-
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.
Category Archives: Archives
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!
Reflections on Language, Translation, and the Core
In September 2020, the first-ever assignment in my Lit Hum section was to develop an intralingual translation of the first seven lines of the Iliad. We had the standard version of the Iliad prescribed by the Core Office—Richmond Lattimore’s 1951 … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, major research, The Core, The Humanities
Comments Off on Reflections on Language, Translation, and the Core
A Month in Paris Researching Olivier Messiaen
I spent the month of July in Paris as an Undergraduate Research Fellow, researching the influence of Indian classical music, specifically the 120 desitālas, on 20th-century composer Olivier Messiaen’s body of work. Much of the previous research done on Messiaen’s music … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Libraries, major research, Summer Research, The Humanities, Uncategorized
Comments Off on A Month in Paris Researching Olivier Messiaen
Sapere aude! Have the courage to reason for yourself!
When Immanuel Kant penned those words at the end of the 18th century, Europe was ostensibly emerging from a dogmatic, intellectual slumber in which well-intentioned heterodox reasoning demanded great courage. That being said, perhaps my most sobering observation regarding academic … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Coursework, Life, The Core, The Humanities, Uncategorized
Comments Off on Sapere aude! Have the courage to reason for yourself!
Riggio Travel Seminar: Studying Medieval Art in Germany
Last spring break, I had the good fortune of participating in the Riggio Travel Seminar, a program offered to undergraduate students at Columbia University that enables them to study art history by visiting the sites where the artwork was created … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Historic Sites, Life, major research, Study Abroad, The Humanities
Comments Off on Riggio Travel Seminar: Studying Medieval Art in Germany
How to Narrow Down Your Research Interest – or Should You?
This blog intends to answer one of the frequently asked questions in the office of URF (Undergraduate Research & Fellowships): Help! I want to go to grad school, but I don’t know how to narrow my research interests from … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Coursework, Faculty Mentors, Libraries, Life, major research, postgraduation plans, The Humanities, Uncategorized
Comments Off on How to Narrow Down Your Research Interest – or Should You?
How to Make the Archive a Place for Discovery
Archival research often yields fruitful discoveries in the humanities and social sciences, including but not limited to history, philosophy, literature, or the history of art and archaeology. Reflecting on my research trip to Yale’s Beinecke Library, I would like to … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, COVID-19, Libraries, major research
Comments Off on How to Make the Archive a Place for Discovery
Evolution and the Importance of Tradition in Literature Humanities
“The words of truth are naturally simple” – Euripides, The Phoenecian Woman The history of the formation of the course now known as Literature Humanities is not a well-known story among students at Columbia College nowadays, and this is a … Continue reading
Approaches to Interdisciplinary Research
It is rarely ever the case that our attitudes are binary or one-dimensional. In fact, life is characterized by the many beliefs, opinions, and preferences that we embrace. Ascribing to one thought or ideology while resisting others is not only … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, courses, Faculty Mentors, Libraries, major research, Uncategorized
Comments Off on Approaches to Interdisciplinary Research