History

Our department is one of the leading centers of historical scholarship in the world. It is also a department deeply committed to undergraduate education. Teaching Columbia and Barnard undergraduates is among our faculty's greatest privileges. Our undergraduate curriculum covers most periods and areas of the world. Our courses employ many different approaches to the past. We emphasize no particular brand of history, no single interpretive model, and we encourage our students to experiment with a wide range of ideas. Our principal goal in the undergraduate classroom is to develop the intellectual breadth and analytical skills of our students. To that end, our courses emphasize working with both primary and secondary sources and developing acuity in critical writing.

The History Department offers a large number of courses, taught by approximately sixty faculty, that cover all periods of recorded human history. The Barnard History Department offers its own set of courses, most of which are open to Columbia College and General Studies students. There are additional history courses and historians in related departments (Classics, Religion, MESAAS, EALAC, etc.).

Courses address the histories of the Ancient World, Europe, Middle East, Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Some courses cut across geographical boundaries to deal with transnational themes. Other courses focus on religious, intellectual, social, economic, legal, or political history, as well as historical theory and method.

There are two types of courses: lectures and seminars. Lectures, normally worth 4 points, generally meet twice a week for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Most lectures have required weekly discussion sections. Lectures range from the very large (over 300 students) to the very small (fewer than 15). Therefore, the nature of the classroom experience will vary. Most lecture courses require a midterm and a final examination; many require one or two short papers. 1000-level lectures are broad surveys of extended historical periods; 2000-level courses are more specialized lectures. Course numbers do not represent a sequence and most courses do not require prerequisites. However, students typically find it useful to move from general to more specialized courses.

Seminars, worth 4 points, are generally smaller; most are capped at 15 students. Seminars explore narrower topics more deeply through concentrated reading in the secondary literature on a topic, primary source research, or both. These classes meet once a week for 1 hour 50 minutes. Seminars normally do not have a midterm and a final examination, but rather require more written work and a substantial final paper. Only a few seminars have prerequisites, though students who have taken lecture courses in related fields will often find themselves better prepared to address the seminar's content.

In Fall 2016, the Department will be numbering all courses according to a new system:

• UN 1xxx - Introductory Survey Lectures (undergraduate students only)
• UN 2xxx - Lectures (undergraduate students only)
• UN 3xxx - Seminars (undegraduate students only)
• GU 4xxx - Seminars open jointly to undergraduate and graduate students

Requirements

1. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). You are urged to visit www.toefl.org as quickly as possible for more information on this examination. A minimum score of 600 (paper-based test) or 100 (Internet-based test) is necessary for admission to Columbia. Your score must be reported directly to Columbia by the testing service, using report code 2116.
2. IELTS (International English Language Testing System). You are urged to visit www.ielts.orgas quickly as possible for more information on this examination. A minimum score of 7.0 is necessary for admission to Columbia. Your score must be reported directly to Columbia Undergraduate Admissions.
3. If you have a 650 or higher on the Critical Reading or Writing sections of the SAT, or a 29 or higher on the English or Reading sections of the ACT, you are exempt from taking an English proficiency examination.
4. An official high school transcript from all high schools attended
5. One high school counselor’s recommendation and school profile
6. The completed Mid-Year Report
7. Autobiographical information
8. $85 application fee or fee waiver request
9. Lists and descriptions of a student’s achievements, activities, employment and summer activities
10. Personal essay
11. Columbia-specific questions
12. SAT or the ACT
13. The appropriate SAT code is 2116 and the appropriate ACT code is 2717
14. Two Teacher Recommendations. For engineering applicants, one must come from a math or science teacher