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For many Columbia students, the last time they ate indoors at a restaurant was in early March. Delivery apps like Seamless and UberEats have become their best friends, along with cherished recipes for banana bread and chocolate chip cookies.

As the spring term begins, thousands of Columbia students have returned to campus. Despite facing economic challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, many local galleries and art-related businesses continue to offer a diverse array of artistic experiences for Columbia students, ranging from exhibitions confronting the pressing issues of race and gender inequalities to craft and pottery workshops that provide an opportunity to step away from the screen and into the studio.

Halfway through the interview with Dr. Raymond Givens, two young boys materialize through the slightly-pixelated Zoom virtual background displaying the stoic face of the rapper Biggie Smalls. The little one pops cheerfully through the famous rapper’s mouth, waving a tiny green toy at the camera, and the taller one comes running through the rapper’s tilted plastic crown, grinning cheekily and tugging at his father’s surgical scrubs. Givens, smiling at his sons and not at all fazed by the distraction, smoothly introduces his six-year-old, Lucas, and his two-year-old, Nicholas, pausing momentarily to swoop Nicholas into his lap and put his arm around Lucas’ shoulder. Givens gently corrals them out of the room, apologizes for the interruption, and without missing a beat, returns to the discussion of his efforts to change the name of Bard Hall.

A massive installation created from brown butcher paper weaves throughout the lobby of Barnard’s Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning. It encases three television screens featuring videos of six women of color sharing experiences of their “stuff” being taken away. Alongside the installation, archival materials, including photos and manuscripts, are displayed.

Over the past few months, nearly 20 restaurants in Morningside Heights have temporarily or permanently shut down as a result of the pandemic. While outdoor and indoor dining have given restaurants avenues for revenue, indoor dining has been put on hold starting Monday, Dec. 14. Despite these hardships, two new restaurants along Amsterdam Avenue have recently opened.

Columbia School of the Arts promotes its film master’s degree program with a skillfully produced trailer that offers a seductive sales pitch to prospective applicants. The school boasts that students’ films play at “every major film festival you can think of: Telluride, Berlin, South by Southwest and Tribeca, Cannes.” Deans and professors tout the program’s focus on practical training and portfolio development set students up for industry success: The school proudly announces that students are “making things from the first day they come here and they’re making things as they walk out the door.”

Barnard President Sian Beilock announced the cancellation of the college’s nationwide search for a new executive director of Public Safety in an updated safety plan released on Dec. 3. Instead, Barnard will restructure the role of Public Safety to focus on community safety under an umbrella organizational unit titled Community Accountability, Response, and Emergency Services, according to Beilock’s email.

The registration process can be overwhelming and stressful. From figuring out your registration time to navigating CULPA reviews, waitlists, and conflicting classes, it is challenging to create a schedule with no obstacles. As registration approaches and you scroll through the course catalog, keep in mind that Columbia and Barnard have added intensive courses with alternative schedules. For those of you who want to finish a course before the semester ends, block classes are a perfect solution. As opposed to a standard 12-week schedule, intensive classes are in two six-week blocks for both the fall and spring semesters. Block courses meet more frequently than semester-long courses, allowing students to take fewer classes at a time. We asked a few students about their experience with fall A and B courses to help you decide whether spring A and B courses are right for you.