Courses
Start building your summer today by selecting from hundreds of Columbia courses from various topics of interest. Courses for Summer 2025 are now available, with new offerings being added throughout the winter into early spring. Key to Course Listings | Course Requirements
Course Options
This course aims to introduce students to classic and more recent literature on the intellectual and cultural history of the Enlightenment. The field has expanded far beyond the cohort of free-thinking philosophes around which it was initially conceived to encompass broader cultural, economic, and religious preoccupations. Given these tendencies, how has the significance of the Enlightenment shifted as a historical period and interpretive framework? In what ways do scholars explicate its origins, outcomes, and legacies? The readings trace the development of Enlightenment thought and practices from their early manifestations in Britain and the United Provinces before shifting attention to France, the geographical focal point of the movement by mid-century. Topics to be addressed include the relationship of traditional political authorities to an emerging public sphere, the invention of society as a means of mediating human relationships, the entrepreneurial and epistemological innovations made possible by new media, the struggles of the philosophe movement for legitimacy, debates surrounding luxury consumption and commercial society, the rise of political economy as field of knowledge and practical platform, and arguments between Christian apologists and radical atheists over the status of religious truth.
Instructor
Charly Coleman
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 13:00-16:10
Th 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
9 of 15
The development of the modern culture of consumption, with particular attention to the formation of the woman consumer. Topics include commerce and the urban landscape, changing attitudes toward shopping and spending, feminine fashion and conspicuous consumption, and the birth of advertising. Examination of novels, fashion magazines, and advertising images.
Instructor
Lisa Tiersten
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-13:00
Th 09:00-13:00
Enrollment
5 of 15
This course will offer an examination of the birth and development of the Franciscan Order between 1200-1350. The topics will include Francis of Assisi, the foundation of the three orders of Franciscans, education, poverty, preaching, theology internal strife, antifraternalism, and relations with secular governments and papacy.
Instructor
Neslihan Senocak
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
1 of 14
This seminar will expose students to classical texts in political theory relating to revolutionary action, political ethics and social militancy from the Communist Manifesto to 1968. The course will explore the idea of revolutionary ethics as conceived by Western and non-Western political philosophers and militants. The discussion will stress the connection between philosophers and revolutionary leaders and the transformation of the idea of radical politics through the dialogue between these two discourses (the philosophical and the militant) and the public reception of revolutionary events in the media and commemorative writings. Authors will be examined according to their historical context and their role in the tradition of political thought and the history of radical politics from 1848 to the mid-sixties. Students will be exposed to different discourses of political militancy and radical politics and to reflect on the ethical implications of the history of radical thought and action in comparative perspective.
Instructor
Alheli Alvarado-Diaz
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 13:00-17:00
Th 13:00-17:00
Enrollment
6 of 15
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.
Instructor
Holger Klein
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 13:00-16:10
We 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
16 of 15
Instructor
Holger Klein
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 13:00-16:10
We 13:00-16:10
Enrollment
16 of 15
Instructor
Alex Marko
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
15 of 15
Instructor
Alex Marko
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
15 of 15
Instructor
Martina Mims
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
13 of 15
Instructor
Martina Mims
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Mo 09:00-12:10
We 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
13 of 15
Instructor
Rachel Hutcheson
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
13 of 15
Instructor
Rachel Hutcheson
Modality
In-Person
Day/Time
Tu 09:00-12:10
Th 09:00-12:10
Enrollment
13 of 15