History course on Cornell returns this semester

Far above the busy humming of the bustling town, the hill on which Cornell sits is steep – and steeped in history.

Learn stories and Cornell lore from Corey Ryan Earle ’07 as he resumes teaching Cornell: The First American University on Monday nights this semester, 7:30 to 8:45 p.m.

Earle teaches the essentials of Cornell history all the way from M.H. Abrams to Theodore Zinck. He explains how Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White founded a unique university where any person can find instruction in any study; how Slope Day and Dragon Day originated over a century ago; what Collegetown once looked like; how a proposed library building almost took over Libe Slope; how Robert Baker developed chicken nuggets and the famed Cornell barbecue chicken recipe; and why Day Hall creek is called Wee Stinky Glen.

Influential faculty and alumni – such as Nobel laureates Toni Morrison, M.A ’55, Barbara McClintock ’23, M.A ’25, Ph.D. ’27 and physicist Hans Bethe; Janet Reno ’60; Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54; astronomer Carl Sagan – will be discussed as students learn the backstories behind campus antiquity and how the university has grown for over 150 Big Red years.

Students can register now. Members of the Cornell community are welcome to visit the class, if seats are available. Contact Earle for more information.

This story also appeared in the Cornell Chronicle.