Questions Regarding the Core

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>I have a couple of questions regarding the Core:</p>

<p>1) What is your favorite class that you took that was part of the Core that you wouldn't have otherwise taken?
2) If you could do away with one part of the Core, what would it be and why?
3) At what point does a student really begin controlling the classes that he/she takes?
4) Even though you must abide by the Core, do you still feel like you have freedom, even in your freshman year?
5) Could you just generally describe the Core in an in-depth way as to increase ny understanding of the way the Core works, what classes are required, and how hard are these classes?
6) Are Core classes more or less difficult than major-specific courses? Also, how big can introductory Core classes be?</p>

<p>Answers to any and all of these are very much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>1) What is your favorite class that you took that was part of the Core that you wouldn’t have otherwise taken?</p>

<p>Contemporary Civ. Keep in mind that I took it with an amazing professor I had in another sociology course but it was just fascinating. Unlike Lit Hum which I don’t mind saying, consisted of books I had no interest in before, during, and after reading (Herodotus; really?!) this course was all about thinking, and taking classic philosophy and applying it to the contemporary age. I loved it. Can’t wait for the second semester (my schedule is a wee bit different as a transfer).</p>

<p>2) If you could do away with one part of the Core, what would it be and why?</p>

<p>A single course? Frontiers of Science. You’ll see why. It’s NOT hard like most people ***** about but useless and frustrating; oh yeah.</p>

<p>And music Hum. This is just an area in which I have NO interest, skill, or desire to develop an interest. I’m keeping an open mind for next semester but from the curriculum it sounds painfully irrelevant to me.</p>

<p>The swim test feels pointless but I don’t mind it too much. It’s like 15 minutes.</p>

<p>3) At what point does a student really begin controlling the classes that he/she takes?</p>

<p>First semester. It’s all about pacing yourself. Students I know who tried to 7/7 the core classes during their first year were miserable. Take 2-3 a semester, approach Barnard courses that can count (for Global Core) and chip away at it during your three first years.</p>

<p>It becomes minimal this way.</p>

<p>4) Even though you must abide by the Core, do you still feel like you have freedom, even in your freshman year?</p>

<p>It’s up to you. See 3)</p>

<p>5) Could you just generally describe the Core in an in-depth way as to increase ny understanding of the way the Core works, what classes are required, and how hard are these classes?</p>

<p>You can check the website for the list of courses but basically it’s learning by classical osmosis. You’re exposed to many areas, mostly classical, and expected to develop a broader interest in them. It has its use. I would just appreciate a bit more flexibility in killing 1-2 classes.</p>

<p>6) Are Core classes more or less difficult than major-specific courses? Also, how big can introductory Core classes be?</p>

<p>If you’re good at essays and course discussions it’s a nice way to guarantee yourself a solid A each semester. At least it was for me last year.</p>

<p>Seminars are never bigger than 25 but some of the classes with options (Global Core) can be full-on lectures (100).</p>

3

<p>1) ArtHum. Great professor, great class, still laugh about the experience, made me fall in love with art in a completely different way, the syllabus moves kind of fast, but a really good experience. Overall, do your work, and beyond that, just enjoy watching</p>

<p>2) Choice of Global Core (or MC in my days). I think they there should be a static seminar on understanding discrimination and relative perceptions. Part history/polisci, part psychology/sociology. I think that a course on understanding globally the idea of incongruity between races, ideologies (and especially in very rare and unstudied to death situations) will give a better understanding of both the necessity and the difficulty of comparative cultural studies. It will be probably the most thought provoking (and maybe even controversial, please g-d, hopefully not) core course, and extremely beneficial addition/substitution if developed well. </p>

<p>i think columbia’s ethos already does well to encourage exploration of other thoughts, that such a course will further imbue a spirit of skepticism and restrained admiration of ancient texts. so i don’t think that minimizing your asian hum is bad, but rather it is a course that is both hard to canonize and further hard to polemicize. a course like the one i like would be about polemicizing all canons and dogmas and encouraging students to be great critical thinkers, but also give them perhaps in the final few seminars some teaching on cooperation or the like and how individuals and societies cope in the modern world in an age of increasing disagreements (and increasing knowledge of disagreements) to work together. a thought.</p>

<p>3) first semester i took a higher level course in my chosen field. i also took other courses in chosen fields, and ended up abandoning two of my four directions.</p>

<p>4) i think frosh year is so much more about figuring out who you are, what the hell you got yourself into, that to a degree not having to worry too much about selecting courses or being on the ‘right track’ was liberating. but at no point did i feel less freedom to choose my own way. if anything, the greatest annoyance is that the best classes tend to be at the same time and you have to choose which one you want to attend most.</p>

<p>5) i and others have beaten this one to death in a lot of threads. needless to say, the most eyeopening experience you will have and can have in college. especially columbia’s rendition is about making you ask questions, which begets an internal experience of questioning oneself, one’s motiviations, desires, etc. and you get to do it with 1000+ friends who are taking it at the same time.</p>

<p>6) Less difficult because they are more “personal.” In the sense that they are your opinions of art, of music, literature, it is your thoughts out there and so it is easier to complete the work and also harder to grade. So even essays that somewhat try to gauge how well you can argue are going to be curved up because a prof is not necessarily going to negatively penalize the english-centric thinker to the philosopher, scientist, engineer, etc. </p>

<p>And core classes are capped at 20 students with the exception of the frontiers lecture that i hear is bigger. so an intro core course is…20 students!</p>

4

<p>lionheaded, what do you have against Herodotus, the father of history? I am currently reading his work, and thoroughly enjoy it.</p>

<p>It’s not a good idea to impose your narrow-minded views of what knowledge is important and what isn’t on others.</p>

<p>P.S. People are saying such bad things about Frontiers of Sci. What specifically makes it so unbearable?</p>

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<p>…Are you kidding? </p>

<p>Who’s imposing? I gave my opinion on a book I read and didn’t enjoy in a class. Take your own advice about imposing your perspective on or you’re in for a rude awakening this fall.</p>

<p>P.S. Free advice: to wait until you take you actually step on the school premise before shoving a pseudo-intellectual stick up there.</p>

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<p>It just moves very quickly and broadly. You get an array of relatively fun topics but the reading themselves do not add anything and you never explore the topics as deeply as you’d like.</p>

<p>Here’s a great source: <a href=“http://www.wikicu.com/Frontiers_of_Science[/url]”>http://www.wikicu.com/Frontiers_of_Science&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>First of all, it is hard to express tone with text. I never meant that statement (about imposing) seriously.</p>

<p>Second, if you noticed, I was just asking you why you didn’t like Herodotus. As long as you back up your seemingly tense dislike with rational arguments, I’m fine with.</p>

<p>As to the Frontiers course, I can see now why people many be repelled by it. But they are college students, who should learn to explore areas they enjoy independently.</p>

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<p>I apologize for being too quick on the draw. Emoticons in small dosage generally help with tone issues, I find. </p>

<p>I’m curious to hear your first impressions of classes a few months from now. In terms of class assessment, freshman aren’t necessarily as different as high schoolers. Frontiers is a turn off mainly because the mixture of theory and practical math isn’t done as smooth as it should be and some of the CCers have a predisposed, almost conditioned, aversion to math.</p>

<p>In my experience it’s less painful than expected but still an uneven and not particularly pleasant course. Good news is that it’s curved the crap out of meaning that, depending on your section, you can get an A/A+ relatively easily.</p>

8

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<p>half the kids who take frontiers don’t independently enjoy the material. For those who do, the class just bastardizes the material. it dumbs it down, glosses over important details and tries to explain recent research in science without kids understanding something like f=ma or hydro-carbon chains in fuels. The assignments are vague, the grading opaque and the tests either annoyingly testing minutia or completely subjective. What you are left with is a class that even your average wikipedia reader would snicker at. Making us engineers do principles of economics was an excellent decision.</p>

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<p>you must have been exceptionally lucky to a) not despise the class and b) have it curved generously, I helped my roommate with his homework freshman year, he was pretty ok at it but his class was curved to a low B+, high B and he managed a B-.</p>

9

<p>A) I despised it. Lots. I mean those weekly problem sets? That dreadful lecture 3-hour general meeting everyone stops going to after 2 weeks…urgh. Weakest point of my semester hands down…I just don’t want to turn off freshmen completely :). A few people (I know exactly 2) really liked it so hey, you never know.</p>

<p>B) Yeah I was very lucky to be in a class filled with English, Creative Writing, and Psych majors. Our teacher had to curve at a B-/C+ so I ended up with an A even though my grades were in the low eighties/high seventies.</p>

10

<p>“I apologize for being too quick on the draw.”</p>

<p>I apologize as well. I shouldn’t have been so presumptuous.</p>

11

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<p>BLLEEEAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHH (That’s me retching)</p>

<p>Yeah yeah, it’s important but that doesn’t mean that I liked it. My rabies shots were important but they hurt like a mother.</p>

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<p>You might not like Hume then.</p>

12

<p>I actually have a question as well on top of this that I feel could be appropriate for this thread. Since I’ll be going to SEAS I have somewhat of a choice with some classes. I was wondering if I should take Lit, Contemporary Civilizations, or another Global Core sequence (recommendations would be awesome), and should I take art or music.</p>

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<p>some of my SEAS friends who took CC said they felt that they were behind because they didn’t take lit hum, which was sometimes referenced in class. everyone who chose to take CC over lit hum did so in order to be in class with their contemporaries (other sophomores). I chose to take lit hum…though you are stuck with a bunch of freshman while you are a sophomore that aspect of it isn’t so bad…also if you aren’t very well read (i had only read one or two of the 14 lit hum books) it’s better to start with lit hum rather than jump right into CC. The global core classes can be interesting but are really a hit or miss…you might need to fulfill a few extra non-science credits which would give you a chance to take a global core class in addition to lit hum or CC.</p>

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<p>I took CC, I had an average prof and a below average class, but it was a fantastic experience, I did well in the class being someone who almost never reads. I enjoy politics, economics, ethics, religion etc so the class suited me. I also got away with participating extensively having not read most of the books. CC is a great class if you are a logical thinker and enjoy debating theoretical and practical issues related to philosophy. Lit hum books are more fun to read, and the class focuses on literature. Global core is for someone interested in cultures and world history / cultural development, or for slackers. It really is different strokes for different folks, I have met several seas kids who’ve enjoyed CC, a kid on my floor who was a bit of a logical robot thrived in CC. Others like lit hum and most do global core because it’s considered easiest.</p>

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<p>So someone who loves debating stuff, would they be more appealed to CC or Lit?</p>

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<p>CC.</p>

<p>Hands down.</p>

<p>I really wasn’t a fan of Lit Hum.</p>

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<p>It can depend on your instructor but by nature, a CC student will read more arguments than a Lit Hum student. From my experience, Lit Hum was more narrative than CC and class didn’t center around group discussions or debates.</p>