Soup and Core lovers rejoice! This article is for you!

• Literature of Humanities – Chicken and Dumpling Soup
  • Just like Columbia Dining’s chicken and dumpling soup, Lit Hum is an absolute classic, made with love and filled with everyone’s favorite staples. The Iliad and The Odyssey truly are the peas and carrots of Columbia College—they might not be your favorite soup ingredients, but they sure as hell are in everything.
• University Writing – Classic Chili
  • Columbia Dining chili has potential, it really does. There are so many variations of chili to choose from—sweet, spicy, creamy—just like all the different UW themes. However, like UW, it often leaves much to be desired, no matter the flavor. The readings might be interesting, but every professor I’ve had since has told me “not to write like I’m in UW,” which has left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.
• Frontiers of Science – Vegan Chili
  • The other half of the first-year Core sequence, Fro Sci has the same vibe as UW, but is a little worse, just like the dining halls’ vegan chili. One might think it would be equally bad, just without any animal products, but something in there is pushing it from bad to awful. I’m not sure what makes Fro Sci just a little worse than UW—maybe it’s the disjointed units or the massive lecture format—but it just feels like UW’s lame little sibling.
• Contemporary Civilizations – Chicken Noodle Soup
  • Just like Lit Hum, CC is another staple! It’s got all the classics like chicken noodle soup, but something about it isn’t as…filling? Rich? Creamy? The one-philosopher-a-day grind is great and all, but I think many of us can agree that spending a few classes analyzing Pride and Prejudice was a little more satisfying.
• Art Humanities – Italian Wedding Soup
  • Hear me out here—Columbia Dining’s Italian wedding soup makes lunch at John Jay feel more like Faculty House. It’s delicate, it’s subtle, it’s fancy, and I want to eat it while looking at beautiful pieces of art in a packed Schermerhorn classroom.
• Music Humanities – Minestrone
  • Music Hum certainly wasn’t my least favorite Core class, but is it anyone’s favorite? For those who already know about music history, it’s dreadfully slow, and for those with no knowledge of music, it’s insanely boring. Just like dining hall minestrone, it’s completely mid, and most people aren’t reaching for it.
• Language Requirement – Clam Chowder
  • This one’s polarizing! Everyone I know either loves or hates the Language Requirement, which aligns with the public opinion of Columbia Dining clam chowder. I totally understand why—four semesters of classes and hidden chewy seafood are definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but some people seem to love them.
• Science Requirement – Grits
  • I know it’s not technically a soup, but does anyone even eat grits at the dining halls? I’ve never seen anybody reach for these, just like the Core Science Requirement. If you’re a STEM major, odds are you’ve never even thought of this requirement, and if you’re not, then it’s likely your most despised one. The few people I’ve known to ever have tried them feel similarly about Ferris grits.
• Global Core – Broccoli Cheddar
  • Ending on a high note, Columbia Dining’s broccoli cheddar soup is literally delicious, just like the fan-favorite Global Core requirement. You get to choose which classes fulfill it, but unlike the Science Requirement, actually interesting classes are offered to do so! TBH, Columbia broccoli cheddar is so good, maybe we should start offering it to seniors first, and letting everyone else suffer weeks-long waitlists for it.

Soup image via Bwog Archives