Created in 1919 at a moment of global crisis, the Core Curriculum was a bold experiment in progressive education and the first academic program of its kind. For more than a century, the Core has prompted Columbia undergraduates to grapple with the persistent problems of the present by considering the stories, ideas, images, sounds, and scientific discoveries that have shaped the world, honing skills such as critical analysis and verbal and written communication.
The Core experience is not about developing expertise, rather, its purpose is for you to explore its subject matters while examining your responses to them and listening to others’ perspectives. The habits of mind developed in the Core cultivate a critical and creative intellectual capacity that students employ long after their undergraduate days.
The Core is the heart of a Columbia College education. It encompasses five courses that all College students at are required to take:
Literature Humanities;
Contemporary Civilization;
Art Humanities;
Music Humanities; and
Frontiers of Science.
These courses cultivate key academic competencies through the study of stories, ideas, art, music, and scientific research. College students are also required to take University Writing and two Global Core courses, and to fulfill general education requirements in a foreign language, the sciences, and physical education.