In the latest installment of TA interviews, Bwog oldtimer, Carolyn Ruvkun, returned from the dead retirement to chat with with Upright Citizens Brigade Artistic Director, Reddit meme, and Columbia sociology PhD candidate Nate Dern. Also, we may have Google stalked him and found his hilarious Tumblr. Bwog: How’d you end up here as a PhD […]

TAs are people professors educators, too. Sophomore Scrutineers Clava Brodsky and Raph Debenedetti sat down with gold-nuggeted  PoliSci grad student David O’Connell to find out, well, why. If there’s a professor (grad students and TAs included) that you’re dying for us to ask nosey questions to, send us an email at tips@bwog.com.  Bwog: Can you tell […]

In the latest installment of Bwog’s OfficeHop series, Senior CEO Expert Hopper Specialist Peter Sterne visited Anthropology Professor Michael Taussig to ask about… his hammock. Taussig happily shared anecdotes and observations about his prized perch, while impatient grad students grumbled outside his office. If you know a professor with a unique office, be sure to email tips@bwog.com! […]

If Barnard’s psychology Professor Robert Remez had a spirit animal, it would be the Sphinx. The one perched on his desk, he explains, reminds him to “maintain an eloquent silence, but it’s not working.” Lucky for Bwog, the eloquent-but hardly silent-professor shared his office for one of our more scholarly features. Katheryn Thayer stopped by his […]

In this installment of Professor Interviews, Conor Skelding sat down with Professor Gareth Williams, whose Selections from Latin Literature: Horace class you ought to take. His office is filled with many leather bound books and boasts a prominent ligneous writing desk, while his computer is relegated to the corner and rarely used. He’s also reeaaally into Lit […]

Bwog hops all sorts of things: lectures, dorm rooms, holidays, clubs. Now we’re hopping your professors’ offices. Send suggestions to tips@bwog.com. This week, meet Richard Pious, beloved political science professor at Barnard, and make yourself comfortable in his cozy office on the fourth floor of Lehman Library. His ceiling might not be perfect, but at […]

In our latest installment of professor interviews, Adam Kuerbitz talked camels–just camels!–with history professor Richard Bulliet, who you’ve definitely heard of and may have taken History of the Modern Middle East with. Read on to find out everything you’ve ever wanted to know about camel historiography (you know, good for cocktail parties). Also, Richard Bulliet […]

In this installment of professor interviews we present Professor Frances Negrón-Muntaner —  filmmaker/writer/scholar/everything who teaches in the Department of English & Comp Lit and at the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. Bwog’s Michael Adame sat down with her to talk cognitive channels of reggaeton, belt buckles and Ethiopian food in Morningside Heights. So you’re originally […]

Office hours: they’re the best! For the latest in our ongoing series of professor interviews, Sam Schube spoke with old Bwog favorite Bruce Robbins. While you might know him from that one essay you skimmed for University Writing (that’d be “The Sweatshop Sublime”), Robbins is a man of many interests—chief among them plumbing and the […]

It’s been a while since the last one, but we’ve finally collected ourselves enough to head back to office hours. Liz Naiden got up at 9am to visit the castle keep of medievalist and long-time CC professor Adam Kosto. Read on for the earnest, conscientious prof’s views on weird medieval people, Columbia undergrad culture (THAT’S […]

Bwog needed an excuse to hang out with our professors more, so we’re dropping by the office hours of our favorite teachers and asking them about their research and favorite foods. Liz Jacob visited beloved French Professor Vincent Aurora, an espresso-fueled whirlwind of knowledge and passion, who imparts to his students far more than just […]

On June 13th, Professor of English and Comparative Literature James Shapiro won the BBC 4 Samuel Johnson Prize for his work, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599. Shapiro’s tome, a partial biography, details the 35-year old Bard as he works on As You Like It, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet. Herewith, the Bwog […]