I’m considering majoring in English or Political Science, and maybe a minor in Philosophy, Sociology, or Women’s Studies. Thanks!
Barnard would be a good choice for any of those majors. My DD was a poli sci major, very happy with the department & its faculty.
Keep in mind that university departments often become “well known” largely on the strength of their graduate departments, and LAC’s are focused on undergraduate education. So often when you ask about strength of a particular department, you will often get info about departments at research universities. Example: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/political-science-rankings
One way you can research the strength of a department on your own is simply to browse the course offerings online and also check the faculty in each department. In addition to looking up the faculty names and perhaps Googling to learn more, you can also check Culpa to get a sense of how popular the faculty is with students.
Of course at Barnard you can also take courses at Columbia, and that probably would be a significant value added to many of the departments – although I’d note that my DD didn’t actually take any poli sci courses from Columbia faculty – she could have, but it just didn’t work out that way.
Barnard’s Russian Department is extremely well regarded albeit courses are now largely integrated with Columbia College. My N. was a Russian major and now works with the World Bank in Moscow. She credits her faculty at Barnard with helping her secure internships with the UN, which ultimately led to her current position at the World Bank. The fact that she scored 4/5 on the UN’s notoriously difficult Language Examination in Russian further attests to the outstanding teaching in the department.
My D. also studied Russian at Barnard, when Catharine Nepomnyashchy was head of the Barnard department. Unfortunately, Catharine was such a force that I don’t know one way or the other how the department has fared since her passing. She was also my d’s adviser and was beloved by all. All of my D’s Russian courses were at Columbia or Smolny (where she studied abroad), so my D. did not actually take any Russian courses at Barnard. The Slavic language department for Barnard/Columbia was then, and is now, an integrated/shared department.
@calmom I’d say the department is still very much thriving and is now more integrated with other departments and the Harriman Institute as well. From what I can tell, the major difference between the Barnard and Columbia majors is that Barnard one has a greater focus on literature. My N loved her Russian classes and her professors were terrific when it came to finding internships and jobs.
My N (as well as my D) lived in Russia for several years as we are half Russian. My N attended the Higher School of Economics during the summer. Loved it. Both were really pleased when Muscovites congratulated them on their accents.
IIRC its creative writing program was touted as being very good. D2 took some courses in it, that she liked.
Dance program is very strong
Dance program is one of the best in the country