The Center for the Core Curriculum
202 Hamilton Hall; 854-2453
URL: http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/

 

Committee on the Core Curriculum

Holger Klein Art History and Archaeology Chair of Art Humanities 903 Schermerhorn Hall; 854-4505 hak56@columbia.edu Niocle Wallack English and Comparative Literature Acting Director of the Undergraduate Writing Program 310 Philosophy; 854-3886 nw2108@columbia.edu Elaine Sisman Music Chair of Music Humanities 604 Dodge; 854-7728 es53@columbia.edu Patricia Grieve Spanish and Portuguese Chair of the Committee on the Core; Chair of the Committee on Major Cultures; 305 Casa Hispanica; 854-4338 peg1@columbia.edu James Valentini Chemistry Chair of the Committee on Science Instruction 528 Havemeyer; 854-7590 jjv1@columbia.edu

Roosevelt Montas Associate Dean of the Core Curriculum 202 Hamilton; 854-2453 rm63@columbia.edu Michael Stanislawski History Chair of Contemporary Civilization 605 Fayerweather Hall; 854-2482 mfs3@columbia.edu Gareth Williams Classics Chair of Literature Humanities 615 Hamilton Hall; 854-2850 gdw5@columbia.edu Austin Quigley Dean of Columbia College 208 Hamilton; 854-2443 aeq1@columbia.edu Kathryn Yatrakis Dean of Academic Affairs 208 Hamilton; 854-2441 kby1@columbia.edu

The Core Curriculum is the cornerstone of a Columbia education. Central to the intellectual mission of the Core is the goal of providing all Columbia students, regardless of their major or concentration, with wide-ranging perspectives on significant ideas and achievements in literature, philosophy, history, music, art, and science.

Contemporary Civilization began in 1919 as a course on War and Peace Issues, and the creation of Literature Humanities followed in 1937. By 1947 Art Humanities and Music Humanities had been added, and a new course in Asian Humanities was introduced. The global core requirement, formerly major cultures, joined the Core in 1990 and Frontiers of Science in 2004. Though celebrated for their content, these courses are equally important for their small class format. Taught in seminars limited to approximately twenty-two students, these courses ensure that education at Columbia begins with an emphasis on active intellectual engagement. The small size of most Core Curriculum classes provides students with the opportunity to develop intellectual relationships with faculty early on in their College career and to participate with them in a shared process of intellectual inquiry. In the Core Curriculum the pur-suit of better questions is every bit as important as the pursuit of better answers.

The skills and habits honed by the Core—observation, analysis, argument, imaginative comparison, respect for ideas, nuances, and differences—provide a rigorous preparation for life as an intelligent citizen in today’s complex and changing world.