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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: major research
Some Parting Advice
Since this is my last post on this blog, I thought it would make sense to talk about some of the principles that guided me to this point in my college career. I am graduating with a double major in … Continue reading
Posted in major research, New York City, postgraduation plans, Senior Thesis, Summer Research, The Humanities, Writing
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My Time as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow
The semester is ending soon, and with it, my time as an undergraduate is also coming to a close. As I reflect on my college career—four years fraught with rising climate catastrophes, a global pandemic, and escalating international conflicts—I owe … Continue reading
Posted in Adversity, COVID-19, Funding, Libraries, Life, major research, postgraduation plans, The Canon, The Humanities
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Literature as an Archive
In recent years, I have wrestled with certain dilemmas historical scholarship poses. A central one is how do we contemplate, write about, and represent people who do not appear within the archive? In the past, historical scholarship have been very … Continue reading
Posted in Archives, Libraries, major research, postgraduation plans, Senior Thesis, Uncategorized
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Cognoscere Aude? Calvin and Hobbes, and Playing the Game
Periodically, I revisit Calvin and Hobbes to renew my sense of wonder. The comic strip finished its run well before my time, but in its anthologized forms it has been a touchstone for my life. Growing up in Singapore and … Continue reading
Posted in Life, major research, postgraduation plans
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Completing the Core Abroad
After participating in the French Immersion Program last year at Reid Hall in Paris, I was amazed to think that I might have easily passed up on the opportunity to go abroad. To take a semester to get away from … Continue reading
Posted in major research, Study Abroad, Summer Research, The Core, The Humanities
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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
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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
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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
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Senior Thesis Research: A Case Study Involving Two Case Studies
The first challenge I faced when I began formulating ideas for my senior thesis at the start of this semester was deciding on a project that could involve both my major fields of study. Classics and East Asian studies do … Continue reading
Posted in Coursework, Libraries, major research, Senior Thesis, The Humanities, Uncategorized, Writing
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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
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