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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: postgraduation plans
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Core
While most students really connect to at least one or two texts in the syllabus, many students experience Contemporary Civilization as a painful slog through the dregs of Western philosophy, a subject widely felt to be as stale as it … Continue reading
Posted in courses, Coursework, Life, The Core, The Humanities, Uncategorized
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Endings and New Beginnings with the Core Curriculum: Seeking Wisdom from Dante:
“O you who are within your little bark, eager to listen, following behind my ship that, singing, crosses to deep seas, turn back to see your shores again: do not attempt to sail the seas I sail; you may, by … Continue reading
Posted in Coursework, Life, postgraduation plans, The Core, The Humanities
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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
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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
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The Power of Right Living and Intellectual Humility
“Listen to me, my son, and acquire knowledge,/and pay close attention to my words./I will impart instruction by weight,/and declare knowledge accurately” (Wisdom of Sirach 16:24-25). There’s an interesting moment in one of Shakespeare’s sonnets where the narrator states: As … Continue reading
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The Politics of The Core
What would Thomas Hobbes say about Covid-19 lockdowns? Would John Stuart Mill approve of the restriction on speech in the form of Twitter and Facebook banning Donald Trump from their platforms after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US … Continue reading
Posted in courses, Coursework, COVID-19, Life, The Core, The Humanities, Uncategorized
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Using Core Texts for Life Inspiration
The end of the school year is a time that initiates reflection on our academic involvements as well as the social dynamics that defined these experiences. Thus, it seems meaningful to me to spend some time reflecting on and attempting … Continue reading
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As a STEM Major, Frontiers of Science Could be the Most Important Class You Take at Columbia
It’s no secret that it is sometimes necessary to convince STEM majors that the Columbia Core’s Frontiers of Science class is worth their time. A good number of my friends who study the natural sciences skip the lectures of the … Continue reading
Posted in Life, STEM research, The Core
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How Do You Balance Taking Classes and Having a Job?
The mindset behind taking classes as a student and having a job as an entry-level employee are very different. While taking classes, we want to absorb knowledge and ask questions under high intellectual demand. While working as an employee, however, … Continue reading
Posted in Life, New York City, postgraduation plans, The Core, The Humanities, Uncategorized
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How LitHum Allows Us to Consider the Nature of Reality (and question it…)
When I first enrolled at Columbia, I was convinced that I would study Biochemistry. While my profound appreciation for the discipline has not dissipated; my academic, professional, and personal commitments have pivoted. All this to say, LitHum was the first … Continue reading
Posted in Life, The Core, The Humanities
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