Columbia News

Recent News from Columbia

October 14, 2026

Microplastics Are Chemically Active, and Could Cause Biological Harm

A new study found that when microplastics contact water, their surfaces can become chemically reactive; it could be how they get us sick.

Welcoming the 2026–2027 Columbia SPS CUNY Fellows

The eight fellows are graduates of Baruch College, Brooklyn College, The City College of New York, Hunter College, Lehman College, Macaulay Honors College, and Medgar Evers College, and are pursuing master’s degrees at Columbia.

The Story Behind African Immigration to America

In her book, Neeraj Kaushal chronicles how the rise in African immigrants to the U.S. can be a positive force for change.

Videos

The Core Curriculum: What are Columbia’s Undergrads reading these days?

The Core Curriculum: The Heart of Columbia University’s Undergraduate Experience

For more than 100 years, the Core Curriculum has been the defining element of a Columbia College education. This communal learning experience cultivates community-wide discourse and contemplation around seminal works, contemporary issues and humanity’s most enduring questions.

Meet Charles Todd, Vice President for University Life at Columbia University

In this video, Todd reflects on his academic background in philosophy, his vision for University Life, and his goals for creating meaningful opportunities and experiences that enhance student life at Columbia.

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America at 250: The U.S. Semiquincentennial and Columbia University

Research & Discovery

The first of a new fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) being readied for deployment from Hobart, Tasmania, to begin data collection in the Southern Ocean. Credit: CSIRO/AAPP

Robot Sailboats Will Spend Five Years Measuring Carbon in the Southern Ocean

A new project will deploy a fleet of autonomous vehicles to measure carbon exchange in remote waters.

Upending Decades of Debate, Scientists Discover Most Neurons are Jacks-of-All-Trades

A new study of mouse neurons has the scientific community abuzz.

Columbia scientist Terry Plank disembarks from a helicopter on the Villarrica volcano in Chile.

Measuring the Rumblings of the Earth

Columbia scientists are working to give observatories better views of restless volcanoes and to make those data openly available.

More Research & Discovery News

Campus & Community

Columbia Nobel Prize Winner Michael Woodford’s First To-Do? Give an Economics Exam

In true professorial fashion, after winning a Nobel on Oct. 12, Woodford headed straight to Uris Hall to administer a test in his Cognitive Mechanisms and Economic Behavior course, to cheers and applause from his students.

A Century of Communications, Teaching, and Taking Chances

The Columbia Engineering Charles Batchelor Professor Emeritus reflects on a career that stretched from World War II-era radar to computer networks, shaped generations of electrical engineers, and was instrumental in building Columbia’s strength in telecommunications.

George Van Amson Fellows Bring Their Skills to New York’s Frontline Social Justice Work

This year, Community Impact at Columbia University’s George Van Amson Fellowship supported three Columbia College and Barnard College students in their work with local nonprofits providing aid for survivors of gender-based violence and advocacy for people incarcerated in federal prisons in New York City.

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National & Global Affairs

Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, speaks to audience from a podium on a stage at the “Forever War and the First Amendment” symposium at Columbia University. Photo by Siobhan Mullan

Columbia’s Knight Institute Co-Hosted Symposium on ‘Forever War and the First Amendment’

The two-day event brought together journalists, scholars, lawyers, and activists to examine how the War on Terror transformed government power, the courts, the press, and democratic culture.

Rethinking the Law and the Economy

In her new book, Professor Katharina Pistor explores strategies for rethinking the law and the economy to create a superior and more socially equitable system.

Artistic illustration of an office chair with a colorful lava lamp like background.

The Paper That Predicted the Office Apocalypse

Four years after introducing the “urban doom loop,” researchers revisit the office market, and find many of their boldest predictions are coming true.

More National & Global Affairs News

Arts & Humanities

Ad Reinhardt, Columbia University campus map

This Columbia campus map was printed in the Jester issue of September 1938. The editors included a note about this campus map, which said: “On the opposite page you see a map of the Campus drawn specially for this issue by Ad F. Reinhardt, ’35, former editor of the Jester. While at college, Reinhardt put out a very striking and very good Jester and was personally elected America’s most original college artist. His efforts, we think, started a new and fine period for Jester and a splendid tradition.”

See ‘Drawn by a Columbian’ at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library

The exhibition features the work of famous artists and cartoonists created while they were students at the University.

The Declaration of Independence

Why the Declaration of Independence Remains Required Reading for All Columbia Undergrads

As America continues to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Columbia News asks: Does this founding document, which is part of the Core Curriculum, remain relevant?