Courses
Start building your summer today by selecting from hundreds of Columbia courses from various topics of interest. Courses for Summer 2024 are now available, with new offerings being added throughout the winter into early spring. Key to Course Listings | Course Requirements
Course Options
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 The study of industrial behavior based on game-theoretic oligopoly models. Topics include pricing models, strategic aspects of business practice, vertical integration, and technological innovation.
Instructor
Sanhitha Jugulum
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
1 of 30
The objective of this course is to develop understanding of how political institutions and behavior shape economic outcomes, and vice versa. Starting from the micro level study of political behavior, we will build up to analyze the internal workings of institutions and ultimately macro level economic and political outcomes. During the course we will cover the following topics
• Limits and potential of markets
• Public goods provision
• Voting
• Redistribution
Instructor
Michelle Jiang
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 13:00-16:10
We 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
7 of 30
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213. This course examines labor markets through the lens of economics. In broad terms, labor economics is the study of the exchange of labor services for wages—a category that takes in a wide range of topics. Our objective in this course is to lay the foundations for explaining labor market phenomena within an economic framework and subsequently apply this knowledge-structure to a select set of questions. Throughout this process we will discuss empirical research, which will highlight the power (as well as the limitations) of employing economic models to real-world problems. By the end of this course we will have the tools/intuition to adequately formulate and critically contest arguments concerning labor markets.
Instructor
Laura Caron
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
9 of 30
Wall Street Prep: Economics, Finance, and Analytics
Visiting students can take this course as part of a Focus Area.
The Wall Street Prep: Economics, Finance, and Analytics Focus Area is designed for students who want to gain a better understanding of finance, business, and the complexities of economic systems. Students enhance their academic experience through specialized co-curricular activities exclusive to the city and earn a Certification of Participation.
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213. Equivalent to ECON UN4415. Introduction to the systematic treatment of game theory and its applications in economic analysis.
Instructor
Zikai Xu
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
12 of 30
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213. Types of market failures and rationales for government intervention in the economy. Benefit-cost analysis and the theory of public goods. Positive and normative aspects of taxation. The U.S. tax structure.
Instructor
Dafne Murillo
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 13:00-16:10
We 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
5 of 30
Wall Street Prep: Economics, Finance, and Analytics
Visiting students can take this course as part of a Focus Area.
The Wall Street Prep: Economics, Finance, and Analytics Focus Area is designed for students who want to gain a better understanding of finance, business, and the complexities of economic systems. Students enhance their academic experience through specialized co-curricular activities exclusive to the city and earn a Certification of Participation.
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213. Equivalent to ECON UN4500. The theory of international trade, comparative advantage and the factor endowments explanation of trade, analysis of the theory and practice of commercial policy, economic integration. International mobility of capital and labor, the North-South debate.
Instructor
Thu Pham
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 13:00-16:10
Th 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
7 of 30
Wall Street Prep: Economics, Finance, and Analytics
Visiting students can take this course as part of a Focus Area.
The Wall Street Prep: Economics, Finance, and Analytics Focus Area is designed for students who want to gain a better understanding of finance, business, and the complexities of economic systems. Students enhance their academic experience through specialized co-curricular activities exclusive to the city and earn a Certification of Participation.
Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 and ECON UN3412 Selected topics in microeconomics.
Instructor
Isaac Bjorke
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
6 of 30
Instructor
Palani Akana
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
23 of 25
Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures
Visiting students can take this course as part of a Focus Area.
The Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures Focus Area is designed for students who are interested in the fast-paced world of the public sector and current events. Students enhance their academic experience through specialized co-curricular activities exclusive to the city and earn a Certification of Participation.
Water covers the majority of the earth’s surface but what of the life in these waters? Rivers, wetlands, lakes, estuaries and oceans provide habitat for an extraordinary diversity of animals. This course explores the amazing array of aquatic animals that occupy both freshwater and marine ecosystems as well as the natural and human activities that impact their survival. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.
Instructor
Mercer Brugler
Modality
On-Line Only
Day/Time
Tu 13:10-16:00
Th 13:10-16:00
Enrollment
29 of 30
Using evolutionary principles as the unifying theme, we will survey the study of animal behavior, including the history, basic principles and research methods. Don’t shy away just because this course is being taught virtually. For those able to explore their neighborhoods this summer you will find a range of animal behaviors locally from ants to butterflies and birds.
We will also analyze videos from the field as we explore the fascinating world of animal behavior. Through a range of approaches, students will gain familiarity with the scientific method, behavioral observation and research design. Although this is listed as a 3000-level course, no prior biology experience is required. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates
Instructor
Steffen Foerster
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 17:30-20:40
We 17:30-20:40
Enrollment
10 of 25
Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures
Visiting students can take this course as part of a Focus Area.
The Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures Focus Area is designed for students who are interested in the fast-paced world of the public sector and current events. Students enhance their academic experience through specialized co-curricular activities exclusive to the city and earn a Certification of Participation.
This course explores human adaptation from a biological, ecological and evolutionary perspective. From our earliest hominin ancestors in Africa to our own species' subsequent dispersal throughout the world, our lineage has encountered innumerable environmental pressures. Using morphological, physiological and behavioral/cultural evidence, we will examine the responses to these pressures that helped shape our unique lineage and allowed it to adapt to a diverse array of environments.
Instructor
Jessica Manser
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
8 of 20
Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures
Visiting students can take this course as part of a Focus Area.
The Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures Focus Area is designed for students who are interested in the fast-paced world of the public sector and current events. Students enhance their academic experience through specialized co-curricular activities exclusive to the city and earn a Certification of Participation.
Dinosaurs explores how science works and provide practical knowledge about the history of life and how we have come to understand it. We learn how to analyze the evolutionary relationships of organisms and examine how dinosaurs came to be exemplars of a very successful group of organisms dominant on land for 140 million years. We will delve deeply into how direct descendants of small carnivorous theropod dinosaurs evolved into birds, still more diverse than mammals, dominating the air. The Mesozoic, a “hot-house world”, with no ice caps and was the kind of world we are hurtling towards because of our input of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and we will look at how their time is a natural experiment for our future. The non-avian dinosaur met their end in a remarkable cataclysm discovered by detective work that we will delve deeply into as a paradigm of the scientific method Finally, they are fun and spectacular - monsters more fantastic than any person has invented in legend or religion - and they are still with us!
Instructor
Paul Olsen
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 13:00-16:10
We 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
14 of 50
Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures
Visiting students can take this course as part of a Focus Area.
The Public Affairs and Sustainable Futures Focus Area is designed for students who are interested in the fast-paced world of the public sector and current events. Students enhance their academic experience through specialized co-curricular activities exclusive to the city and earn a Certification of Participation.