Columbia University Core Curriculum

The Core Curriculum is the set of common courses required of every undergraduate at Columbia College in New York. Its two year-long seminars are the oldest and best known: Contemporary Civilization, begun in 1919 as a course on the causes of the First World War and now taken in the sophomore year, and Literature Humanities, begun in 1937 and taken in the first year. Each meets four hours a week in sections of about twenty-two students led by instructors drawn from many departments. Both syllabi are fixed for all sections and revised periodically by faculty committees; instructors add one text of their own choosing each semester. The lists below give the two current required syllabi in the order the works are read, Fall then Spring. Where the syllabus offers a choice ("either The Prince or the Discourses"), both options are listed with a note. The "Instructor's Choice" slots are not works and are omitted. Readings marked with an asterisk on Columbia's pages are supplied to students as excerpts in the course readers.