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The Department offers a large number of courses, taught by more than fifty faculty, covering three millennia of history. The Barnard History Department offers its own set of courses, almost all of which are open to Columbia students. Other programs, such as EALAC and MEALAC, offer courses that are cross-listed with History. We teach courses on the Ancient World, Europe, the Americas, Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Some courses cut across these boundaries to deal with cross-regional themes or interactions. Courses may focus on religious, intellectual, social, economic, legal, or political history, or on historical theory and method. Most courses have no prerequisites, but undergraduate seminars do have limited enrollment, determined by application. Preference in admission is given to majors, but any student may take them with the consent of the instructor.
There are two basic types of courses: lectures and seminars. Lectures, worth 3 points, meet twice a week for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Many lectures have additional discussion sections, some of which may be required. Lectures range from the very large (over 300 students) to the very small (fewer than 25), so the nature of the classroom experience will vary. Most lecture courses require a midterm and a final examination; most also require some sort of assignment or paper.
Seminars, worth 4 points, are generally smaller. Though the final number is up to the professor, most seminars 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 an hour and fifty minutes. The workload for seminars is generally heavier than for lectures, with more reading and more written work. Seminars normally do not have a final examination but typically require a substantial paper. Some seminars have prerequisites, which are noted on the registrar's website. Students apply for admission to all seminars.
Students may also arrange independent reading courses with a member of the faculty. Owing to faculty leaves and the rotation of departmental offerings, many courses are offered once every two years.
Courses are numbered by type:
- 1xxx Introductory Survey Lectures
- 3xxx Undergraduate Lectures
- 4xxx Undergraduate Seminars
- 8xxx Graduate Colloquia
- 9xxx Graduate Seminars
And field:
- x000-x059 Ancient History
- x060-x099 Medieval Europe
- x100-x199 Early Modern Europe
- x200-x299 Russian and East Central Europe
- x300-x399 Modern Western Europe
- x400-x599 United States
- x600-x659 Jewish History
- x660-x699 Latin America
- x700-x759 Middle East
- x760-x799 Africa
- x800-x859 South Asia
- x860-x899 East Asia
- x900-x999 Research, Historiography, and Trans-National History
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