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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.
Category Archives: courses
Self-Reflection as a Form of Research
For all the writing, analysis, and problem-solving we do on a daily basis in college, I feel that we do not often consider self-reflection as a way to strengthen our research processes or as a kind of research in and … Continue reading
Posted in courses, major research, Uncategorized
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Using Psychology To Foster Beginner’s Mind
“Beginner’s Mind: the idea of engaging the world without preconceptions, as if you’re seeing everything for the very first time.” – Dean Valentini We make millions and millions of decisions each day. And with the many, many priorities we … Continue reading
Posted in courses, major research, Uncategorized
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Demystifying Office Hours
Welcome to the start of a new semester! I am in a bit of disbelief that this is the last one of my undergraduate Columbia experiences. I thought I would start off my posts this new year by unpacking possibly … Continue reading
Posted in courses, COVID-19, Faculty Mentors, major research, postgraduation plans, Senior Thesis, STEM research, Summer Research
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Memory & Melody: The Core Curriculum and the Musical Imagination
“Wait, the best is yet to come: Don Basilio, my / singing teacher and his factotum,/ while giving me lessons/ repeats the same theme every day.” ― Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro While Columbia’s notable Core Curriculum is particularly revered … Continue reading
Classwork to Conference Presentation: Developing a Class Paper into a Conference-Ready Research Project
If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in research as an undergrad. Also, if you’re reading this blog, you may not know where to begin. In this post, I hope to demystify the process some by outlining how I … Continue reading
Posted in courses, Senior Thesis, Summer Research, Uncategorized
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The Age-Old Question of Crafting A Research Question
So, it’s the first day of the semester, and your professor is going over the course syllabus with your class. You flip to the assignments section and see, ‘30 PAGE RESEARCH PAPER DUE’ on the last day of the course. … Continue reading
Posted in courses, Faculty Mentors, Uncategorized
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Humility and Hegel: The Value of a Broad CC Syllabus
As I read through the CC syllabus in my sophomore year, I felt that I was riding along in a high-speed train, going too quickly to take in the scenery. The syllabus was so wide-ranging and fast-paced that I struggled … Continue reading
Where Philosophy Ends and Individual Inquiry Begins
One of my favorite shows of all time is The Good Place. If you haven’t watched it yet… What are you waiting for? If you already have, you’ll know how central the exploration of different philosophies is to the show. … Continue reading
Posted in courses, The Core, Uncategorized
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Camaraderie and the Core (on Zoom), Part II
In September I wrote a blog post on my first impressions of Zoom school. It has now been over a year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I have taken nine classes over Zoom. As my senior year … Continue reading
Posted in courses, COVID-19, New York City, The Core
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Footnotes Are Friends, Not Fluff
“Read the footnotes,” many a humanities professor has intoned to me—I will admit, in vain. When you’re crunched for time and facing a steep amount of reading per day, as many Columbia students are, the footnotes or endnotes seem worth … Continue reading
Posted in courses, University Writing
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