Arts & Humanities

Playwright, novelist, critic, and teacher, Brander Matthews brought the study of dramatic literature to Columbia

Reflections from poet, critic, editor, and Yale professor John Hollander ’50C ’52GSAS

The Humanities program that grew out of John Erskine's "General Honors" course set a standard of excellence that is a hallmark of a Columbia education 

John Van Doren '52GSAS reflects on the visionary thinking that inspired his father and his colleagues to bring the Great Books to Columbia College

Teacher, translator, scholar, rabbi, husband, and father—an affectionate portrait of Moses Hadas by his daughter Rachel Hadas

The prolific author, charismatic teacher, renowned scholar, and devoted Columbian made his professional life an exuberant celebration of the classics

Trilling's  essays mapped the terrain where literary, political, and social questions overlapped. His colleague Quentin Anderson also remembers him as a devoted teacher and mentor 

The dean of Barnard College and adviser to Columbia Women Graduate Students did more to advance the cause of women at Columbia than any other person of her time

Reflections from Jacques Barzun

In the last years of his productive life Krutch had become a lover of lizards and a confidant of coyotes

Though he may well be remembered most for his remarkable nature writing, it was as a cultural critic that Krutch gained his earliest recognition

Krutch's classes were filled with entertainment, wit, and information as well as critical insights