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The CCRA blog is authored by Columbia undergraduate researchers, who are invited to reflect on all aspects of the research process and their own undergraduate research experiences, beginning (but not ending) with the Core.
Author Archives: cw2770
“Reclaiming Our Narrative”: An Analysis of Afghan History and Cold War Politics
Coming to Columbia University as a transfer student in the Fall of 2024, I had one goal, which was to advance the research I had begun during my freshman year. Ever since 2021, when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, … Continue reading
Posted in Interviews, Laidlaw Scholars, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows
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Zero to Hero: The Power of Being the Least Experienced Person in the Room
The first time I walked into the 202 Hamilton Conference Room for a research information session, I felt like I had shown up to a party where everyone else had received the dress code and I hadn’t. People were tossing … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Collaboration, Research, and the Senior Thesis Seminar (Part Two)
In Part One (link) of this series, Julia and Sarah spoke with our seminar instructor, Hannah Farber, about the role of collaboration in a long-term, independent research project like the senior thesis. Professor Farber shared with us how, from the … Continue reading
Posted in Faculty Mentors, Senior Thesis, Uncategorized
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Wonder and the Core
Recently I went to the Met with a friend. Having both taken Art Hum, we decided to play a game in the Medieval wing: we would prohibit ourselves from reading the explanatory signs, and instead try to deduce the very … Continue reading
Posted in Museums, New York City, Senior Thesis, The Core
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In Search of an Original Contribution
When I began the senior thesis process, my seminar instructors made it clear that my project should address a “gap in the scholarship” in order to make an “original contribution.” This terrified me. I had serious doubts that I, at … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Faculty Mentors, Libraries, Senior Thesis, Uncategorized
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Research and Higher Ed in Crisis
Somewhere between the libraries, laboratories, classrooms, and faculty offices on campus, something in the university has gone quiet. The buzzing of intellectuals at work and the powerhouse centers of academia tackling their pressing challenges is harder to detect, and if … Continue reading
Posted in Funding, major research, STEM research
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“Why Bother?”: An Answer Found in Fieldwork
“Why do you study Maya?” This is a familiar question for me, given that the language is not commonly taught in the United States. I have a standard answer: I study linguistics at university, I’m curious about languages that are … Continue reading
Posted in Languages, The Humanities
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From Literature to Philosophy: A Guide for the Perplexed
Literature Humanities, the centerpiece of Columbia’s Core Curriculum, opens with Homer’s Iliad—an immediately absorbing epic of grand scope, jam-packed with irresistible characters (Patrokles anyone?) and dozens of pages of gripping interpersonal drama. Sure, some students might have their patience tested … Continue reading
Posted in Coursework, The Canon, The Core
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Dante, the “Neutrals,” and Us
For many freshmen, the most difficult Literature Humanities text to connect with personally is Dante’s Inferno. This was certainly the case for me. Many of the other second-semester readings—To the Lighthouse, Pride and Prejudice, Shakespeare—are easy to feel invested in: … Continue reading
Posted in Coursework, The Canon, The Core
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“Insistent Problems of the Present”
For most students, the familiar phrase “the insistent problems of the present” is a common throughline within and beyond classrooms dedicated to the Core Curriculum. It is both a critical tool in positioning the origins of the curriculum itself, and … Continue reading
Posted in Coursework, The Core
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