HIST BC2321: Colonial Encounters - Europe and the Culture of Empire

Lisa Tiersten, Professor. 

Examines the shaping of European cultural identity through encounters with non-European cultures from 1500 to the post-colonial era. Novels, paintings, and films will be among the sources used to examine such topics as exoticism in the Enlightenment, slavery and European capitalism, Orientalism in art, ethnographic writings on the primitive, and tourism.

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

EES CBC1007_001_2021_2: Earth and Environmental Science in Today  

Sedelia Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer. 

In responding to the environmental issues we face today, it is critical to recognize the science behind them. This course will teach students the basic concepts in earth science/geology essential to understanding the mechanisms of our current climate crisis. These foundational concepts are crucial for any student who is interested in not only the natural sciences, but for those who wish to pursue careers related to environmental justice, sustainability, and other social science fields. Students will explore how and where natural resources form, as well as how we are rapidly depleting these reserves. Students will also learn about natural disasters and how these affect certain communities more than others. Students will gain an understanding of the formation of rocks and minerals and their economic significance. Students will be able to use the cumulative knowledge they gained during the first weeks of class to have a better understanding of the global climate issues we face and to use this information to conduct presentations on an environmental topic of their choice. The format of the course will be as follows:  Primarily lecture, followed by class discussions, group activities and at least one lab component.

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

ECON BC3081: Economics of Work and Play

Lalith Munasinghe, Professor. 

Is human activity the locus of human freedom? Is human wellbeing more or less to do with the consumption of goods and services (as the neoclassical economist would have us believe) or with the status of human actions (whether as play or work)? Do human institutions--the state, patriarchal households, educational establishments, corporations, factories, prisons, retirement homes--impact individual preferences, dispositions, tolerances? Or, do fixed and stable human preferences (underlying assumption of neoclassical consumer theory) underpin such hierarchical institutions around which human life is organized? What aspects of labor--lack of ownership of means of production, minimal control over the work process, simplification (deskilling) of tasks-- lead to alienation of the worker? Can we imagine alternative structures of social work that is cooperative and non-hierarchical? What factors are implicated in the recent increase in so-called "bullshit jobs" over the past 40 years or so? What does the future of work look like?

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

ENGL BC2336: WITCHES

Wendy C Schor-Haim, Senior Lecturer.

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.

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

ENG BC1903: Dead Mothers, Wicked Stepmothers   

Wendy Schor-Haim, Senior Lecturer. 

Why are stepmothers and stepdaughters inevitable enemies in folk and fairy tales? Why are fathers blameless and biological mothers absent (and usually dead)? And how do these narratives, so deeply woven into our own media and language, affect our sense of our own lived reality? In this course, we’ll untangle the complicated web of relationships between mothers, daughters, stepmothers, and fathers in folk and fairy tales, from ancient Rome to current cinema. We’ll read analytic psychology, feminist literary theory, cultural history, and other critical perspectives to help us analyze the absent mother, virginal daughter, hapless father, and evil stepmother tropes across time and space, so we can look anew at these familiar figures and develop a deeper understanding of how and why they dominate the popular imagination. 

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

DNCB BC2665: World Dance History      

Paul Scolieri, Professor. 

A survey of the major dance traditions of Africa, Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and the Americas. Lectures and discussions address primary written and visual sources, ethnographic and documentary films, workshops, and performances.

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

ENGL BC1022: Bad Love        

Ross Hamilton, Professor.

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.

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

FILM BC1020 : NYC in Film         

Ross Hamilton, Professor. 

This course will explore the representation of New York City in film. We will examine the way that film portrays social problems and either creates or responds to “social panics.” We will also examine the way in which film actively creates an idea of “New York” through cinematography, directing, acting and other aspects of filmmaking.  Some topics to be considered are utopia/dystopia, race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, art, immigration, houselessness, and gentrification. The course follows three main themes: 1. How the filmmaking process (camera movements, lighting, dialogue, acting, etc.) is used as a method to describe space (filmmaking as a geographic method). 2. How various genres of film have been used to portray the social geography of New York City (the geography of film). 3. The relationship between the viewer’s “place” and the places portrayed in the film (communication geography). Finally, we will also consider how our personal sense of place towards New York City has altered throughout the course.

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

CHEM BC1050: The Jazz of Chemistry     

Meena Rao, Senior Lecturer. 

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.

Barnard Students register here!

Columbia Students register here!

Visiting Students register here!

For all current undergraduate students at Barnard College and Columbia University, as well as visiting students from other colleges and universities, registrations will be processed as received (no seats saved for majors or class years). Questions? Email summersession@barnard.edu.

Pre-baccalaureate students must apply through the Pre-College Program. Questions? Emai summersession@barnard.edu

Once the summer session begins, you cannot drop your only class on SSOL. Please email the Barnard registrar at registrar@barnard.edu, to request the drop or withdrawal from a summer course. We will process it according to the date it was sent. Please see the academic calendar for dates and deadlines.

Incoming first-year students (class of 2028) who will begin at Barnard in the Fall Semester must apply to take a class through the Pre-College Program. Questions can be directed to pcp@barnard.edu.

Incoming transfer students can register as a non-Barnard visiting student. Questions can be directed to summersession@barnard.edu.

Students currently on a leave of absence should reach out to Dean Rebecca Grabiner if they are interested in taking a summer course. Refer as well to the Leaves of Absence and Returns webpage.

Contact Dean Grabiner: schedule an appointment or email leavesandreturns@barnard.edu.

No. Recent graduates or those who plan to have their degree conferred in May are not eligible to register for a summer course.

Please refer to the Registrar’s webpage that details information about taking summer classes elsewhere. For policies related to credit for Columbia summer classes, please check here.

No. All students will be charged on a per-credit basis and will be billed separately from Fall and Spring tuition. 

Access to Courseworks, our designated course portals (where students will find course materials), will be granted at the start of the summer courses in which you enroll. *Students with no prior affiliation to Columbia University will receive login credentials from the Office of Summer Session and Continuing Studies