<p>How exactly does this class work, I read the bulletin page on Columbia's site, but I'm interested in knowing about the work load and the time frame for reading the novels.</p>
<p>The basic idea (from what I gather) is that you read a book and then you discuss said book in a class of about 20 people. The average rate seems to be about a book a week. But a lot of it depends on your professor. Some like to discuss general themes of the books, while others like to dive into minutiae and a few ignore the books entirely and talk about whatever they want. You usually have a few papers a semester and a midterm, in addition to a final, but the workload REALLY seems to depend on what professor you have. Maybe check out CULPA to get a better idea of the workload?</p>