Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Columbia University Offering Course In Occupy Wall Street, With Field Work
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 1, 2012
Modified Jan 1, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 1, 2012
Modified Jan 1, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Not to be outdone by NYU and their upcoming course on Occupy Wall Street, Columbia University will offer its own course on the nascent movement this spring. Offered by the Anthropology Department, the course [pdf], called "Occupy the Field," will offer "training in ethnographic research methods alongside a critical exploration of the conjunctural issues in the Occupy movement: Wall Street, finance capital, and inequality; political strategies, property and public space, and the question of anarchy; and genealogies of the contemporary moment in global social movements." Finger Twinkling 101 is a prerequisite.
Professor Hannah Appel will be teaching the course, which will consist of seminars and lots of fieldwork with Occupy Wall Street, where students are encouraged to get involved with any of the working groups that meet regularly in the atrium at 60 Wall Street. Appel is a self-proclaimed "regular participant in the Occupy movement," and in the course description she assures students with "absolute certainty that there is no foreseeable risk in teaching this as a field-based class. On the contrary, the risks of disengaged scholarship seem more profound." All of this is really tickles the student-run Columbia blog The Bwog, which notices in the course description that "the reading is admittedly 'lighter than many other classes.' Score! Attendance is also a big part of the grade."
So with NYU and Columbia both offering OWS courses, it's probably only a matter of time before a publicly-funded CUNY school takes the plunge, and we can't wait to hear what the NY Post has to say about that. For now, the tabloid simply wonders, "Does getting pepper-sprayed count as extra credit?"
Tagged
college
columbia university
occupy wall street
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man killed in police-involved shooting in Moonachie, NJ
A New Jersey state trooper was involved in the incident Wednesday, according to the New Jersey attorney general's office.
By
Kaya Laterman
Published Oct 28, 2026 at 9:06 p.m. ET
Queens man took girlfriend’s body to beach in a wagon, where it remained for 5 days
Seraphina Pereira was found in a shallow grave at Rockaway Community Park. Rogelio Lozano-Garita pleaded not guilty to murder on Wednesday.
By
Charles Lane
News
Queens man took girlfriend’s body to beach in a wagon, where it remained for 5 days
Seraphina Pereira was found in a shallow grave at Rockaway Community Park. Rogelio Lozano-Garita pleaded not guilty to murder on Wednesday.
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends NYC racial equity leader's term after Council pushes back on replacement
By
Elizabeth Kim
Woman charged with federal hate crimes after allegedly stabbing 2 Jewish men in NYC
By
Giulia Heyward
Ex-NYPD sergeant sentenced to 4-12 years in deadly drunken Taconic crash
By
Charles Lane
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .