Barnard|Next Online brings live, discussion based courses straight to you, wherever you are. Led by Barnard instructors and rooted in the College’s liberal arts tradition, these short, focused offerings invite you to explore everything from art and writing to new ideas across the humanities, social sciences, and beyond. Sessions take place online in real time, so you can ask questions, connect with fellow learners, and stay engaged with Barnard’s intellectual community even if you cannot make it to campus.

Spring 2026 Offerings

Beauty, Babies, and Dieting: The Impact of Nanotechnology on Women’s Health

Instructor: Ilise Feitshans ’79
Format: 6 sessions, online on Zoom
Schedule: Wednesdays, 12:00–1:30 PM (ET)
Dates: February 11, 18, 25 and March 4, 11, 25
Cost: $750

This course examines how applied nanotechnology could help reduce health disparities between men and women across the life cycle. You will consider how health is defined in culture and under law, and how disability is shaped by social norms and barriers to inclusion. The class will explore legal regimes designed to prevent discrimination that affects men and women differently, with a particular focus on reproductive rights and cancer risk among older women.

Topics include international and U.S. laws protecting women’s health, reproductive health for all, science and law enabling LGBTQI people to have biological children without a heterosexual partner, and technology driven approaches to reducing maternal mortality so that there is “no mom left behind.” You will also look at national and global efforts to address maternal health, including the reality that women in the United States still risk their lives to have a baby, and examine parental leave policies using the Bahamas as a case study.

Comic Book Metropolis: New York City and the History of the American Comic Book

Instructor: Benjamin Breyer
Format: 4 sessions, online on Zoom
Schedule: Sundays, 5:00–7:00 PM (ET)
Dates: February 15, 22 and March 1, 8
Cost: $500

This course traces how New York City has shaped the history of American comic books. For decades, the city was the beating heart of the industry, home to publishers, studios, syndicates, and the people who created and sold comics. You will look at how New York’s streets, subways, and tenements influenced what got made and how it looked, from early newspaper strips and The Yellow Kid through mid century publishers, underground comix, and contemporary graphic novels.

Case studies include Will Eisner’s A Contract with God, which drew on tenement life and helped popularize the graphic novel format, and Frank Miller’s vision of the city in Daredevil, Ronin, and The Dark Knight Returns, steeped in the urban crisis of the late 1970s and 1980s. Using a historical lens, the course examines how New York’s people and publishing networks have continually shaped comics’ form, themes, and readership.

Writing Your Life Story

Instructor: Alexandra Watson
Format: 4 sessions, online on Zoom
Schedule: Wednesdays, 4:00–6:00 PM (ET)
Dates: February 11, 18, 25 and March 4
Cost: $500

This course helps you turn the moments that matter in your life into compelling personal essays. Everyone has at least one moment that changed everything, or a quiet ordinary day that still lingers in memory. The challenge is finding the time, space, and structure to get those stories onto the page. In this class, you will use the flexible form of the personal essay to “write into” your life and shape those moments into narrative.

You will read personal essays for inspiration rather than argumentative models, paying attention to intimacy of voice, structure, and perspective. As Philip Lopate writes, “The hallmark of the personal essay is its intimacy. The writer seems to be speaking directly into your ear, confiding everything from gossip to wisdom.” Over four sessions, you will read work in that spirit and draft your own pieces, tapping into stories that range from everyday details to hard won insights.

How to Register

You can find registration information for all of the courses above by visiting the page below.

Spring 2026 Registration