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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

How Columbia Suffragists Fought for the Right of Women to Vote
Photo collage by Michelle Thompson of suffragists Mabel Lee, Crystal Eastman, and Alice Paul, for Columbia Magazine fall 2020 issue
Alumni

How Columbia Suffragists Fought for the Right of Women to Vote

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

Healing the Red-Blue Divide
Illustration of a Democrat and Republican shaking hands, by Celia Jacobs, for Columbia Magazine fall 2020 issue (interview with Peter Coleman)
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

Columbia Fit Club
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Alumni

Columbia Fit Club

These four streaming platforms from alumni entrepreneurs are helping people stay active and sane 

COVID-19: What Happens Next
Anatomical illustration by Ellen Weinstein of flowers and plants running through the circulatory system
Health & Medicine

COVID-19: What Happens Next

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

College Walk

It Takes a Special Microscope to Fight Alzheimer’s
Illustration of a microscope for Alzheimer's research at Columbia University Zuckerman center, by Hayden Maynard, Columbia Magazine fall 2020 issue
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

Celebrating Florence Nightingale on Her 200th Birthday
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Health & Medicine

Celebrating Florence Nightingale on Her 200th Birthday

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

5 Online Offerings This Fall
Planet Earth
On Campus

5 Online Offerings This Fall

Stream discussions and lectures, join a bookclub, and more

The Story Behind the Song: How Broadway Stars Tom Kitt and Ben Platt Created a Columbia Anthem for the Ages
Ben_Tom_SONG_3x4
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

A Matter of Black Lives
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On Campus

A Matter of Black Lives

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

Explorations

Columbia Physicists to Upgrade Atom Smasher
interior of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva
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

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

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

7 recent discoveries from Columbia scientists

3 New Climate Discoveries That Should Worry Just About Everyone 
2020_06_Climate-drought
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

Surprise! Your Sweet Tooth is Really in Your Gut
0720_Sweetener
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

Network

Helping the Navajo Nation Combat COVID-19
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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

Why City Parks are More Important Than Ever
Adam Ganser, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks
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

4 Self-Improvement Authors We’re Reading While the World Implodes
07_Self-Help-1
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

40 Bingeable TV Shows Made by Columbia Graduates
Collage of characters in Columbia alumni-made TV shows
Arts & Humanities

40 Bingeable TV Shows Made by Columbia Graduates

These series from alumni are worth watching and rewatching

A Lens on Global Unrest
Bing Guan
Arts & Humanities

A Lens on Global Unrest

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

Art Under Quarantine
Artist Nancy Cohen in studio
Arts & Humanities

Art Under Quarantine

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

Books

Review: "The Lost Pianos of Siberia"
Cover of The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts, reviewed by Sally Lee in Columbia Magazine fall 2020 issue
Books

Review: "The Lost Pianos of Siberia"

By Sophy Roberts '97JRN

Review: "Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing"
Cover of Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein, reviewed in Columbia Magazine fall 2020 issue
Books

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

By Jacob Goldstein '04JRN

Yes, Your Vote Matters
Illustration by Jonny Ruzzo of Erin Geiger Smith, author of Thank You For Voting, for Columbia Magazine fall 2020 issue
Books

Yes, Your Vote Matters

Voting is a cherished American right, but more than 40 percent of eligible adults don’t do it

6 New Books to Read This Fall
Covers of Conjure Women by Afia Atakora, Hello Darkness, My Old Friend by Sanford D. Greenberg, Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar, Daddy by Emma Cline, Just Us by Claudia Rankine, in Columbia Magazine fall 2020 issue
Books

6 New Books to Read This Fall

All from Columbia-alumni authors

Review: "An Elegant Woman"
Martha McPhee
Books

Review: "An Elegant Woman"

By Martha McPhee '94SOA

Bulletin

5 Professors Elected to National Academy of Sciences
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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

Astrophysicist Brian Metzger Named 2020 Blavatnik Laureate
Astrophysicist Brian Metzger, 2020 BLAVATNIK LAUREATE
Science & Technology

Astrophysicist Brian Metzger Named 2020 Blavatnik Laureate

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

University Announces Efforts to Address Racism
Birds eye view shot of Columbia University campus
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

Kellie Jones Named Inaugural Hans Hofmann Professor of Modern Art
Columbia art-history professor Kellie Jones standing in front of St. Paul's Chapel
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

Oral Historians Document New Yorkers' Pandemic Experiences
OCPA_20200316_Mask_2_Eileen-Barroso
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?

Chemical Science Gets $21.5M Boost
Ge Li and Ning Zhao
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

ISERP Launches Center for Pandemic Research
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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

Columbia Undertakes Food-Relief Effort
A person preparing food deliveries at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, a Columbia-supported nonprofit
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

Top Teachers, Mentors Honored
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On Campus

Top Teachers, Mentors Honored

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

Library Acquires Archive of Playwright Myrna Casas
Myrna Casas
On Campus

Library Acquires Archive of Playwright Myrna Casas

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

Rare Finds

How a Broken Wheel Led to the Birth of Modern Product-Liability Law
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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, 1890GSAS, 1915HON, is still taught in law classes today

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