Students and alumni from the College of Arts & Sciences gathered in late June for a series of networking events, helping students explore careers in health care, finance, law, politics/government and media.
The Arts & Sciences Career Connections Committee (ASCCC) hosts events during summer and winter breaks. The summer events are in-person networking events and traditionally take place…
Jesse Winter
Natalie Arimah '19, left, and Jen Maclaughlin were able to connect this month at a student-alumni networking event in New York City.
Natalie Arimah ’19 used to think that she would go to med school or law school, find the right job and stay there forever. But now, she’s gaining confidence and realizes that she’s in charge of her own career. If a job isn’t challenging her or fitting in with her goals in life, she’s not afraid to find something else.
Behind her all the way is Jen Maclaughlin, director of Career Development…
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Olivia Ochoa enjoys a break in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. She's working this summer with the Migration Policy Institute.
A total of 135 students in the College of Arts & Sciences are able to take on unpaid or minimally-paid summer experiences this year with help from the College’s Summer Experience Grants (SEG).
Students will be traveling as far as Ecuador or staying on campus to join a research lab for these experiences, which help them make decisions about their majors and future career goals.
“As a…
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A scene from Austin Bunn’s new short film “Campfire.”
“Campfire,” an original short film by Associate Professor Austin Bunn, won the Provincetown International Film Festival’s "best queer short" award this month – its third award this summer. The Provincetown award makes the film eligible for an Academy Award nomination.
The film tells the story of a married dairy farmer who travels to a gay campground in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania to…
Twenty-three faculty members in the College of Arts & Sciences were recently honored with endowed professorships approved by the Cornell Board of Trustees, continuing the college’s priority to recognize and support faculty excellence.
With these new appointments, the number of A&S faculty appointed to endowed professorships since fall 2018 has reached 66.
“These endowed…
The College of Arts & Sciences will welcome alumni to campus June 8-11 with a host of events for Cornell Reunion 2023, celebrating the classes of 3s and 8s.
Alumni can register now at the Reunion website.
A&S highlights will include:
"The Climate Change Comedy Hour," a multi-media presentation by Aaron Sachs, professor of history and American studies. The…
Patrick Shanahan
Eden Kebede '25 collects a soil sample in a forest outside Ithaca.
This summer, 101 students in the College of Arts and Sciences will take part in groundbreaking research on campus with 61 faculty as part of the Nexus Scholars Program.
For many of these students, this will be their first research opportunity and they’ll work on projects with faculty across the college – in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and mathematics. Nearly 320 students…
The pandemic upended the first year for the Class of 2023, but they made the most of their time, producing amazing research and creative works, developing lasting friendships and creating a litany of memories.
Explore the extraordinary journeys of this year’s graduates and see how their paths have prepared them not only for a successful and meaningful career, but also for a life well lived…
During a drive around Fez, Morocco in 2022, Mardiya Shardow ’23 knew that her experiences that day were worth remembering. So as soon as she got back to her room, she wrote down everything she could remember.
This year, as she was creating her senior project as a student in the Humanities Scholar Program (HSP) in the College of Arts & Sciences, she vacillated between her ideas for a novel…
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Students in the Milstein Program practice with each other before they conduct interviews with civic leaders.
Mia Desravines’ ’26 says her first year at Cornell has been “all about the ampersand.”
By that she means she’s had a chance to explore her interests in information science & Africana studies & technology & sociology & dance & the list goes on.
As a student in the Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity in the College of Arts and Sciences, Desravines also got…
Anthony Lopardo
Students Kevin Souhrada and Lindsay Manos drag lobster traps away from the shoreline on Cuttyhunk Island in Massachusetts.
Isaac Newcomb ’23 spent his spring break on a Massachusetts island, dismantling hundreds of discarded lobster traps, collecting sounds of the island and deepening his understanding of human impacts on marine life.
“I gained a visceral understanding of the waste that lingers in the ocean, found a community determined to enact change and captured an indescribable feeling through the sounds of…
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A scene from Austin Bunn’s new short film “Campfire.”
A trio of short films showing the pleasures – and perils – of rural life for LGBTQ+ people will show April 26 as part of the Rural Humanities Initiative in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The three works created by Austin Bunn, associate professor of performing and media arts, include “Campfire,” which premiered last month, as well as “Lavender Hill” and “In the Hollow.”
“OUT HERE: 3…
Chris Kitchen
Students in the Monuments, Museums and Memory class view work at the Johnson Museum during a class trip.
Students interested in the way history is reflected in monuments, memorials, museum exhibitions, oral histories and in other ways can now sign up to minor in public history.
The new minor, which became available last fall through the history department, involves a core course, “Monuments, Museums and Memory,” taught this semester by Stephen Vider, assistant professor of history and director of…
Nita Farahany, a scholar who focuses on ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies, will be the featured speaker for an April 12 event hosted by the Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity.
During “The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology,” Farahany will discuss her new book of the same title, which explores the…
Chris Kitchen
Austin Bunn, associate professor in performing and media arts, left, talks with Scott Ferguson, middle, and MIchael Kantor, right.
Follow your curiosities — and your passions — as you make your way through life, and things will turn out just fine.
That was a common theme shared by two visiting alumni filmmakers during a March 28-29 visit to campus, as well as by Dr. Anthony Fauci and actor Nicholas Braun, who joined the events by Zoom and who were featured in the pairs’ most recent films.
“From the Big Red to the Red…
Vincent Brown, the Charles Warren Professor of American History and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, will deliver this year’s Reuben A. and Cheryl Casselberry Munday Distinguished Lecture April 17.
Brown’s talk, "Black History's Warning to the World," will take place from 5-6:30 p.m. April 17 in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium of Klarman Hall. A reception…
A new book by linguist Michael Weiss provides the first pedagogical grammar ever compiled for Tocharian B, an ancient Indo-European language that was spoken and written in parts of what is now the Tarim Basin of western China.
The texts that Weiss, a professor in the Department of Linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences, used as the basis for his grammar, “Kuśiññe Kantwo: Elementary…
Chris Kitchen
From left, Jack Donnellen, Aindri Patra, Shuqian Lyu and Alexander Burnett are four of the newest members of the Robert S. Harrison College Scholar Program.
Twenty sophomores in the College of Arts & Sciences will design their own interdisciplinary courses of study as the newest members of the Robert S. Harrison College Scholar Program.
Their research interests and early proposals — which range from “Injustice, Heritage and Identity Resilience” to “Black Maternal Mortality and Radicalized Medical Malpractice Throughout History” —…
Cornell Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
From Howard Eugene Stern, class of 1917
Cornell’s founding as a nonsectarian university meant that from the start, students from all backgrounds and religions were welcomed to campus.
So, when Herb Neuman ’53 got off the bus with his suitcase and portable typewriter to begin his studies, he said he didn’t feel discrimination on campus. He remembers that freshman housing was more like a military barracks, all of the male students had…
An all-day Cornell conference open to the public will help hiring professionals and others learn ways to create a more inclusive workforce — thinking beyond the traditional definitions of that phrase.
Speakers will focus on ways that companies and organizations can recruit and retain employees from a variety of marginalized groups — including underrepresented minority groups and those who have…
Sreang Hok/Cornell University
A student takes a shot at Bartels Hall.
A physics theory that’s proven useful to predict the crowd behavior of molecules and fruit flies also seems to work in a very different context – a basketball court.
A model based on density functional theory can suggest the best positioning for each player on the basketball court in a given scenario if they want to raise their probability of either scoring or defending successfully.
…
Cornell alums Scott Ferguson ’82 and Michael Kantor ’83 — Emmy-winning producers of HBO’s “Succession” and the PBS “American Masters” series, respectively — will reflect on their careers in film and television production during a two-day visit to campus March 28-29 as part of the College of Arts and Sciences' Arts Unplugged series.
During a public event, “From the Big Red to the Red…
A mathematician and author of best-selling books that speak to math’s societal and technological role in the world will visit campus March 13-17 as an A.D. White Professor at Large.
Jordan Ellenberg, the John D. MacArthur Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and author of “How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking,” will offer two free events…
The College of Arts & Sciences is preparing for this year’s Giving Day, Thursday, March 16 — a day to show your support for our faculty and students. We hope you’ll join in the fun!
Last year, A&S alumni, parents, students, and friends joined together to raise more than $1.29 million for the College of Arts & Sciences on Giving Day.
Your gift allows the College to fulfill its…
Sreang Hok/Cornell University
Clinton Foundation Students meet at eHub in Kennedy Hall.
Alex Herazy ’25, a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, knows what the college application process is like for a first-generation student, so he’s been helping other first-gen friends from his high school with applications and scholarships. Now, he’d like to reach even more first-gen students, and has an idea to create a set of videos to explain the process.
“Videos from the…
Chris Kitchen
One of the rats in the Brain Computation and Behavior Lab.
A pair of researchers in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior are designing new technology and research methods to discover how brain circuits support learning and memory.
The Brain Computation and Behavior Lab, led by Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz, an assistant professor and Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Azahara Oliva,…
Chris Kitchen
Marten van Schijndel, left, and Helena Aparicio
Two recently-hired faculty in the Department of Linguistics are expanding the use of computer modeling and experimental techniques as they forge new paths of research in the discipline.
Marten van Schijndel and Helena Aparicio, both assistant professors in the College of Arts & Sciences, study how humans perform the incredibly complicated task of understanding and processing language. Van…
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Poem from an 1827 edition of Freedom's Journal
Two Arts & Sciences alumni — Kamillah Knight ’13, MPA ’15, MBA ’22 and Julia Buffington ’14 —are among the winners of the inaugural Robert S. Harrison ’76 Recent Alumni Volunteer Awards.
The awards celebrate the service of a new generation of alumni volunteers and honor Harrison’s long-standing commitment to Cornell. Harrison served as a student trustee from 1975 to 1976, launching what…
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Ingabire visited the Opera Garnier in Paris.
Students throughout the university are flocking back to international travel opportunities now that COVID restrictions are easing a bit around the world. Those interested in studying abroad next fall or for the 2023-2024 academic year are prepping applications for a March 1 deadline, while deadlines are fast approaching for summer study abroad and other travel programs.
“We are thrilled…
In response to a spate of recent layoffs in the tech industry, Arts & Sciences Career Development is offering a free online session Thursday for students interested in finding internships and jobs in the tech sector.
“Finding a CS Internship Beyond Big Tech” is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Feb. 2. Students can sign up for the virtual event on Cornell’s Handshake platform.
“Students are…
Cornell University photo
A 2005 photo shows McGraw Hall and the Arts Quad from the air.
The College of Arts and Sciences has embarked upon a $110 million transformation of McGraw Hall, with several Cornell families pledging more than $40 million in foundational gifts to enable the comprehensive renovation.
“McGraw Hall is a treasured icon at the heart of Cornell’s campus and a centerpiece of Cornell’s history,” said Ray Jayawardhana, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and…
Historian Robert Travers has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant to work on his newest book, a deeper look at the impeachment trial of Warren Hastings from 1787-1795.
Travers, professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences, has long been curious about the British empire in India. Hastings, who rose through the ranks of the East India Company and served as the…
Patrick Shanahan
First-year students, from left, Nic Oke, Richlove Nkansah, Kira Pawletko and Hamid Rezaee.
For a first-year student, arriving on campus brings with it a mixture of emotions – excitement about challenging their intellect and meeting people from all over the world and nervousness about the exact same things.
Talk to first-year students at the end of their first semester and you’ll find they’ve figured out a lot of things – how to handle the rigor of their classes, how to manage their…
Chris Kitchen
Dave Taylor at his retirement party Dec. 14
Staff and faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences wished a happy retirement Dec. 14 to Dave Taylor, the College’s associate dean of administration, who leaves the position after 12 years. His successor, Warren Petrofsky, who currently serves as the chief infrastructure officer in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, will join Cornell Jan. 11.
“Dave has had…
Chris Kitchen
Some of the artifacts discovered at the site this fall.
Cornell faculty and students continued to work this semester with community members on an archaeological excavation project at St. James AME Zion Church in downtown Ithaca.
Uncovering more than 2,000 additional artifacts, this semester’s work also featured an end-of-semester mini-field course for local children and youth presented by Cornell students Aaliyah Brown ’23 and Milan Taylor ’24. The…
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A photo from the 1980s shows, from left to right, Knight '69, Austin '39 and Todd '68 Kiplinger. In the background is a portrait of Austin's father, W. M. Kiplinger, who founded the Kiplinger publishing organization.
An expanded scholarship fund will support undergraduates with financial need in the College of Arts & Sciences.
The Todd L. Kiplinger '68 Scholarship was established 13 years ago and has supported nine students, including some students for multiple years of their college experience. A new bequest from Todd Kiplinger’s estate will allow the scholarship to expand to support either a greater…
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Axaraly Ortiz, far left, presented her research at a mid-Atlantic region conference.
Preparing for life after graduation can be a costly endeavor for many students – with graduate school tests to pay for, academic conferences to attend, interview clothes to purchase and travel costs to get to those interviews. To help cover some of these expenses, the College of Arts & Sciences offers professional development grants.
The grants, established by generous alumni donations,…
Sreang Hok/Cornell University
A student uses a VR headset as Jackwin Hui, right, a student technology specialist at CTI who helped to set up and troubleshoot the headsets, looks on.
Safely and effectively preparing a sample for cryo-electron microscopy involves a series of precise steps, resulting in specimens frozen at around minus 180 degrees Celsius. If done out of order or imprecisely, the scientist can obtain inaccurate results, ruin expensive equipment or even get hurt.
The technique isn’t often available to young researchers, but students in the Protein Structure…
Melissa J. Moore, emeritus chief scientific officer of Moderna, will visit campus Dec. 1-2 as this year’s speaker for the Efraim Racker Lecture in Biology and Medicine.
Moore’s public lecture, “mRNA as Medicine: COVID-19 Vaccine and Beyond,” will take place at 8 p.m. Dec. 1 in Room G10 of the Biotechnology Building. The talk is free and open to the public.
The Racker Lecture Series is…
Ze-Wen Koh ’23 is one of three winners of the SETI Forward Award, given to undergraduates to support their work focused on the search for life beyond Earth.
Koh, a physics and computer science major in the College of Arts and Sciences, is interested in dynamic habitability, the evolving structure of planetary surfaces, atmospheres and interiors, and their resulting viability as hosts for life…
Gillian Harrill
Actors from "Ghosts" walk around the schoolhouse during filming in Oklahoma.
The story of three Kiowa children who escaped a government boarding school in the winter of 1891 and died from the cold is one that faculty member Jeff Palmer heard many times growing up.
“This is a story that’s been told from generation to generation, but every family has their embellishments,” said Palmer, associate professor of performing and media arts in the College of Arts and…
Students from throughout the university can now minor in data science, a field that faculty say has become increasingly important for students in nearly any major, from humanities and social sciences to sciences, engineering and math.
“This is a minor created with students from across the liberal arts and sciences in mind, to help them build quantitative and computational skills and, most…
Students in the College of Arts & Sciences who are interested in summer research can now start applying for the Nexus Scholars Program.
In its second year, the program matches undergraduate students with summer opportunities to work side by side with faculty from across the college (humanities, social sciences, and STEM) on their research projects.
Along with the summer research…
Chris Kitchen
Margaret Keymakh in the Crickard lab.
Margaret Keymakh ’23 remembers well the day when her assays starting returning the results she was hoping for – and how excited she was when her replications of those experiments corroborated those findings.
“I was doing this experiment getting real data that matched what we had expected by reading through the literature,” she said. “I just wanted to get some good work done in the lab, but it…
A visiting scholar from Brazil will offer a public lecture Nov. 3 about Brazilian socio-political issues and the political response of Black feminist organizations. Her talk is one of three in the African Diaspora Knowledge Exchange Series, created by Carole Boyce-Davies, Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters and Professor of Africana Studies and Literatures in English.
The talk…
Jason Koski/Cornell
Members of the Cornell Astronomical Society gave tours of Fuertes Observatory to the public, who were allowed to peer through the telescope during an October 14 celebration of its 100th birthday.
The Fuertes Observatory and its Friday night open houses, where visitors can marvel at the starry sky through “Irv,” the Irving Porter Church Telescope, were bright spots in a dark pandemic freshman year for Gillis Lowry ’24.
“When everything else was bleak, I knew I could count on the observatory and ‘Irv’ every Friday night,” said Lowry, an astronomy major and member of the Cornell…
Mark Malkin
A scene from a Teatratoller production of "Diamantina rosa"
A series of special events, including visits from alumni involved in theatre, film and television, is being planned to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Teatrotaller, a theatre troupe formed to promote Spanish, Latin American and Latino culture.
Isabel Ramos ’96 started the group her sophomore year and never imagined it would still be around today.
“I wanted to create a theater that…
Chris Kitchen
Degarmo, left, and Bjerken, played together during a Sept. 13 concert in Barnes Hall.
Whether he was taking a break from his premed classes as an undergrad, processing what he was learning in medical school or taking some down time after a stint in the emergency room, Noah DeGarmo ’00 has always turned to music as a key part of his life.
Now that he has an established career as an emergency medicine physician, DeGarmo has taken his dedication to the piano to an even greater…
