Category Archives: Archives

Humanities Research Scholars Program: A Deep Dive!

Next in our series of deep dives into specific fellowships is the Humanities Research Scholars Program, or HRSP! (The first deep dive on the Laidlaw Scholars Program is linked here.) HRSP provides five rising juniors in Columbia College with funding, … Continue reading

Posted in Archives, major research, STEM research, Summer Research, The Humanities, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Humanities Research Scholars Program: A Deep Dive!

Meditations on the Archival Turn

Ann Laura Stoler described the shift in historical studies from “archive-as-source to archive as subject” as the “archival turn,” a shift in the intellectual paradigm necessitated, in part, by desires to write subaltern histories. Rather than reading archives along the … Continue reading

Posted in Archives, Historic Sites, Libraries, major research, Senior Thesis, The Humanities, Writing | Comments Off on Meditations on the Archival Turn

Reflections from the Archive: Stanford’s M0618 Arturo Islas Papers Collection

This winter break, as I pieced together the beginnings of my senior thesis on Arturo Islas’s novel The Rain God (1984), I stumbled upon an archival treasure trove—M0618, the “Arturo Islas Papers.” Comprising a hefty 56-box collection, M0618 chronicles four … Continue reading

Posted in Adversity, Archives, Coursework, Libraries, Life, major research, Senior Thesis, The Humanities, Uncategorized, Writing | Comments Off on Reflections from the Archive: Stanford’s M0618 Arturo Islas Papers Collection

Me and Research – A Mostly Affectionate Relationship

Whether it has been for a long-term project like my senior thesis or for a final paper, conducting research always has its highs and lows. I remember distinctly the first time I had to write a final paper for a … Continue reading

Posted in Archives, courses, Coursework, Faculty Mentors, Libraries, major research, Senior Thesis, The Humanities | Comments Off on Me and Research – A Mostly Affectionate Relationship

“What is the one thing that you hate the most about the research experience?”

I will speak candidly here: my mother did not attend college, neither did her parents or her parents’ parents. When forms ask me to input my parents’ education level, I leave my father blank (don’t ask, I am just as … Continue reading

Posted in Adversity, Archives, Coursework, Libraries, Life, The Humanities, Uncategorized, Writing | Comments Off on “What is the one thing that you hate the most about the research experience?”

‘Basquiat x Warhol’: Extending the Art Humanities Syllabus

  In the 1980s, Basquiat and Warhol, two iconic New York City artists that defined the contemporary art scene during the late 20th century, collaborated on a series of works that were exhibited. Now, these works are back in the … Continue reading

Posted in Art, courses, Coursework, Historic Sites, Media, The Canon, The Core, The Humanities | Comments Off on ‘Basquiat x Warhol’: Extending the Art Humanities Syllabus

The Core and Creative Conversations: Or, A Vindication of University Writing

My final Contemporary Civilization paper was entitled “Creativity and the Core.” It ran through Plato’s metaphor of the soul as a horse-drawn chariot; Foucault’s description in Discipline and Punish of an execution by dismemberment – being pulled apart by horses; … Continue reading

Posted in Archives, courses, Coursework, Historic Sites, The Canon, The Core, The Humanities | Comments Off on The Core and Creative Conversations: Or, A Vindication of University Writing

Sailing In Search Of Second Wind

The other day I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, in person, celebrating the life and work of another of my favorite authors, Ray Bradbury. Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and The Graveyard Book pleasantly haunted … Continue reading

Posted in courses, Historic Sites, Life, The Humanities, Uncategorized, Writing | Comments Off on Sailing In Search Of Second Wind

Dressing for the Core

You are a typical Columbia College undergraduate student. CDC guidelines permitting, in your first year you live and breathe Columbia’s neoclassical (or Beaux-Arts, depending on who you ask) -style campus; and as far as academics go, the Core is all … Continue reading

Posted in courses, Coursework, Historic Sites, Libraries, New York City, The Canon, The Core, The Humanities | Comments Off on Dressing for the Core

Visiting Libraries at other Universities for Research: A Guide!

This summer, I had the opportunity to conduct research for my senior thesis that I’m writing for the Department of History on the topic of Zhang Ailing, a transnational Chinese writer with support from Columbia’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute. As … Continue reading

Posted in Archives, Libraries, Senior Thesis, Summer Research, The Humanities | Comments Off on Visiting Libraries at other Universities for Research: A Guide!