The Pre-Baccalaureate Program
The Pre-Baccalaureate Program
Study a subject that interests you through an undergraduate course taught by Barnard faculty. Engage with college-level material and complete assignments that challenge you to develop your ideas and take greater responsibility for your learning.
The Pre-Baccalaureate Program is offered in person for commuter students only. Successful completion of an eligible three-credit course earns three college credits. You will receive a letter grade and may request an official Barnard transcript documenting your academic work.
Summer 2027 Program Dates
July 6 through August 13, 2027
Past Course Offerings: Summer 2026
Explore the courses below for a sense of the subjects and academic experiences offered through Pre-Baccalaureate.
These Summer 2026 listings are provided for reference. They do not confirm course availability, instructor assignments, or meeting schedules for Summer 2027. Updated course offerings, descriptions, and schedules will be posted here once confirmed.
Jozefina Chetko
Meets Mon/Wed 9:00am - 12:10pm
3 Credit Hours
Today’s cell phones are equipped with cameras that far surpass those used by the pioneers of digital photography, offering superior resolution and multi-sensor capabilities that revolutionize how we capture and process images. This course explores the creative and technical potential of smartphone photography, focusing on accessible tools and workflows that empower students to produce compelling digital works. The curriculum emphasizes post-production and digital media techniques over traditional camera mastery. Students will develop foundational skills in Adobe Suite applications, including Lightroom and Photoshop for photo editing and After Effects and Premiere for video production. We will also discuss the integration of artificial intelligence in modern photography, examining how AI enhances editing processes and opens new creative possibilities. A significant part of the course will address fundamental questions of light in photography, the use of RAW formats—offered by many smartphones but seldom understood—and the structure of digital image files. Students will also learn about post-production techniques for preparing images for print, as well as for projection or display on digital screens, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the end-to-end digital photography workflow. Thinking Locally: Street photography serves as a central theme in this course, encouraging students to document the vibrant life of New York City through weekly assignments. A guided photo walk in Harlem will provide hands-on experience in capturing unique, candid moments. Ethical considerations will be a key focus, addressing topics like consent, privacy, and best practices for interacting with subjects. Discussions will be complemented by readings, critiques, and a guest lecture from a professional street photographer. By the end of the course, students will have transformed their understanding of smartphone photography, creating works that push the boundaries of accessible technology while building a strong foundation in contemporary digital media.
Meets Tues/Thurs 10:00-1:10pm
3 Credit Hours
This course explores the intertwined histories of Broadway and New York City, examining the theater as both a cultural stage and a lens for imagining urban life. By analyzing landmark musicals and plays set within the five boroughs, students will investigate how the "Great White Way" reflects shifting social landscapes and operates as a central pillar of the city's economics, tourism, and cultural identity. Students will engage with the material through traditional lectures and screenings, supplemented by immersive field experiences including museum, archive, and theater tours.
Meets Mon/Wed 1:00pm - 4:10pm
3 Credit Hours
This seminar reads stories of love gone bad, of romances that end catastrophically, that damage lovers or leave victims along the way. We will illuminate the consuming fantasy of the romance genre in its quest for “true love,” as well as a range of emotions – rage and revenge, narcissism and self-protection, obsession and oblivion – that surface in its wake. We will also look at shifting interpretations of “bad love,” from Plato, to the Galenic theory of the humors, to the sociology of court-culture, to Freudian and finally contemporary neurobiological explanations of feelings. Students are welcome to propose texts of their own interests to open this course to the widest range of interests. In addition to seminar discussion, there will be weekly individual tutorials with Professor Hamilton as well as zoom interviews with a neurobiologist and a psychologist if it can be arranged.
Meets Mon/Wed 1:00pm - 4:10pm
3 Credit Hours
What is this course about? Well, it’s about witches…but what are witches about? Witches are about gender, sexuality, morality, fear, and authority, among other things. For millennia, female spirituality and female sexuality have been paired in ways that reveal deep-seated anxieties about the female body and its power. From ancient Mesopotamian goddess worship to the frenzied witch hunts of early modern Europe to the child-devouring crones of folk tales from cultures around the world, we’ll delve into what the witch and those who name and pursue her reveal about deeply-held cultural beliefs, desires, and anxieties. We’ll work together to analyze the figure of the witch across time and space and develop our own ideas about why she is so constantly compelling. We’ll also look at our own sociocultural moment and connect what we learn about witches to the world around us.
Meets Tues/Thurs 1:00pm - 4:10pm
3 Credit Hours
This course offers a chronological study of the Anglophone, Hispanophone, and Francophone insular Caribbean through the eyes of some of the region’s most important writers and thinkers. We will focus on issues that key Caribbean intellectuals--including two Nobel prize-winning authors--consider particularly enduring and relevant in Caribbean cultures and societies. Among these are, for example, colonization, slavery, national and postcolonial identity, race, class, popular culture, gender, sexuality, tourism and migration. This course will also serve as an introduction to some of the exciting work on the Caribbean by professors at Barnard College and Columbia University (faculty spotlights).
The Jazz of Chemistry
Meets Mon/Wed 9:00am - 12:10pm
3 Credit Hours
The contribution of chemistry to everyday life is immense. The applications of chemistry in medicine, petrochemicals, cosmetics, and fertilizers are readily apparent. However, the knowledge and applications of chemistry come in handy in many other fascinating fields, some of which may be less than obvious. Examples of areas in which chemistry plays a key role include forensic science; art restoration and forgery detection; and flavors and fragrances in food, beverages and other consumer products. The goal of this course is to provide insights and spur discussion of several areas and applications of chemistry, while gaining hands-on experience in techniques used in these fields.
Tuition and Fees
The following costs apply to one eligible three-credit course for Summer 2027.
| Required Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition for one three-credit course | $7,311 |
| Comprehensive fee | $495 |
| Total Program Cost | $7,806 |
The comprehensive fee covers operational fees, provides weekday dining access, and participation in select Pre-College excursions.
A non-refundable $835 deposit is required to secure enrollment. The deposit counts toward the $7,806 total program cost.
Billing and Payment
Tuition is billed through Barnard’s Student Account Center after you confirm enrollment and activate your Barnard credentials. Invoice notifications and billing access instructions are sent to your Barnard email.
Full tuition payment follows the Bursar’s summer payment schedule. Visit the Bursar’s Summer Tuition page for the applicable payment deadline and instructions.
Visit the Pre-Baccalaureate Program FAQs for payment instructions, parent or guardian billing access, and refund information.
Plan Your Next Steps
Review the application requirements and learn how enrollment works as you prepare for a college-level summer course at Barnard. The Pre-Baccalaureate FAQs provide additional guidance on academic expectations, billing, and college credit.
Questions About the Program?
Email pcp@barnard.edu for help understanding your next steps. Include your name and a brief description of your question so our team can better assist you.