Core Stories

Reading these books has
been at the core of my life.
Columbia, thanks!

Phillip M. Weiss ’73

My Core Haiku is...

Red tailed hawk eats squirrel
Yellow leaves on college walk
A Symposium

Lisa Hermine Makman ’87

My Core Haiku is...

it was hard to keep
eyes open at that hour
for architects’ dreams

Charles Blass ’87

My Core Haiku is...

John D. Rosenberg
Shaped my Core in '63
'09, shapes my son's.

George J. Leonard ’67

My Core Haiku is...

During a cool fall
Doctor Bilgrami let us
think and speak deeply

Ethan M. Singer ’87

My Core Haiku is...

Lots of learning we have done,
On our cloistered hill,
Time to take our wings and soar
 

Andrea Cortes Comerer ’05

My Core Haiku is...

Baptized as freshman
by the Core Curriculum
washing over me
 

Jim E. Siegel ’65

My Core Haiku is...

I see the Core as the embodiment of what is meant by a liberal education, i.e. what should a person know to be considered educated...

Gregory Tarsy ’65

Something I learned in the Core was...

I came to Columbia with a background in math and physics,The Core opened my eyes, mind and heart to a lifetime of fullness and inspiration.

Dr. Larry Harte ’53

Something I learned in the Core was...

My most vivid memory of the core was as a freshman, I had Susan Sontag as an instructor for the Western literature core...

Jack Singer ’64

Something I learned in the Core was...

The Core was a wonderfully comprehensive introduction to Western history and culture as well as, for me, the process of thinking...

Gordon Klein ’67

Something I learned in the Core was...

I took the Core in 1958-59 and it has changed since, in part because it preceded some important inclusions...

Richard Rothenberg ’62

Something I learned in the Core was...

The Core taught me that life’s big questions will continue to persist through the ages, as does the wisdom of the great thinkers we study...

Sonia Dandona Hirdaramani ’02

Something I learned in the Core was...

I did not like the Core when I was going through it when I was a student, but once in the work force, I realized what an advantage it was...

Michael Sin ’05

Something I learned in the Core was...

If you are squeamish
Don't prod the beach rubble
-- Sappho

John V. Vincenti ’90

Something I learned in the Core was...

 

Sappho fragments: women are underrepresented and her work is amazing!

Anonymous

My favorite work in the Core is...

Toni Morrison--Song of Solomon: Black women are IT!

Jayanne F. ’22

My favorite work in the Core is...

How to write about interpretative problems.

Akeem Jenkins ’22

Something I learned in the Core was...