A new academic year means a multitude of fresh changes in Barnard’s curriculum for the class of 2029. Key changes include new course offerings across a number of subject areas.

This fall, Barnard’s campus will be seeing a variety of changes in their curriculum for first-year students. The College announced on March 28 that beginning in Fall 2025, “the first year at Barnard will be at Barnard,” meaning first year Barnard students will take mostly Barnard classes, with a limited number of Columbia courses still available. These Columbia courses will be those most integral to the student’s major. Additionally, the “Modes of Thinking” courses, a part of Barnard’s requirements, will be taught at Barnard exclusively with Barnard faculty. 

A slew of new courses are also set to take the stage in September. Barnard will start to offer many new language courses including Chinese, Korean, Italian and American Sign Language. In addition to language courses, new classes will be offered in contemporary categories with subject areas including New York City, Usable Security and Privacy, Graphic Autobiographies and Biographies, Introduction to the Global Middle Ages, and American Political Thought. 

Courses in the “New York City” category will cover topics such as the built environment, finance, journalism, music, food, fashion, politics, transportation, public monuments, and museums, among other New York-centric subjects. “Usable Security and Privacy” courses will “explore fundamental concepts in the field of usable security and privacy,” including user security and privacy perceptions and experiences to design solutions to privacy issues. “Graphic Autobiographies and Biographies” courses will explore how drawings and words can work together as modes of “depicting emergent identity, historical experience, trauma, memory, and post-memory, among other themes.” 

Courses under “Introduction to the Global Middle Ages” will emphasize connectivity and comparative studies, including visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters as part of the curriculum. The final category, “American Political Thought,” will focus on the development of American political ideas through the work of scholars and leaders from across the history of the United States.

Barnard President Laura Rosenbury explained the reasoning for changing the curriculum: “Our students wanted more first-year courses, more direct engagement with Barnard faculty, and more ways to connect with New York City…The new Foundations curriculum offers the best of both worlds: the close knit, rigorous learning environment of the nation’s premier women’s college, combined with all New York City has to offer.”

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