Does content_columns hold related data from other tables?

I’ve got a belongs_to / has_many relationship working, however I don’t
know if I can still use content_columns (or any other shortcut) in my
view that displays my object.

E.g., Employee belongs_to Department

I’m displaying an Employee.

Will content_columns contain employee.department.name?

Or how else could I do this so I don’t have to hard-code column
references that could change later?

Thanks.