Directory University Columbia of Classes

With registration upon us, Bwog returns with our recommendations of classes to take before you die I mean graduate! Whichever comes first. If you’re unsure of which classes to take next semester, consider some on this list.

English: Black Paris, Brent Edwards

“Light workload, interesting readings that are cool to be familiar with, especially fun if you speak French.”

Anthropology: Origins of Human Society, Severin Fowles:

“Very interesting anthropology course at Barnard, satisfies one of those requirements, there was an optional lab where we held human skulls in Schermerhorn.”

Anthropology: Pre-Columbian Histories of Native America, Severin Fowles

“Another eye-opening class that shatters euro-centric sensibilities and gives a new view of civilization as something that does not necessarily shift towards complexity. Fowles is a brilliant professor who is humorous, precise, and a great lecturer. The class consists of four 4-page response papers and a 10-page term paper.”

Philosophy: Philosophy and Feminism, Christia Mercer

“Good introductory course to IRWGS, and it lines up well with Lit Hum and CC if you’re taking the classes side by side. Christia Mercer is an angel who is happy to duck out of academia’s ivory tower. Very heavy reading load.”

Philosophy: Symbolic Logic, Achille Varzi

“He’s famous and really funny. This class is hard af but it’s dope preparation for the LSAT, and it feels good when you understand it (I don’t most of the time but like…getting there for the final, fingers-crossed). It’s basically learning another language that can broaden your mind and improve you debating/arguing skills, as well as clarify your personal philosophy and the ways you view the world and the things in it.”

Political Science: Freedom of Speech and Press, Lee C. Bollinger

“Prezbo’s a big free speech guy, and this is the space to learn from him. Expect your class to be interrupted once or twice by protesters. It gets taught like a law class, so make damn sure you do the readings.”

Music: Topics in Music and Society, taught by some of the brightest faculty in the Music Department

“I can personally speak well of Aaron Fox (very chill, will ramble about country music and Alaska but you learn a ton) and Marti Newland (incredibly well spoken, versed especially in minstrelsy). Heavy reading load in the beginning tapers off. The main undergraduate musicology class at Columbia, and a great place to learn how to talk about music in a different sense from in Music Hum.”

History: History of the Modern Middle East, Rashid Khalidi

“Best global core. Seriously. You learn a shit ton about a region that is obviously super relevant and important right now, and he’s a very engaging lecturer.”

Theater: Western Theatre Traditions: Classic to Romantic, William Worthen

“A gold nugget Barnard professor whose wife teaches the second half of the class (Modern). You end up learning about the evolution of civilization through the vein of theatre. It’s highly philosophical and Worthen, a prolific writer, is friendly, enthusiastic, and full of random facts. His class only has a final exam as well as two papers but you will be surprised how much you learn by the end of the semester not just about theatre practices but about society and intellectual history.”