On the termination of Temporary Protected Status. By Tara Zia Illustration by Jing Geng Over the last few months, the Trump Administration’s terminations of Temporary Protected Status have made headlines on a weekly basis. For Nina Alvarez, these headlines do not go unnoticed: Documenting the story behind this immigration policy and those it impacts represents a years-long effort.  A journalist, documentarian, and video photographer, Alvarez has over 20 years of reporting exp

Striking down the bowling pins of diaspora and desire.  By Elika Khosravani Illustration by Audrey Wang It is my understanding that at some point in every student’s undergraduate career, they meet a professor who quietly, and then all at once, rearranges their world. For me, that professor is Zaina Arafat. Every Thursday, she takes the train down from her apartment in Harlem to teach Fiction and Personal Narrative at Barnard, and I have the privilege of watching up close the

Leaping between the roles we inherit and the ones we create.  By Lucy Mason Illustration by Em Bennett Since the start of her career, Unity Phelan has captivated audiences night after night as a dancer with New York City Ballet. In 2021, she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer, performing in hundreds of ballets and emerging as one of the company’s defining artists along the way. This fall, she brought that experience uptown to teach in the Barnard Dance Department. 

Reflecting on 40 years of Shakespeare at Columbia. By Kate Sibery Illustration by Audrey Wang James Shapiro is the Larry Miller Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia where he has been teaching Shakespeare since 1985 and was an undergraduate in the 70s. He has published numerous books including, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare , Shakespeare in a Divided America , and most recently, The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Makin

Traversing the horror of the domestic sphere.  By Caroline Nieto Illustration by Isabelle Oh Eleanor Johnson is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the author of four books, the most recent of which, Scream With Me: Horror Films and The Rise of American Feminism , was published just last month, on September 30th. Throughout her time at Columbia, Johnson has taught about the earliest depictions of horror in popular literature, specifically in her course “Hist

By Eva Spier Illustration by Derin Ogutcu The Columbia students who dare stray into the Russian department—further than the mandatory two-year language requirement—gather in single-digit numbers in Hamilton classrooms to revel in declensions and verbs of motion. Every two years, these students are offered a literature seminar devoted to foundational scary stories in the Russian tradition, conducted entirely in Russian. I wade through these texts with my classmates under the g

Lessons from a life between the lines .   By Bohan Gao Illustration by Iris Pope He saw literature as something living, something that...

Chewing on steak and getting spat out in your twenties. By Josh Kazali Illustration by Iris Pope Sophie Kemp is a writer from Brooklyn...

By Sona Wink Illustration by Phoebe Wagoner I was a jittery sophomore sitting in a hardwood Pupin chair. Professor Casey Blake,...

Will the real author please stand up? By Elika Khosravani Illustration by Em Bennett This May, as Broadway’s trees bloom green, Professor...

On the role of theater in tragic times. By Natalie Buttner Illustration by Iris Pope Every meeting of Ellen McLaughlin’s Playwriting I...

On the 2025 Met Gala Exhibit and Black dandyism . By Ava Jolley Illustrations by Emma Finkelstein For over 75 years, the fashion world...

Do you think it’s a myth? By Shreya Khullar Illustration by Selin Ho Wang’s fiction is infused with liminal tension. I found my way to...

By Anna Patchefsky Illustration by Li Yin Caroline Miller was the editor-in-chief of New York  magazine from 1996–2004. Her job was to...

Sea creatures, magic shows, and inner spirits By Sona Wink I came to know Joan Jonas amidst unusual circumstances: We sat side by side...

On language, our planet, and the chatbots. By Alice Tecotzky Watching Lydia Liu and Anupama Rao converse is like watching two bees zip...

By Sager Castleman Two well-dressed people were walking out of Colm Tóibín’s office in Philosophy Hall when I arrived, more anxious than...

Atrocity is not such a self-evident thing. By Sagar Castleman Bruce Robbins isn’t your ordinary English professor. Although his...

What do you value? By Vivien Sweet It is perhaps a given that an English professor contains multitudes. But Frances Negrón-Muntaner, the...

Don’t cross the intersection. By Sagar Castleman Edward Mendelson is the literary executor of W. H. Auden’s estate, the Lionel Trilling...