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A Black Lives Matter protest in Washington Square Park, summer 2020

Fall 2020

Fall 2020 cover of Columbia Magazine, featuring a portrait of Freedom March NYC cofounder Chelsea Miller, photographed by Myles Loftin
Download this issue

Portrait of a Gen-Z Activist

Chelsea Miller '18CC, cofounder of Freedom March NYC, brings strategy, organization, and vision to a youth-led civil-rights group.

Features

Health & Medicine

COVID-19: What Happens Next

8 ways Columbia scientists and clinicians are working to understand this complex and confounding disease

Alumni

How Columbia Suffragists Fought for the Right of Women to Vote

100 years ago, Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. This is the little-known story of the women who helped make it happen

On Campus

Healing the Red-Blue Divide

An expert on conflict resolution offers a new perspective on the ideological tensions that he says are tearing the US apart

Alumni

Columbia Fit Club

These 4 streaming platforms from alumni entrepreneurs are helping people stay active and sane in 2020

College Walk

Arts & Humanities

The Story Behind the Song: How Broadway Stars Tom Kitt and Ben Platt Created a Columbia Anthem for the Ages

“Oh, Columbia” is a gift for the Class of 2020 and a message of hope for the future

On Campus

A Matter of Black Lives

African-American professors discuss police violence, protest, and change

Health & Medicine

It Takes a Special Microscope to Fight Alzheimer’s

A supersensitive new instrument is helping Columbia scientists study the intricacies of neurodegenerative disease

Health & Medicine

Celebrating Florence Nightingale on Her 200th Birthday

Columbia’s dean of nursing honors the Lady with the Lamp

On Campus

5 Online Offerings This Fall

Stream discussions and lectures, join a bookclub, and more

Explorations

Science & Technology

3 New Climate Discoveries That Should Worry Just About Everyone 

Studies on droughts, heat-index readings, and ice sheets show that the Earth is changing much faster than we anticipated

Health & Medicine

Surprise! Your Sweet Tooth is Really in Your Gut

A new Columbia study reveals why artificial sweeteners won't satisfy your sugar cravings

Science & Technology

Columbia Physicists to Upgrade Atom Smasher

The scientists are leading a multi-institution effort to increase the power of the ATLAS particle detector at the Large Hadron Collider

Science & Technology

A New Way to Save Coral Reefs, and Other Research Findings

7 recent discoveries from Columbia scientists

Network

Alumni

Helping the Navajo Nation Combat COVID-19

Two Columbia alumni working on a reservation in the rural Southwest are fighting the virus with custom strategies and a long-term vision

Alumni

Why City Parks are More Important Than Ever

Architect and real-estate planner Adam Ganser ’10GSAPP is the new executive director of New Yorkers for Parks

Books

4 Self-Improvement Authors We’re Reading While the World Implodes

For better or for worse, social distancing has left plenty of time for self-examination, and with it, new opportunities for personal growth

Arts & Humanities

14 Bingeable TV Shows Made by Columbia Graduates

These acclaimed series from alumni are worth watching and rewatching

Arts & Humanities

A Lens on Global Unrest

In the past year, photojournalist Bing Guan '17GS has captured images of major uprisings across the globe

Arts & Humanities

Art Under Quarantine

Nancy Cohen’s new drawings capture the desolation and hope of the current moment

Books

Books

Review: "An Elegant Woman"

By Martha McPhee '94SOA

Books

Review: "The Lost Pianos of Siberia"

By Sophy Roberts '97JRN

Books

Review: "Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing"

By Jacob Goldstein '04JRN

Books

Yes, Your Vote Matters

Voting is a cherished American right, but more than 40 percent of eligible adults don’t do it. Erin Geiger Smith ’09JRN talks about how we got here and what the future might hold

Books

6 New Books to Read This Fall

All from Columbia-alumni authors

Bulletin

On Campus

Oral Historians Document New Yorkers' Pandemic Experiences

How has COVID-19 affected different communities? How are perceptions of the crisis changing over time? What will the city look like after the virus recedes?

On Campus

Chemical Science Gets $21.5M Boost

The large gift from Ge Li ’94GSAS and Ning Zhao ’95GSAS will advance research and teaching in chemistry

On Campus

ISERP Launches Center for Pandemic Research

The initiative will support a wide range of scholarly investigations into the social, economic, and cultural ramifications of the COVID-19 crisis

On Campus

Columbia Undertakes Food-Relief Effort

The number of New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity has grown dramatically this year, with an estimated two million city residents now at risk of going hungry

On Campus

Top Teachers, Mentors Honored

This year, eight faculty members and graduate-student instructors received the University’s Presidential Teaching Awards

On Campus

Library Acquires Archive of Playwright Myrna Casas

Casas is considered one of the most important Latin American dramatists of her generation

On Campus

5 Professors Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Dmitri Basov, Angela Christiano, Andrew Millis, Molly Przeworski, and Lorraine S. Symington will formally join the academy in April 2021

Science & Technology

Astrophysicist Brian Metzger Named 2020 Blavatnik Laureate

The award is the largest unrestricted scientific prize for young researchers in the US

On Campus

University Announces Efforts to Address Racism

This summer, President Lee C. Bollinger issued an open letter outlining a number of initiatives Columbia is undertaking

On Campus

Kellie Jones Named Inaugural Hans Hofmann Professor of Modern Art

Columbia has established a new endowed chair with a gift from the family trust of the late abstract-expressionist painter Hans Hofmann

Rare Finds

Alumni

How a Broken Wheel Led to the Birth of Modern Product-Liability Law

The 1916 court case MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co., heard by Judge Benjamin Cardozo ’1889CC, 1980GSAS, 1915HON, is still taught in law classes today

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