The College’s work is not only to transfer knowledge and teach important skills, but also to raise fundamental questions about human existence, to question what we know and how we know it, and to consider all opinions and deliberate all ideas. We do this through the Core Curriculum, as we have since 1919, as well as through new initiatives for our changing the world, including courses focused on developing entrepreneurial leadership, opportunities that enhance our students’ global education, and enhancements to our advising system that allow students greater depth of exploration into and understanding of the academic possibilities available to them.
Woodworking for Literature
“Creating the stool allowed me to connect with Don Quixote on a deeply personal level — it helped me to discover what Don Quixote meant to me.” — Scott Sonnenberg ’18
Core to Commencement has been raising funds to endow the Core Curriculum, support Core faculty and promote Core innovation through the use of new technologies that will expand the Core experience beyond the classroom.
The Center for the Core Curriculum announced a new Literature Humanities syllabus for the 2015–2016 academic year. Added to the syllabus were Milton’s Paradise Lost, Sappho’s Lyrics, Euripides’ The Bacchae, Bocaccio’s The Decameron and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. The syllabus is reviewed every few years by the Syllabus Review Committee, a committee of faculty who take into consideration recommendations from all Literature Humanities faculty before proposing a revised syllabus. The entire course’s faculty then votes on whether or not to adopt the changes.
Building A Culture of Creation
“Columbia College students have no shortage of ideas, and the world offers no shortage of opportunities for those ideas to develop.” — Columbia College Dean James J. Valentini
A gift from Stephen S. Trevor ’86 and Ronnie D. Planalp BUS’86 established the Planalp Trevor Dean’s Curriculum Innovation Fund for Entrepreneurship at Columbia College, which provides permanent support for faculty teaching and students enrolled in entrepreneurship courses while accelerating and motivating the community around innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
Exploring a Global Education
“My coursework, study abroad and extracurricular experiences have pushed me to think globally in different and unexpected directions.” — Anjelica Neslin ’16
The James H. and Christine Turk Berick Center for Student Advising announced a new initiative that allows first-years to explore potential academic areas of interest before formally declaring a major or concentration. Known as “Shadow Declaration,” this program allows students to indicate an interest in up to two majors or concentrations before declaring majors or concentrations in the spring of their sophomore year.
590 first-year Columbia College students participated in Shadow Declaration in 2015-2016
New Professorships
The Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation, established by Robert David Lion Gardiner ’32, donated $3 million to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to establish the Robert Gardiner-Kenneth T. Jackson Professorship in the history department. The new chair, named after Kenneth T. Jackson, the Jacques Barzun Professor of History and the Social Sciences, focuses on teaching New York history, Jackson’s specialty. Read More
The late Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History Emeritus David Rosand ’59, GSAS’65’s family, friends, students and colleagues honored his memory by raising funds for an endowed professorship in his name. The lead gift of $1 million toward the David Rosand Professorship, which is dedicated to the study of Italian Renaissance art, came from Don and Sally Anderson. Read More
Lynn Chen-Zhang and Charles Zhang P: ’17, ’20 endowed the Charles and Lynn Zhang Professorship of Economics at Columbia after being inspired by their son Mitchell Zhang ’17’s experience in the Department of Economics and with the Core Curriculum. Read More