The Columbia College curriculum and its academic policies are determined by the following faculty committees:
Committee on Instruction
The Committee on Instruction (COI) is responsible for approving proposals for new majors and other academic programs, new courses and policy changes. The COI also provides leadership on a range of academic matters, consulting with a broad range of faculty, students and administrators where relevant. The COI is a joint Columbia College and School of General Studies committee. Questions? Contact cc-gs-courses@columbia.edu.
Committee on Instruction Members: 2019–2020
- Co-Chair: Dean James J. Valentini, Dean of Columbia College
- Co-Chair: Dean Lisa Rosen-Metsch, Dean of the School of General Studies
- Professor Chloe Bulinski, Department of Biological Sciences
- Professor Yinon Cohen, Department of Sociology
- Professor Steven Goldstein, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Professor Saskia Hamilton, Barnard College
- Professor Robert Hymes, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
- Associate Professor Dorothea Lasky, School of the Arts
- Professor Szabolcs Marka, Department of Physics
- Professor Barclay Morrison, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Vice Dean of Undergraduate Programs, School of Engineering and Applied Science
- Professor Molly Murray, Department of English and Comparative Literature
- Professor Oliver Simons, Department of Germanic Languages
- Professor Mark Van De Mieroop, Department of History
- Professor Katja Vogt, Department of Philosophy
- Professor Keren Yarhi-Milo, Department of Political Science
Student Representatives:
- Hanna Agbanrin GS’20
- Yaniv Goren CC’22
- Enoch Jiang CC’21
- Joshua Lefkow GS’24
Ex-Officio:
- Lisa Hollibaugh, Dean of Academic Affairs, Columbia College
- Victoria Rosner, Dean of Academic Affairs, School of General Studies
- Andrew Plaa, Dean of Advising for Columbia College and Columbia Engineering
- Marlyn Delva, Dean of Students, School of General Studies
- Amy Kohn, Associate Director, Academic Affairs, Columbia College
- Mandeep Singh, Assistant Director, Academic Affairs, School of General Studies
New Approved Courses
The following new courses have been approved for the Summer term following the 2019-2020 academic year and the Fall 2020 semester. As new courses are added to the list frequently, please visit this site for updates. Additional courses and major/concentration requirements may be found in the Columbia College Bulletin.
Last updated July 7, 2020.
Summer 2020
| DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM | COURSE NO. & DESIGNATOR | TITLE |
|---|---|---|
| African American and African Diaspora Studies | AFAM GU4000 | Gospel Music in Modern America |
| African American and African Diaspora Studies | AFAM GU4468 | Post-1945 Jazz |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS S2600 | THE ARTS OF CHINA |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS S4654 | Painting in the Mid Twentieth Century, 1929-1980 |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS S4655 | Performing the City |
| Biochemistry | BCHM GU4501 | BIOCHEM I-STRUCTURE/METABOLISM |
| Biology | BIOL GU4310 | Virology |
| Classics | CLCV UN3059 | WORLDS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT |
| Classics | CLCV UN3111 | PLATO&CONFUCIUS: COMP ANC PHIL |
| Earth and Environmental Sciences | EESC UN1004 | Dinosaurs and the History of Life |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL S3826 | Jane Austen and the Poets |
| English and Comparative Literature | CLEN S3484 | Inventions of the Self: Autofiction, Therapy, and Neuroplasticity |
| English and Comparative Literature | CLEN S3987 | Narrative Forms of Medicine: Forms of Autobiography |
| English and Comparative Literature | CLEN S4521 | Topics in Comparative Literature: Defining Life |
| French and Romance Philology | FREN UN3242 | French Language, Culture, and Society through the Discovery of Paris |
| History | HIST UN2478 | US INTELLECTUAL HIST 1865-PRES |
| History | HIST UN3335 | 20TH CENT NEW YOUR CITY HIST |
| Italian | ITAL UN3643 | History of Italian Cinema |
| Music | AHMM UN3320 | MUSIC-EAST ASIA-SOUTHEAST ASIA |
| Music | MUSI UN2240 | The Song Within Us: Composition, Analysis, Performance |
| Philosophy | PHIL UN3800 | PHILOSOPHY, JUSTICE AND SOCIAL ACTIVISM |
| Political Science | POLS UN3100 | Justice |
| Political Science | POLS UN3260 | LATINO POLITICAL EXPERIENCE |
| Political Science | POLS UN3671 | China's Foreign Relations |
| Political Science | POLS UN3720 | Research Design: Scope and methods |
| Political Science | POLS GU4835 | Formal and Informal Terrorist Actors |
| Religion | RELI S2335 | Religion in Black America: An Introduction |
| Religion | RELI S4619 | Islam in Popular Culture |
| Religion | RELI UN1612 | Religion and the History of Hip Hop |
| Writing | WRIT UN3215 | Art Writing for Writers |
Fall 2020
| DEPARTMENT/PROGRAM | COURSE NO. & DESIGNATOR | TITLE |
|---|
| Department | Subj code number | Title of Course |
| Anthropology | ANTH UN3624 | Radical Realisms: Anthropology, Modernism, Fiction |
| Anthropology | ANTH UN3664 | FIELDWORK AT EDGE OF THE VIDEO FRAME |
| Anthropology | ANTH UN3725 | Politics of Recognition |
| Anthropology | ANTH GU4145 | Zora |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS UN3316 | Mediterranean Maps |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS UN3327 | Building Before Industrialization |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS UN3417 | Medieval Revival: Collecting, Copying, and Co-opting the Past |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS UN3453 | Women Artists in Eighteenth-Century Europe |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS UN3503 | Contemporary Arts of Africa |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS GU4532 | The Lives of Titian |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS GU4574 | Picturing a New World: Illustrated Manuscripts in Early Colonial Mexico and Peru |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS GU4740 | Re-Reading American Photographs |
| Art History and Archaeology | AHIS GU4948 | American Government Architecture: Governance and Governmentality |
| Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race | CSER UN3303 | Whiteness, Sentiment and Political Belonging |
| Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race | CSER UN3444 | The Decolonial Appeal: Desiring Decolonization in Sites of Representation |
| Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race | CSER GU4361 | Documenting Disaster |
| Classics | CLCV UN3008 | The Age of Augustus |
| Committee on Global Thought | CGTH GU4325 | Freedom of Expression and Information in the Time of Globalization |
| Inst. for Comparative Literature and Society | CPLS GU4235 | The Novel and Neuroscience |
| Inst. for Comparative Literature and Society | CPLS GU4810 | Theories of the Subject |
| Earth and Environmental Sciences | EESC GU4524 | Biogeochemistry |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | TIBT UN2710 | Advanced Literary Tibetan |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | EAAS UN3343 | Japanese Contemporary Cinema and Media Culture |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | JPNS UN3401 | Japanese Pop Culture |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | VIET GU4101 | MIXED ADVANCED VIETNAMESE I |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | CHNS GU4112 | ADVANCED BUSINESS CHINESE |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | EARL GU4410 | TIBETAN MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | EAAS GU4236 | CHINA'S LONG 1980's: INTERROGATING THE CULTURAL POLITICS |
| East Asian Languages and Cultures | EARL GU4510 | Asia Goes To Hell |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL UN3018 | DESPAIR AND APOCALYPSE IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL UN3032 | Pope |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL UN3475 | Aestheticism: Art and Life |
| English and Comparative Literature | CLEN UN3564 | Dostoevsky and Nabokov: Narratives of Transgression and Madness |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL UN3648 | Comics, Health, and Embodiment |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL UN3805 | The Political Novel |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL UN3728 | American Transcendentalism |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL GU4232 | TRADE AND TRAFFIC WITH EARLY MODERN ENGLAND |
| English and Comparative Literature | ENGL GU4812 | Conquests, Colonialism, and the Normans |
| French | FREN GU4421 | The Caribbean Digital |
| French | CLFR GU4500 | Pandemics in Francophone Literature and History |
| Germanic Languages | CLGR UN3000 | Grimms' Fairy Tales: Power, Gender & Narrative |
| Germanic Languages | CLGR GU4000 | Literature and Rhetoric (in German and English) |
| History | HIST UN2003 | Empire ＆ Nation-Building East Central Europe |
| History | HIST UN2883 | The History of the End of the World |
| History | HIST UN3023 | Mobility and Identity in the Roman World |
| History | HIST UN3234 | The Idea of Conspiracy in European Culture |
| History | HIST UN2565 | American History at the Movies |
| History | HIST UN3272 | Modern Southeast Asian History |
| History | HIST GU4229 | POLITICS ＆ SEXUALITY IN THE COLD WAR |
| History | HIST GU4438 | POLITICAL HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICA |
| History | HIST GU4692 | Violence in Mexico: A Historical Approach |
| History | HIST GU4693 | WRITERS ON HISTORY: THOMAS MANN |
| History | HIST GU4812 | The People’s Republic of China and the World |
| History | HIST GU4926 | Spatial History Lab |
| History | HIST GU4927 | Mapping 19th Century New York |
| History | HIST GU4943 | MODERN BALKAN HISTORIES |
| History | HIST GU4945 | SPORT & SOCIETY IN EASTERN EUROPE |
| Italian | ITAL UN3643 | History of Italian Cinema |
| Italian | CLIA GU4023 | Travel Literature in and from the Mediterranean 18th-19th centuries |
| Jewish Studies | JWST GU4538 | History of Jews in the Islamic World in Modern Times |
| Latin American and Iberian Cultures | SPAN UN3366 | Unseen Things: Fantastic Narratives in Contemporary Spain |
| Latin American and Iberian Cultures | SPAN UN3887 | The End of Monuments |
| Latin American and Iberian Cultures | SPAN UN3888 | Women Without Measure: Approaches to Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art |
| Latin American and Iberian Cultures | PORT GU4033 | Language ＆ Queer Brazil (ENG) |
| Linguistics | LING UN3103 | Language, Brain and Mind |
| Mathematics | MATH GU4200 | MATHEMATICS AND THE HUMANITIES |
| Mathematics | MATH GU4391 | INTRO TO QUANTUM MECHANICS |
| Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies | MDES UN3421 | Islamic Central Asia |
| Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies | MDES UN3422 | Infrastructure Matters: Development, Environment, Political Struggle |
| Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies | MDES GU4265 | Ṣūfism, Sharīʿa, and Politics |
| Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies | MDES GU4629 | Transregional |
| Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies | MDES GU4713 | Persian for Heritage Speakers I |
| Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies | MDES GU4718 | Persian Poetry (In Translation) |
| Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies | MDES GU4915 | A History of African Cities |
| Music | MUSI UN3431 | Sensing the Amazon: Song, Sound & Image |
| Music | MUSI GU4108 | Critical Approaches to Opera Studies |
| Physics | SCNC UN3002 | Chernobyl |
| Political Science | POLS UN3534 | AUTOCRACY AND DEMOCRACY |
| Political Science | POLS UN3704 | RESEARCH DESIGN: DATA ANALYSIS |
| Political Science | POLS GU4423 | ELITES ＆ INSTITUTIONS |
| Political Science | POLS GU4700 | MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS FOR POLITICAL SCIENCE |
| Political Science | POLS GU4814 | Civil and Ethnic War |
| Psychology | PSYC GU4282 | The Neurobiology and Psychology of Play |
| Psychology | PSYC GU4930 | Fundamentals of Human Brain Imaging: from theory to practice |
| Religion | RELI UN2312 | Religion and Nasty Women |
| Religion | RELI UN2506 | From Exodus to Coronavirus: Scriptures/Narratives Religious Responses to Epidemics |
| Religion | RELI UN3207 | In the Margins of the Middle Ages: Religious Minorities in the Medieval Latin West |
| Religion | RELI UN3208 | Aaahh Real Monsters: Critical Monster Studies |
| Religion | RELI UN3232 | Museums and Sacred Things |
| Religion | RELI GU4207 | Religion and the Afro-Native Experience |
| Religion | RELI GU4213 | Islam and the Secular: Rethinking Concepts of Religion in North-Western Africa |
| Religion | RELI GU4222 | Heidegger and Derrida |
| Sociology | SOCI UN3120 | Trust and Mistrust in Science and Expertise |
| Sociology | SOCI GU4801 | Israel and the Palestinians |
| Twi | TWI UN2101 | Intermediate Twi I |
| Visual Arts | VIAR UN3134 | Painting: Color, Materials and Techniques |
| Women's Studies | WMST UN3225 | TRANSGENDER STUDIES - THEMES AND TOPICS |
| Women's Studies | WMST GU4235 | Indigenous Feminisms |
Committee on the Core
The Committee on the Core (COC) is responsible for all matters regarding the Core Curriculum. Questions? Contact Toni Gunthrope-Hardee: tg2030@columbia.edu.
Committee on the Core Members: 2019–2020
- James J. Valentini, Dean of Columbia College
- Professor Noam Elcott, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Chair of Art Humanities
- Professor Patricia Grieve, Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Chair of the Committee on the Global Core
- Professor David Helfand, Department Astronomy, Chair of Frontiers of Science
- Professor Emmanuelle Saada, Departments of French and History, Chair of Contemporary Civilization
- Professor Elaine Sisman, Department of Music, Chair of Music Humanities
- Professor Joanna Stalnaker, Department of French, Chair of Literature Humanities
- Professor Nicole Wallack, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Director of the Undergraduate Writing Program
Student Representatives:
- Joon Baek CC’21
- Matthew Linsky GS’23
- Abraham Lyon CC’21
- Radhika Mehta CC’22
Ex-Officio:
- Ivana N. Hughes, Director, Frontiers of Science
- Lisa Hollibaugh, Dean of Academic Affairs, Columbia College
- Victoria P. Rosner, Dean of Academic Affairs, School of General Studies
- Larry Jackson, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Core Curriculum and Undergraduate Programs
- Toni Gunthrope-Hardee, Associate Director of Academic Affairs, Faculty and Student Support
Committee on Science Instruction
The Committee on Science Instruction (COSI) is responsible for all matters relating to the science requirement and providing leadership on matters related to undergraduate science education. Questions? Contact Amy Kohn: ask130@columbia.edu
Committee on Science Instruction Members: 2019–2020
- Professor Tulle Hazelrigg, Department of Biological Sciences
- Professor David Helfand, Department of Astronomy, Frontiers of Science
- Professor Jae Woo Lee, Department of Computer Science
- Professor Shaw-Hwa Lo, Department of Statistics
- Professor Caroline Marvin, Department of Psychology
- Professor Jerry McManus, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Professor Shahid Naeem, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
- Professor Mary Putman, Department of Astronomy
- Professor David Reichman, Department of Chemistry
- Professor Ovidiu Savin, Department of Mathematics
- Professor Brian A. Cole, Department of Physics
Student Representatives:
- Michelle Capuno GS’22
- Rafael Lippert CC’21
Ex-Officio:
- James J. Valentini, Dean of Columbia College
- Ivana Hughes, Department of Chemistry, Director of Frontiers of Science
- Lisa Hollibaugh, Dean of Academic Affairs
- Victoria Rosner, Dean of Academic Affairs, School of General Studies
- Larry Jackson, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Core Curriculum and Undergraduate Programs
- Amy Kohn, Associate Director of Academic Affairs
Committee on the Global Core
The Committee on the Global Core (CGC) is responsible for all matters relating to the Global Core requirement, including determining the list of courses approved for the requirement. Questions? Contact globalcore@columbia.edu.
Faculty interested in proposing new courses for the Global Core requirement can view information regarding the process.
Committee on Global Core Members: 2019–2020
- Chair: Professor Patricia Grieve, Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures
- Professor Courtney Bender, Department of Religion
- Professor Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Department of French and Romance Philology
- Professor Madeleine Dobie, Department of French and Romance Philology
- Professor David Lurie, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
- Professor Avinoam Shalem, Department of Art History and Archaeology
Student Representative:
- Hayat Aljowaily GS’20
- Clara Harter CC’20
Ex-Officio:
- James J. Valentini, Dean of Columbia College
- Lisa Rosen-Metsch, Dean of The School of General Studies
- Victoria P. Rosner, Dean of Academic Affairs, School of General Studies
- Lisa Hollibaugh, Dean of Academic Affairs, Columbia College
- Shannon Marquez, Dean of Undergraduate Global Engagement
- Larry Jackson, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Core Curriculum and Undergraduate Programs
Interested Students
If you are a current student at Columbia College and you are interested in learning more about how decisions about the curriculum are made, consider serving as a student representative on one of these committees! Learn more about the application process.