Apply to be a speaker at Barnard's TEDx event by November 18th!

Hello First-Years!

The Speaking Program is looking for students who are passionate about a topic that calls the Barnard community to action and who are interested in speaking at the event.

If you are interested in being a speaker for our upcoming Barnard TEDx event, you can fill out the application by Tuesday, November 18th located in the QR code on the flyer attached!

Best,

The First-Year Team

Announcement: New booking link to schedule appointments with Dean Siegel!

Hello First-Years!

We wanted to share a very important announcement with you all! Our office has been slowly transitioning to using a new platform for students to schedule appointments to meet with their class deans as we have been using youcanbookme as our main online scheduler for a long time.

Starting today, November 12th, we are moving over to Slate as our new platform for students to schedule appointments to meet with their class deans and will no longer be using youcanbookme.

Going forward, please use Dean Siegel's Slate booking link to schedule an appointment to meet with her. If you need help in finding another time to schedule an appointment or need to meet urgently, feel free to contact our office at doas@barnard.edu or call 212-854-2024 for assistance!

As a reminder, you can also meet with her during walk-in hours on Mondays and Fridays from 3:30-4:30 PM ET either in-person in our office located in Milbank 105 or virtually over Zoom!

Best,

The First-Year Team

Nov 11 Email from Registrar about Registration for the Spring 2026 Semester

 

Dear Students,   Registration for spring classes starts next week, in Vergil. Seniors begin registration on Monday; Juniors on Tuesday; Sophomores on Wednesday; First-years on Thursday.     THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOUR REGISTRATION TIME   •    Add Classes to your Planner in Vergil:    •    Search for courses in the Vergil Course Search and click the “Add to Plan” button •    You can search by subject, by department, by GER, by classes with open seats, etc. See screenshots here. •    The status of all classes will show as “Restricted” before your registration time starts, but you can still add them to your plan. When your registration appointment begins, the class status will change to Open, Full or Wait List (see details below). •    Make sure the Term in the upper-right corner is Spring 2026. •    We highly recommend adding classes to your Planner before your registration window opens.   •    Complete the Terms and Conditions for spring 2026 in Vergil:  •    Log in to Vergil.  •    Click on the orange tile at the top in order to read and acknowledge the Terms and Conditions, which includes a Financial Responsibility Statement. •    You can do this step before your registration appointment. You will not be able to register until it is completed.   •    Complete the College’s BEAR survey and the included Title VI training: •    This is a pre-registration requirement and must be completed to avoid a registration hold in Vergil. The deadline was Tuesday, November 4. If you did not complete the survey, you now have a registration hold. •    To complete the survey and have your hold lifted, check your email to find your unique survey link. •    Please note that holds are only lifted Monday through Friday, and it can take up to 48 hours for a hold to be released. We urge you to complete the survey immediately so that you can register for classes during your allocated time. •    For questions, contact oie@barnard.edu or call 212-853-6304. All holds related to this survey will be managed by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. (Please do not contact the Registrar’s Office, as we will not be able to assist you with this hold.)   •    Check for Holds that will prevent registration.   •    If you have a hold, you will see a message at the top of the Vergil pages that says “There is a Hold on your record that is blocking registration.” Click on the “resolve your Holds” link to view the specific hold and how to resolve it.     •    Contact your adviser:   •    You are expected to have an advising meeting with your adviser before you register, to discuss class selections and areas of academic interest.   •    Your adviser will review and approve your course registration at the end of next week.   •    Find your registration appointment times:   •    Look up your upcoming registration times for Spring 2026 in Vergil. Be sure the term in the upper-right is set to Spring 2026.   •    Contact registrar@barnard.edu immediately with any questions.     THINGS TO KNOW DURING REGISTRATION   •    REGISTER IN VERGIL:  Again this semester, Barnard students will be using Columbia’s Vergil registration system to register for classes. Registration will be open in Vergil from Monday, November 17 through Friday, November 21.   •    You can register from “My Planner”, or directly from the Course Search (using the “Register” button) •    You can see real-time seat availability and class status •    Open = there are seats available •    Full = the class is full •    Waitlist = All interested students must join the waitlist (even if the class has open seats) •    Restricted = the class is not open to Barnard students, or there is another reason you cannot add the class (e.g. you have already exceeded the 19-credit limit, the class conflicts in time with another class you are registered for, you have a registration hold, it is not your registration time, etc.). Look for the hint message that will explain the reason for the restriction. Email registrar@barnard.edu with any questions. •    Videos on how to register in Vergil are here. •    19 credit maximum: Vergil will allow you to register for a maximum of 19 credits.  Permission to register for more than 19 credits can be requested in January.   •    Use the “Swap” feature to switch from one section of a class to a different open section. Click the “Manage” button on a registered class to see the Swap option.  (Vergil will not allow you to register for two sections of the same class.)  •    Co-requisites: For classes that have co-requisites (such as a lecture with a required discussion section or lab), you will be reminded to add both components of the class. The system will allow you to register for just the lecture and add the other components later if needed. •    Info on registering for “special” courses (e.g. voice lessons, P.E., graduate courses at Columbia, etc.) is here. •    P/D/F Elections: You can elect the p/d/f grading option for one Spring 2026 class in Vergil, either at the time of registration or anytime before the deadline.   •    WAITLISTS:  You can join a max of 3 waitlists at a time.   •    Some Barnard classes will not have a waitlist option during this registration period.  They will appear as Full with no option to “Join Waitlist.” You will have another opportunity to register for these classes in December, when there may be additional seats available and/or a waitlist option. •    Some waitlists will have special instructions, such as a request to explain why you want to join a class, or an application to complete/upload. •    After joining an auto-fill waitlist, you will be able to see your position on the waitlist in Vergil, on the right-hand panel.   •    WHAT’S STILL IN STUDENT PLANNING? •    Your online degree audit. •    Newly registered courses will be added to your degree audit on a nightly basis. (It is not real-time from Vergil.) Planned and waitlisted classes will not display in the audit. •    Your Barnard transcript, which is the official record of your classes, grades and GPA. •    Although some academic record information displays in Vergil, it is limited to only Barnard/Columbia classes. (Vergil does not reflect transfer credit, study abroad credit, AP/IB credit, etc.) Because of this, you may find that your total credits and GPA in Vergil do not match your Barnard transcript. This is ok as long as your Barnard transcript is correct.   •    WHAT’S STILL IN SLATE? •    List of classes that satisfy Foundations (General Education) requirements. •    Forms to update your contact information. •    Academic forms (e.g. major declaration, request to withdraw from a class, summer course approval form, etc.).   •    NEED HELP?:   •    Visit our Vergil Registration resource site for additional resources. •    Email Us with any questions. •    Drop in to our office at 105 Milbank.   Best wishes,   Jennifer Simmons Registrar

Program Planning Fall 2025

Hello First-Years!

Please find below the list of all of the Program Planning meetings for Fall 2025! Some have already taken place while others are about to take place very soon!

Best,

The First-Year Team

Department Name	Meeting Date and Time	Meeting Location
Education	Oct. 21, 7:00 - 8:00 PM	Milstein 614
Film Studies	Nov. 12, 5:30 - 6:30 PM	Barnard Hall 405
Cognitive Science	Oct. 22, 7:00 - 8:00 PM	Event Oval
Computer Science	Nov. 11, 5:30 - 6:30 PM	Milstein 514
Theatre	Nov. 5, 5:00 - 6:00 PM	Milbank 229
Biology	Nov. 7, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Sulzberger Parlor
Economics	Nov. 10, 1:00 - 2:00 PM	Diana 203
Sociology	Oct. 29, 5:30 - 6:30 PM	Sulzberger South Tower
Human Rights	Oct. 21, 6:00 - 7:00 PM	Sulzberger Parlor
Neuroscience & Behavior	Nov. 6, 1:10 - 2:00 PM	Milstein LL001
Philosophy	Nov. 12, 12:00 - 1:00 PM	326 Milbank
Political Science	Nov. 5, 5:30 - 6:30 PM	203 Diana Center
Classics & Ancient Studies	Oct 31, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM	406 Barnard Hall
Architecture	Oct. 29, 5:30 - 6:00 PM	The McCagg Gallery, Diana Center
Urban Studies	Oct. 28, 6:00 PM	Diana Center 203
Dance	Oct. 30, 5:30 - 6:10 PM	306 Barnard Hall
Art History	Nov. 5, 11:30 AM	McCagg Gallery
Women's, Gender & Sexuality	Nov. 18, 4:15 PM	205 Barnard Hall
Chemistry	Nov. 13, 12:00 PM	Sulzberger Parlor

Education Program - Program Planning for Spring 2026!

Hello First-Years,

Please take a look at the following flyer below for the Barnard Education Program - Program Planning schedule for the next couple of weeks if you are interested and looking to plan courses with Education faculty!

Best,

The First-Year Team

Update: Additional Writing Fellow appointments added for BWC!

Hello First-Years!

We hope you are well! We wanted to share a quick update from the Barnard Writing Center in that, due to increased demand, they have added 30 more Writing Fellow appointments to their weekly schedule!

You can refer to this previous blog post for further information on the Barnard Writing Center and can make an appointment here!

Appointments are released a week in advance, so please make sure to sign up early if you need help with your writing.

Best,

The First-Year Team

Film Studies Program Planning Meeting!

 

Political Science Major Program Planning Meeting on November 5th!

Hello First-Years!

The Barnard Political Science Department will be holding a Major Program Planning meeting next Wednesday, November 5th from 5:30-6:30PM in 203 Diana Center for prospective majors if you are interested!

Please take a look at the flyer down below! You can RSVP here or use the QR code! Refreshments will be served!

Best,

The First-Year Team

NSBV Meeting for New and Prospective Majors on November 6th!

Hello First-Years!

The Barnard Neuroscience & Behavior (NSBV) Department will be hosting a meeting for new and prospective majors on Thursday, November 6th from 1:10-2:00PM in Milstein LL0001, which will be their version of a "program planning" meeting.

If you are not able to make it in-person, you can attend the meeting virtually over Zoom by using the Zoom ID 752 261 8457 to join remotely!

After the meeting, students will be able to meet with NSBV faculty, learning about major requirements, discuss recommended sequences of courses, and more!

First-Year Seminar Workshop Spring 2026

Hello First-Years! 

If you are taking First-Year Seminar (FYS) in Spring 2026 for your FYE, please take a look at the information down below regarding two sections of FYS "Workshop" being offered next semester if you are interested!

Best,

The First-Year Team

------

To students taking First-Year Seminar in Spring, 2026:

This spring, the First-Year Seminar (FYS) Program is offering two sections of FYS "Workshop," a four-credit version of FYS designed for students who feel they would benefit from extra support with critical reading and academic writing skills. FYS Workshop fulfills the FYS requirement and is equally as rigorous as FYS. There are three main differences:

· In addition to regular seminar meetings twice per week, FYS Workshop students meet one-on-one with a Writing Fellow for one hour every other week, giving you an opportunity to get feedback from and discuss your ideas with a trained peer throughout the semester.

· Each section of FYS Workshop is worth 4 credits (instead of 3.)

· Each section of FYS Workshop is slightly smaller (capped at 14 students.)

If you think you would benefit from the extra writing support FYS Workshop offers, please fill out this short application by Wednesday, November 5th at 5PM. You will be notified (via email) about whether we can offer you a spot before the registration period begins in November. You will receive special sign-up information at that time.

 

See course descriptions below.

 

If you have any questions about the FYS Workshop Program, feel free to email Professor Condillac at vcondill@barnard.edu.

 

FYS BC1001.001: BORDER STORIES (WKSHOP)

Francesca E. Austin Ochoa

The topic of this Seminar course takes an interdisciplinary approach to thinking about, and traversing, the constructs of the border. The U.S.- Mexico border delimits more than nations; it is both a political and a social geography, marked by bodies of water, mountains, walls, ideologies, repression, and resistance. The crisis currently taking place at the border is an unfolding story with many narrators. We will study literary texts: fiction, poetry, and memoir written by those who know the border, and borderlands, intimately. We will also engage histories, social movement doctrine, and media coverage to mine the stories they tell.

 

 

FYS BC1001.002: DEAD AND UNDEAD (WKSHOP)

Penelope Usher

What does it mean to be dead? Why the fascination—across time and culture—with conceiving of ways in which the dead can become un-dead? And how is being undead different from being alive? To investigate and trouble the boundaries between life and death (and un-death), we will analyze works from various genres and media, discussing near-death experiences, beating-heart cadavers, and a range of figures including zombies, ghosts, and other revenants. Objects of study include texts by Zora Neale Hurston, Ovid, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Nalo Hopkinson, and Mary Shelley; music by Camille Saint-Saëns; artwork by Hans Holbein and Breughel; television and film (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie); and more.