of classes—a.k.a the week where you sit at your computer desperately refreshing SSOL hour after hour. And if you’re looking for that one class that will advance your intellectual journey (and give more credits than Pilates), we’ve got your back. After the jump is last year’s list of must-takes; bolded classes are being offered this semester.
You might notice that there aren’t that many bolded classes—we’re looking to you to tell us which professors and courses should be added to this list! Give recommendations in the comment section, and help a horde of unsure freshmen—and even less sure upperclassmen—fulfill their intellectual destinies (/global core requirement).
Go forth and comment!
American Studies: Andrew Delbanco, Foundations of American Literature
Anthropology: Rosalind Morris, Mythology
Art History: Rosalyn Deutsche
Astronomy and Physics: Jacqueline Van Gorkom, Beyond the Solar System
Biology: Solomon Mowshowitz, Immunology
Biology: Nataliya Galafiankis, General Physiology
Chemistry: James Leighton, Organic Chemistry
Civil Engineering: Jose Sanchez, Engineering Graphics
Classics: Gareth Williams, Selections From Latin Literature: Horace
Core: Mark Lilla, Lit Hum; CC
Core: Richard Sacks, Lit Hum; CC
E3B: Jill Shapiro, Explorations in Primate Anatomy
Economics: Xavier Sala-I-Martin, Intermediate Macroeconomics
Economics: Sunil Gulati, Principles of Economics
Electrical Engineering: David Vallancourt, Intro to Electrical Engineering; Digital Information Era
English: James Shapiro, Shakespeare I, Shakespearean Poetry
English: Erik Gray, Victorian Poetry, Romantic Poetry
English: Nicholas Dames, The Victorian Novel
English: Edward Mendelson, Critical Reading, Critical Writing
English: Brent Edwards, Jazz and the Literary Imagination
English: Stephen Massimilla, Modernist British Fiction
History: Alan Brinkley, America since 1945
History: David Rosner, Social History of American Public Health
History: Kenneth Jackson, History of the City of New York
History: Samuel Roberts, Race, Technology and Health in US History
History: Eric Foner, United States in the Era of Civil War and Reconstruction
Linguistics: John McWhorter, Intro to Linguistics
Mathematics: Mu-Tao Wang, Differentiable Manifolds
Mathematics: Dave Bayer, Linear Algebra
Philosophy: Christia Mercer
Physics: Brian Cole, From Quarks to the Cosmos
Political Science: Andrew Nathan, Chinese Foreign Policy
Psychology: Catherine Monk, Abnormal Psychology
Religion: Peter Awn, Islam
Sociology: Shamus Khan, The Social World
Spanish: Francisco Rosales-Varo, Intermediate Spanish I; Spanish Pragmatics
Visual Arts: Thomas Roma, Photo I
Visual Arts: Jon Kessler, Sculpture II
Visual Arts: Rirkrit Tiravanija
Women’s and Gender Studies: Lila Abu-Lughod, Women and Gender Politics in the Muslim World
Women’s and Gender Studies: Beck Young
Global Core
Anthropology: The Rise of Civilization
Anthropology: Mahmood Mamdani, Major Debates in the Study of Africa
Center for Ethnicity and Race: Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies
EALAC: Gregory Pflugfelder, Cultural History of Japanese Monsters
Religion: Michael Como, Intro to East Asian Buddhism
Japanese culture via Wikimedia Commons
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39 Comments
@Anonymous Nobility and Civility with Ted de Bary (or any course with Prof. de Bary). He coined the term “Core Curriculum,” and he’s sometimes the only person who can give you a straight answer on why the Core matters.
@Anonymous I agree. He would spend so much time fussing over the glass slides to ascertain that they were in absolute focus on the screen. He wasted about 10 minutes of our mid-term exam time doing this. Be careful because he will absolutely call you out in a class if you even look at the person next to you and look like you might start a conversation with them. He spent way too much time on the artist, David and ended up rushing and not finishing the syllabus.
@Anonymous Above comment was about Jonathan Crary.
@CC'14 Glass slides? When did you take this class, Fall ’89? :D
He is even worse now (in the digital age). No laptops, because they ~ruin the visual experience~ (of seeing a 72dpi jpg against a black slide background). And he messed with the light for 10 mins each class, and even told us that he went to Facilities a couple of times to “check if they could create more nuanced lighting” in Scherm 501. Jeezus.
@In Religion/Global Core... take Hinduism with Jack Hawley, he is brilliant and so so kind. Same for Rachel McDermott.
@Anonymous Bruce Robbins Comparative Contemporary Fiction is a great, relatively easy English class for non-majors or new-majors. Seriously fun, great TAs.
@Anonymous RE: Liza Knapp, not Lindemann
@Anonymous LOL you’re wrong. Seriously guys, she’s the best professor I’ve had at Columbia.
@AVOID AVOID AVOID What about a list of classes/profs you should avoid at all costs?
AVOID:
Lindemann: Introduction to Psychology.
@Anonymous she is pretty cool
@Tiny Chinese Foreign Policy is offered in the spring, not fall semester.
@Anonymous What?
@Anonymous Intro to Comparative Ethnic Studies *is* being offered this semester.
@Anonymous First Year English with Margaret Vandenburg changed my life.
@Fangirl Rosalyn Deutsche is SO good.
@Anonymous :(
@Anonymous oops. I meant the “:(” as a reply to the fact that Dr. White was no longer teaching art hum
@HALLAQFTW Wael Hallaq’s Central Questions in Islamic Law
take it!
@I hate to break it to you, but... Do NOT take McWhorter. Halfway through the semester you will ceased to be amused by his off-topic tangents about broccoli and his neighbors. Especially when you realize that those things are not on the exam. Horribly overrated. Dazzles at first–disappoints by the end.
@cc I wouldn’t say “disappoints” – you just get used to it. he *is* brilliant.
@alum the thing with McWhorter is that you need to learn when to put your pen down and just enjoy his stories. He *will* go over EVERYTHING on his exams, so don’t worry .
@Anonymous History: Kenneth Jackson, History of the City of New York
Not actually offered. He has a small seminar about 20th century new york, but the main History of NYC isn’t offered this fall.
@Her biggest fan Any class taught by Liza Knapp. Fantastic professor, fantastic person.
@Her fair critic A very sweet person, but an unbearable class. Resist the urge.
@Anonymous Nineteenth century art with Jonathan Crary will blow you away. The man is an absolute genius. (Taught this fall, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10.10am)
Also, note to the above commenter: Dr. Veronica White no longer teaches Art Hum.
@cc'14 eh, I didn’t like it as much. he has a weird style of teaching, and talks for hours without really saying anything. If you’re doing Art History, go for Bahrani, Deutsche or Mylonopoulos instead. A+!
@Anonymous Mylonopoulos is the best ever.
@economics Marcellus Andrews at Barnard is a seldom appreciated genious
@Anonymous What does he look like?
@Anonymous I hear he says “what” pretty frequently.
@Anonymous take Zionism with Dan Miron. BEST. COLUMBIA. CLASS. BY. A. MILE. (balanced and related to MidEast…. errrrrrr?!)
@Anon Computer science: Advanced Programming : Jae Lee is the best class ever
@Anonymous Heed my advice: it’s a different class with Shlomo.
@shlomo is the man. keeper of the keys. dragonslayer extraordinaire
@alum froshppl beware–the classes/profs listed are only the most mainstream of choices. enlightening no doubt but by no means the be all end all.
@Non-alum “Only the most mainstream of choices”… Hipster alert!
@Anonymous Global Core/Philosophy: Islamic Philosophy (sometimes listed as History of Philosophy in the Islamic World) with Souleymane Bachir Diagne. He’s also a a boss CC prof.
Lit Hum with Nicole Horejsi is awesome
Art Hum with Dr. Veronica White is THE BEST
Philosophy and Psychology of the Human Experience with Joshua New and John Ross Morrison is a sweet class.
OH AND TAKE CATALAN WITH ELSA ÚBEDA. IT IS THE BEST DECISION YOU WILL EVER MAKE IN YOUR LIFE. I PROMISE YOU THIS.
@Also Prof. Horejsi’s baking prowess is unmatched
@Anonymous I’d like to second Veronica White in Art Hum. I lucked into that class and it’s one of the best I’ve taken here. She has some affiliation with the Met and her guided tours were amazing.