In 1919 Columbia instituted a course of study known as Contemporary Civilization. It grew out of a War Issues course offered during World War I. Every student was required to take the course in order to provide a forum to analyze and discuss primary texts relevant to contemporary problems.

Insistent Change shows how the course transformed and developed decade-by-decade.  By also focusing on the development of the Core Curriculum as a whole, the exhibition explains how CC’s faculty, administrators and students worked together to keep the course relevant through a succession of changes in the broader political, economic and social realms in the nation and worldwide.