Those unfamiliar with Columbia’s Core Curriculum often view it as an unchanging roster of readings. In truth, however, the syllabi for each course are routinely reviewed and amended in light of the “insistent problems of the present.” As a result, students in Literature Humanities have cumulatively read at least 152 works of literature and philosophy since the course’s inception in 1937. This page presents a list of these texts and the years in which they were studied.
Of the texts below, the following were customarily read in excerpts: Aristotle, Ethics; Boccaccio, Decameron; Cervantes, Don Quixote; Fielding, Tom Jones; Goethe, Faust; Herodotus, The Persian Wars; Montaigne, Essays; Plato, The Republic; Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel; Rousseau, Confessions; Spinoza, Ethics; and Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars.
While the texts included on each year’s reading list are required for all students in Literature Humanities, instructors have often incorporated additional readings as “Instructor’s Choice” texts. Over the years, instructors have chosen a wide range of titles, including: Borges, Labyrinths; Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies; Conrad, Heart of Darkness; Evaristo, The Emperor’s Babe; García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude; Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God; Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; Kalidasa, The Cloud Messenger; Miller, The Song of Achilles; Morrison, Beloved; Munshi, Kalila and Dimna; Viramontes, Under the Feet of Jesus; and Walcott, Omeros.
| Author | Text | Academic Years |
|---|---|---|
| Adams | EDUCATION | 1955-1956 |
| Aeschylus | ORESTEIA | 1937-2025 |
| Aeschylus | PROMETHEUS BOUND | 1940-1955; 1961[?]-1975 |
| Anon. | BEOWULF | 1974-1976; 1978-1980 |
| Anon. | ENUMA ELISH | 2021-2024 |
| Anon. | GILGAMESH | 2008, 2024-2025 |
| Anon. | HROSWITHA | 1990-1992 |
| Anon. | HYMN TO DEMETER | 1986-2010 |
| Anon. | LIFE OF AESOP | 2021-2024 |
| Anon. | SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT | 1973-1978 |
| Anon. | SONG OF ROLAND | 1974-1976 |
| Anon. | THE CID | 1974-1976 |
| Apuleius | GOLDEN ASS | 1963-1964; 1966-1970; 1972-1977; 1980-1981; 1983-1984; 1993-1998; 2021-2025 |
| Aristophanes | BIRDS | 1941-1945; 1950-1951; 1957-1958 |
| Aristophanes | CLOUDS | 1940-1941; 1942-1951; 1953-1955; 1956-1957; 1958-1959; 1960-1962; 1963-1976; 1978-1979; 1990-1992; 2006-2007; 2018 |
| Aristophanes | FROGS | 1937-1948; 1951-1952; 1954-1956; 1957-1958; 1959-1960; 1961-1962; 1966-1980; 1983-1990; 2000-2002 |
| Aristophanes | LYSISTRATA | 1951-1952; 1953-1954; 1955-1957; 1958-1960; 1961-1962; 1963-1964; 1966-1979; 1982-1983; 1998-2000; 2003-2005; 2008-2015 |
| Aristophanes | PEACE | 1947-1948 |
| Aristophanes | THESMOPHORIAZUSAE | 1945-1947; 1948-1950 |
| Aristotle | ETHICS | 1937-1958; 1959-1992 |
| Aristotle | INTRODUCTION TO ARISTOTLE | 1969-1970 |
| Aristotle | METAPHYSICS | 1963-1965; 1977-1978 |
| Aristotle | POETICS | 1937-1969; 1972-1992 |
| Aristotle | PSYCHOLOGY, METAPHYSICS, STATECRAFT | 1958-1959 |
| Augustine | CONFESSIONS | 1937-1942; 1943-2025 |
| Austen | PRIDE AND PREJUDICE | 1985-2025 |
| Bible | AMOS | 1953-1954; 1959-1962; 1964-1968 |
| Bible | I CORINTHIANS | 1957-1958; 1965-1969 |
| Bible | ECCLESIASTES | 1966-1967; 1969-1970 |
| Bible | EXODUS | 1956-1968; 1966-1968; 1982-1997 |
| Bible | GENESIS | 1948-1949; 1954-1955; 1958-1972; 1973-1994; 1990-2025 |
| Bible | HOSEA | 1967-1968 |
| Bible | ISAIAH | 1962-1963; 1986-1990 |
| Bible | JOB | 1940-1959; 1960-1968; 1971-1972; 1977-1978; 1990-2015; 2018-2024 |
| Bible | JOHN | 1954-1955; 1957-1972; 1976-1977; 1979-1980; 1990-2020 |
| Bible | JONAH | 1990-1992 |
| Bible | LUKE | 1990-2000; 2003-2025 |
| Bible | MATTHEW | 1948-1949; 1953-1955; 1957-1981; 1984-1990; 2000-2002, 2021-2025 |
| Bible | PROVERBS | 1969-1970 |
| Bible | REVELATION | 1958-1959; 1964-1969 |
| Bible | ROMANS | 1959-1964; 1965-1971; 1980-1990; 1995-1997 |
| Bible | SONG OF SONGS | 1969-1970; 1990-1992; 2018-2024 |
| Blake | PORTABLE BLAKE | 1967-1968 |
| Boccaccio | DECAMERON | 1986-2011; 2015-2018 |
| Cervantes | DON QUIXOTE | 1937-1973; 1978-1986; 1990-2024 |
| Césaire | NOTEBOOK OF A RETURN TO THE NATIVE LAND | 2021-2022 |
| Dante | DIVINE COMEDY | 1965-1966 |
| Dante | INFERNO | 1937-2025 |
| Dante | PARADISO | 1945-1949; 1957-1958; 1965-1966 |
| Dante | PURGATORIO | 1945-1959; 2007-2010 |
| Descartes | MEDITATIONS | 1966-1968; 1980-1992 |
| Diderot | RAMEAU'S NEPHEW | 1955-1956 |
| Dostoyevsky | CRIME AND PUNISHMENT | 1952-1958; 1959-1962; 1970-1973; 1978-1984; 2000-2024 |
| Dostoyevsky | NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND | 1962-1968; 1970-1973; 1978-1979 |
| Dostoyevsky | THE DEVILS | 1958-1959 |
| Enheduanna | THE EXALTATION OF INANNA | 2021-2025 |
| Euripides | ALCESTIS | 1954-1955; 1966-1967; 1969-1971 |
| Euripides | ELECTRA | 1937-1954; 1958-1979; 1990-1992 |
| Euripides | HERACLES | 1962-1974 |
| Euripides | HIPPOLYTUS | 1941-1948; 1951-1958; 1959-1975 |
| Euripides | IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS | 1937-1940; 1954-1955; 1960-1961; 1963-1964; 1966-1967 |
| Euripides | MEDEA | 1937-1941; 1942-1945; 1948-1954; 1955-1958; 1959-1960; 1961-1963; 1982-1990; 2003-2015 |
| Euripides | ORESTES | 1969-1974 |
| Euripides | THE BACCHAE | 1945-1948; 1958-1959; 1961-1962; 1963-1964; 1966-1967; 1969-1970; 1977-1978; 1980-2002; 2015-2018 |
| Euripides | THE TROJAN WOMEN | 1942-1949; 1960-1961; 1969-1974 |
| Fielding | TOM JONES | 1937-1949 |
| Goethe | FAUST | 1937-1945; 1950-1958; 1959-1967; 1970-1972; 1978-1979; 1986-2000; 2012-2015 |
| Gottfried | PARZIFAL | 1964-1966 |
| Gottfried | TRISTAN | 1981-1984 |
| Havel | GARDEN PARTY | 2006 |
| Herodotus | THE HISTORIES | 1938-1964; 1966-1970; 1975-1978; 1980-1986; 1995-2019 |
| Homer | ILIAD | 1937-2025 |
| Homer | ODYSSEY | 1956-1957; 1963-1994; 1997-2025 |
| Hume | DIALOGUE CONCERNING NATURAL RELIGION | 1957-1958 |
| Ibn 'Arabi | THE TRANSLATOR OF DESIRES | 2021-2024 |
| Kafka | THE TRIAL or METAMORPHOSIS | 1972-1973, 2021-2022 |
| Kim | COMMONS | 2021-2022 |
| Lessing | LAOCOON | 1945-1946 |
| Lucian | SATIRICAL SKETCHES | 1962-1963 |
| Lucretius | ON THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE | 1937-1964; 1968-1969; 1972-1977; 1978-1979 |
| Machado de Assis | THE POSTHUMOUS MEMOIRS OF BRAS CUBAS | 2021-2024 |
| Machiavelli | THE PRINCE | 1937-1948 |
| Marcus Aurelius | MEDITATIONS | 1937-1941 |
| Marie de France | THE LAIS OF MARIE DE FRANCE | 2021-2025 |
| Melville | MOBY DICK | 1972-1973 |
| Milton | LYCIDAS | See bottom of page |
| Milton | PARADISE LOST | 1937-1957; 1959-1968; 1970-1973; 2015-2020 |
| Milton | SAMSON AGONISTES | 1957-1959; 1970-1971; 1972-1973 |
| Mme. de Lafayette | THE PRINCESS OF CLEVES | 1986-1990 |
| Molière | TARTUFFE | 1937-1958; 1959-1967 |
| Molière | THE BOURGEOIS GENTLEMAN | 1944-1949 |
| Molière | THE PHYSICIAN IN SPITE OF HIMSELF | 1937-1944; 1950-1958; 1961-1964 |
| Molière | THE PRECIOUS RIDICULOUS | 1958-1959 |
| Molière | THE SCHOOL OF WIVES | 1938-1964 |
| Molière | THE WOULD BE INVALID | 1953-1954; 1958-1959 |
| Montaigne | ESSAYS | 1937-1960; 1961-2025 |
| Montaigne | RAYMOND SEBOND | 1960-1961 |
| Morrison | SONG OF SOLOMON | 2015-2025 |
| Nietzsche | BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL | 1955-1956; 1958-1959; 1979-1980 |
| Ovid | HEROIDES | 2015-2018 |
| Ovid | METAMORPHOSES | 1972-1979; 2009-2022 |
| Ovid | THE EROTIC POEMS | 1999-2000 |
| Parks | FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS | 2021-2024 |
| Petronius | SATYRICON | 1969-1970 |
| Plato | APOLOGY | 1937-1960; 1961-1964; 1967-1968; 1970-1974; 1978-1992; 2006-2007 |
| Plato | CRITO | 1962-1964; 1970-1971; 1978-1979 |
| Plato | EUTHYPHRO | 1951-1958; 1962-1964; 1967-1968; 1970-1971 |
| Plato | GORGIAS | 1960-1961 |
| Plato | ION | 1961-1962 |
| Plato | MENO | 1959-1960; 1969-1970; 1971-1974 |
| Plato | PHAEDO | 1960-1962; 1967-1968 |
| Plato | PHAEDRUS | 1958-1959; 1967-1968; 1969-1970 |
| Plato | PROTAGORAS | 1969-1970; 1971-1974 |
| Plato | REPUBLIC | 1937-1968; 1970-1975; 1977-199? |
| Plato | SYMPOSIUM | 1937-1964; 1966-2025 |
| Plato | TIMAEUS | 1969-1970 |
| Rabelais | GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL | 1937-1986 |
| Rankine | CITIZEN | 2021-2025 |
| Rousseau | CONFESSIONS | 1937-1945; 1972-1973; 1978-1979 |
| Sappho | POEMS | 1986-1992; 2015-2025 |
| Shakespeare | ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA | 1959-1960; 1961-1962 |
| Shakespeare | AS YOU LIKE IT | 1938-1939; 1952-1953 |
| Shakespeare | HAMLET | 1937-1958; 1959-1960; 2007-2008 |
| Shakespeare | I HENRY IV | 1937-1959; 1960-1965; 1980-1981 |
| Shakespeare | II HENRY IV | 1937-1954; 1955-1959; 1960-1961 |
| Shakespeare | KING LEAR | 1937-2006; 2009-2018, 2024-2025 |
| Shakespeare | MACBETH | 1941-1943; 2018-2020 |
| Shakespeare | MEASURE FOR MEASURE | 1944-1945 |
| Shakespeare | MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING | 1943-1944 |
| Shakespeare | OTHELLO | 2021-2024 |
| Shakespeare | THE TEMPEST | 1941-1943; 1949-1952; 1959-1962; 1974-1975; 1977-1978; 1982-1986 |
| Shakespeare | TROILUS AND CRESSIDA | 1958-1959 |
| Shakespeare | TWELTH NIGHT | 1937-1938; 1939-1941; 1945-1947 |
| Shaw | MAN AND SUPERMAN | 1952-1953 |
| Sophocles | AJAX | 1959-1963; 1964-1965 |
| Sophocles | ANTIGONE | 1937-1958; 1959-1992; 2018-2020 |
| Sophocles | ELECTRA | 1942-1953; 1958-1959 |
| Sophocles | OEDIPUS AT COLONUS | 1942-1943; 1954-1958; 1966-1967; 1969-1992 |
| Sophocles | OEDIPUS THE KING | 1937-2015 |
| Sophocles | PHILOCTETES | 1953-1954; 1958-1959; 1960-1965; 1967-1974 |
| Sor Juana | SELECTED WORKS | 2024-2025 |
| Spinoza | ETHICS | 1937-1957; 1958-1968; 1970-1971; 1972-1973 |
| Stendhal | THE RED AND THE BLACK | 1972-1973; 1981-1982 |
| Swift | GULLIVER'S TRAVELS | 1937-1968; 1970-1973; 1982-1984 |
| Tacitus | ANNALS | 1942-1944 |
| Tacitus | GERMANY | 1942-1944 |
| Thucydides | THE PELOPONNESIAN WARS | 1938-2018 |
| Vergil | AENEID | 1937-1952; 1953-2025 |
| Voltaire | CANDIDE | 1937-1952; 1953-1955; 1956-1958; 1959-1963; 1979-1980 |
| Voltaire | ZADIG AND MICROMEGAS | 1958-1959 |
| Woolf | TO THE LIGHTHOUSE | 1990-2025 |
| Yeats | SELECTED POEMS | 1955-1956 |
Note: The record is not clear on this but, since some veterans insist Lycidas was read as a required text, it is included here.