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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: The Core
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
Posted in Coursework, Life, The Core, Uncategorized
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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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On Writing a Senior Thesis: Notes from the Field
I originally wanted to write a blog post on the Core this month, connecting some seminal idea from a philosopher in Contemporary Civilizations to our day-to-day lives as Columbia students. However, every time I tried to begin writing, I found … Continue reading
Posted in Coursework, Faculty Mentors, Libraries, major research, Senior Thesis, The Humanities
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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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The Beauty of Suffering in Classical Poetry
“Arms and the man I sing who, forced by fate/And haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate, Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore” (The Aeneid, I, 1-3). All of us have a desire to be part of a larger story. Almost everyone … Continue reading
Posted in Coursework, Life, The Core, The Humanities, Uncategorized
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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
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Why Take the Core’s Religious Texts Seriously?
Of what purpose are the Core’s religious texts to the resolutely irreligious? The notion that the works of the Core enable us to understand ourselves and our world is thrown around without substantive analysis or reflection; it’s no wonder, then, … Continue reading
Posted in courses, Coursework, Life, The Core, The Humanities
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Contemporary Civilization and the Return of the Devotion to Western Literature
“Regarding each of the things we understand, however, we don’t consult a speaker who makes sounds outside us, but the Truth that presides within over the mind itself, though perhaps words prompt us to consult Him” (St. Augustine, On the … Continue reading
Posted in The Core, The Humanities
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