Striking down the bowling pins of diaspora and desire.  By Elika Khosravani Illustration by Audrey Wang It is my understanding that at some point in every student’s undergraduate career, they meet a professor who quietly, and then all at once, rearranges their world. For me, that professor is Zaina Arafat. Every Thursday, she takes the train down from her apartment in Harlem to teach Fiction and Personal Narrative at Barnard, and I have the privilege of watching up close the

Reflecting on 40 years of Shakespeare at Columbia. By Kate Sibery Illustration by Audrey Wang James Shapiro is the Larry Miller Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia where he has been teaching Shakespeare since 1985 and was an undergraduate in the 70s. He has published numerous books including, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare , Shakespeare in a Divided America , and most recently, The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Makin

The birth, death, and resurrection of Gutzon Borglum’s angels. By Natalie Buttner  Illustration by Audrey Wang The ornate facade of St. John the Divine is populated by a lavish community of statues. Angels, apostles, patriarchs, and prophets wrapped in gray robes are frozen in place, enacting the more theatrical moments in Holy Writ. The style is inconsistent, indicative of a diversity of sculptors and visions for the Cathedral. The arched doors are centered on a marble statu