On April 8, the moon will sweep across the sun, casting a shadow over the Earth and etching a ring of fire in the sky. This total solar eclipse is a must-see, as it marks the final opportunity for many to witness this cosmic phenomenon on such a grand scale until 2045. Cornell students can travel right to the heart of the eclipse’s path, thanks to the student-led Astronomical Society at Cornell,…
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Dr. Yunn-Shan Ma will conduct the Empowerment Through Music concert March 9.
The annual Empowerment Through Music concert, presented by the Cornell Department of Music and Chorus and Glee Club in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), will be held Saturday, March 9 at 7:30 pm in Sage Chapel. In celebration of International Women’s Day, the choirs will present a concert of music centering women composers and music at the intersection of Asia and the Asian diaspora.
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The College of Arts & Sciences is preparing for Giving Day on Thursday, March 14 and we hope the whole Cornell community can join in to support the work and growth of our students and faculty.
Last year, A&S alumni, parents, students, and friends joined together to raise more than $1.1 million for the College of Arts & Sciences on Giving Day.
Your gift allows the College to…
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From left, Christine Balance, Alexis Boyce, Yu An Chen ’22, Alexandria Kim ’23 and Pearl Ngai ’23 at this year’s Cornell Asian Alumni Association Pan-Asian Banquet in New York City’s Chinatown.
A new $500,000 alumni gift to the Asian American Studies Program (AASP) in the College of Arts and Sciences will allow the program to increase the number of special events and speakers it brings to campus and provides support for an ongoing oral history project, which connects current students to alumni and tells the story of the history and activism that led to the establishment of Cornell’s…
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Isaacson-Draper Foundation Gift, 2005
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Mont Blanc Seen from the Massif, Les Aiguilles Rouges, 1874. Watercolor heightened with gouache over traces of graphite on two sheets of blue-gray wove paper (glued together in a vertical seam at left), 11 7/16 × 26 1/8 in. (29 × 66.4 cm).
A prestigious Millard Meiss Publication Fund award will allow a new book by Kelly Presutti, assistant professor of history of art and visual studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, to be published at the highest quality possible.
Her book, “Land into Landscape: Art, Environment, and the Making of Modern France,” is forthcoming from Yale University Press in fall 2024; the grant,…
Between 2010 and 2013, the southern U.S. and Mexico experienced a historic drought. Said to be the worst in 70 years, the drought hit Mexico particularly hard, causing food and water shortages. Many migrated.
This drought and its effects prompted scholar Carolyn Fornoff, who is from Texas, to think about how artists and filmmakers in Mexico document environmental issues.
In her book …
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Architecture graduate students Zachary Sherrod M.S. ’23 and Chi-Chia Tsao M.S. ’23 created an exhibition model of St. James AME Zion Church with funding from a Rural Humanities Grant.
Faculty and students who have projects focused on the rural humanities can apply for grants through Cornell’s Society for the Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Cornell faculty from any discipline can apply for up to $10,000 in support of public-facing research humanities projects and/or engaged community humanities initiatives on rural New York State issues…
Julia Fritsch ’25, Cristina Kiefaber ’25, and Ashley Koca ‘25 have been selected as the 2024 Harry Caplan Travel Fellows.
Fritsch will conduct exploratory research in preparation for her honors thesis in classics through the Humanities Scholars Program.
She plans focused tourism across Italy including (but not limited to) Pompeii and Herculaneum, Rome and the Vatican, and the…
Artificial intelligence applications perform amazing feats – winning at chess, writing college admission essays, passing bar exams – but the complexity of these systems is so large they rival that of nature, with all the challenges that come with understanding nature.
An approach to a better understanding of this computer science puzzle is emerging from an unexpected direction: physics. Lenka…
Hero of Alexandria, ancient Greek mathematician and engineer, is a figure known almost entirely through his writings. We have little of his biography, including his timeframe, but his books on things like pneumatics, pure geometry and catapults have influenced many others through the ages and his principles touch early modern inventions including the player piano and the fire engine.
“The…
Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Statue of Mao
A series of lectures — two in each semester — will focus on “Unmasking the CCP: History, Politics, and Society in Post-1949 China."
The first lecture will feature Andrew Walder, the Denise O'Leary & Kent Thiry Professor at Stanford University, speaking about “China Under Mao: A Revolution Derailed.” It will take place from 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. March 7 in Room 120 of the Physical Sciences…
Over winter break, students in Cornell’s Barbara & Richard T. Silver ‘50, MD ‘53 Wind Symphony traveled to Cuba for a community-engaged performance tour in collaboration with the National Concert Band of Cuba. The tour honored both music and culture.
The nine-day trip, with eight days spent in Havana and one in Matanzas, was led by James Spinazzola, the Barbara & Richard T. Silver ‘50,…
Despina Galani Unsplash
Church doorway in Paros, Greece
On Thursday, Greek parliament will vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage. It would be the first Orthodox Christian country to take that step.
Landon Schnabel is the Robert and Ann Rosenthal Assistant Professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences. He studies social inequality with a focus on religion. He says that legalizing same-sex marriage in Greece would show…
Matthew Ashton - AMA, via Getty Images
Balać stands to the right behind actors Ryan Reynolds, left, and Rob McElhenney.
As a documentary filmmaker, alumnus Miloš Balać ’11 has to immerse himself in his work – which for the last three years meant living in Wrexham, Wales and learning everything he could about football (soccer).
The experience paid off last month when Balać took home an Emmy award for his work on the FX/Hulu documentary “Welcome to Wrexham.”
“It felt so great to be in a room with my colleagues…
What language did you study in college?
Chances are, we can guess within three tries: French, Spanish or German. This small handful of popular languages attract most of the enrollments and take most of the educational resources, making instruction in Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) difficult to sustain, says Angelika Kraemer, director of the Language Resource Center in the College of…
Cornell quantum researchers have detected an elusive phase of matter, called the Bragg glass phase, using large volumes of x-ray data and a new machine learning data analysis tool. The discovery settles a long-standing question of whether this almost–but not quite–ordered state of Bragg glass can exist in real materials.
The paper, “Bragg glass signatures in PdxErTe3 with X-ray diffraction…
In 1913, women were granted the right to vote in the first act of the Territoral Legislature of Alaska. In historical and popular press accounts, this act is often referred to as a feminist achievement. But given that the 1913 act effectively excluded Alaska Native peoples, “it appeared instead to be a maneuver to boost the white population in a territory with a majority of Native inhabitants and…
Renting an apartment in a major city can be more competitive sport than home tour. Historian Jacob Anbinder has been through the process himself, first in New York City right out of college and later in the Boston area during graduate school.
“You show up every day to look at three or four apartments and you’re there with 20 other people and everyone is holding their application packets with…
Creative Commons
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Thursday that he would replace his top general, Valery Zaluzhny, with Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky.
David Silbey is an associate professor of history at Cornell University where he specializes in military history, defense policy and battlefield analysis. He says that Zaluzhny appears to be taking the fall for recent failures and circumstances…
President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele is on track to handily win reelection on Sunday.
Gustavo Flores-Macías is an expert in Latin American politics at Cornell University. He is able to dissect what a reelection of President Nayib Bukele would mean.
Flores-Macías says: “President Nayib Bukele is likely to comfortably win reelection and his party could control the vast…
Jason Koski/Cornell University
Ann Druyan, writer, producer and widow of Carl Sagan, speaks at the 2015 Inauguration of the Carl Sagan Institute: Pale Blue Dot and Beyond.
“Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” was the most-viewed series in American television history for a decade after its release in 1980. As its host, Carl Sagan inspired children and adults alike as he shared the wonders of the universe.
As part of their “Voyager Spacecraft Week,” the Cornell Astronomical Society (CAS) joins Cornell Cinema to present “Cosmos” Episode 6: “Traveler’s Tales” on Tuesday, Feb…
Lindsay France/Cornell University
Klarman Postdoctoral Fellows pursue research on a wide variety of topics in the social sciences, sciences and humanities.
Twelve exceptional early career scholars will come to Cornell to pursue research on a wide variety of topics in the social sciences, sciences and humanities as the 2024 cohort of Klarman Postdoctoral Fellows.
This fifth cohort of Klarman Fellows is the largest since the program was launched in 2019 with a major gift from Seth Klarman ’79 and Beth Schultz Klarman. The Klarmans renewed and…
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Fluorescence imaging of C. elegans fed with a new chemical probe developed in this study – a branched-chain fatty acid analog. The red signal derives from selective ‘click chemistry’ reaction between the probe and a red fluorescent dye.
A new study delves into the microscopic universe of proteins, unveiling an aspect of their existence that could hold profound implications for the understanding and treatment of a myriad of human diseases.
Through meticulous investigation using high-resolution mass spectrometry, researchers discovered critical patterns of fatty acid attachment in the model organism C. elegans, a microscopic…
Israel’s reported plans to establish a 1km-wide buffer zone around the Gaza Strip has been met with criticism from U.S. and international experts.
Uriel Abulof is a visiting professor in Cornell University’s government department and a professor of politics at Tel-Aviv University. Abulof says Biden’s previous offer of security guarantees for Israel would be more effective than destroying…
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle parked on a taxiway at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada
President Biden has vowed a response after drone strike by Iran-backed militias killed three US troops and wounded many more in Jordan last Sunday.
David Silbey is an associate professor of history at Cornell University where he specializes in military history and defense policy. Despite vows of retaliation, Silbey says it’s unlikely that Tehran abandons its current strategy of supporting…
The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (NSOU), known for its exceptional performances and its extensive, multi-award-winning recordings, will perform in the next Cornell Concert Series (CCS) concert. The event, featuring conductor Volodymyr Sirenko and cellist Natalia Khoma, takes place Sat., Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. in Bailey Hall.
Formed by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine in 1918, the…
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‘Another Body’ documentary exposes harm of deepfake technology
Deepfake technology – the use of deep-learning artificial intelligence to create fake content online – creates a troubling portrait of consent in the digital age. A 2019 report by Sensity, a company that detects and monitors sexual deepfakes, found that 95% of all online deepfake videos are nonconsensual porn and 90% of those featured women.
The Milstein Program in the College of Arts and…
Freelance writer Rhoda Feng has been named winner of the 2022-23 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.
In selecting Feng, the Nathan Award committee noted that freelancers who must ply their trade in a shrinking number of receptive publications merit special commendation and admiration.
The committee comprises the heads of the English departments of Cornell, Princeton and Yale…
The Oscar nominations were announced today, spurring a discussion about prominent snubs.
Kristen Warner is an associate professor at Cornell University who studies the impact of racial representation in the performing arts. She highlights the shutout of Ava Duvernay’s “Origin” across the board, as well as racial politics of the Oscars.
Warner says: “The Academy membership could not find a…
In a significant advancement in the field of biochemistry, scientists at BTI and Cornell University have uncovered new insights into a family of metabolites, acylspermidines, that could change how we understand aging and fight diseases.
The study, recently published in Nature Chemical Biology, presents an unexpected connection between spermidine, a long-known compound present in all living…
Cornell researchers have taken an important step toward harnessing CRISPR gene editing in “targeted, safe and potent” cancer treatment, according to Ailong Ke, professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The enzyme CRISPR-Cas3, one of many different CRISPR systems found naturally in the immune systems of bacteria, could ultimately be used to find…
Cornell Cinema announces the spring semester film slate, which features a mix of contemporary and classic films selected to spark curiosity, inspire understanding, and advance teaching across disciplines. Weekly screenings will resume on Thursday, January 25 in the historic Willard Straight Theatre. Additional information will be available at cinema.cornell.edu.
The semester kicks off with…
Anne Dekas
The Oceans Across Space and Time research team collected brine from South Bay Salt Works during an initial field trip in 2019.
A new study on microbes in extremely salty water suggests life may survive conditions previously thought to be uninhabitable. The research widens the possibilities for where life may be found throughout our solar system and shows how changes in salinity may affect life in aquatic habitats on Earth.
The research is part of a large collaboration called Oceans Across Space and Time led by Britney…
Frank Vassen/Creative Commons license 2.0
Białowieża forest in Poland
Sophie Pinkham, professor of the practice in comparative literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, received the 2023 British Journalism Award for Travel Journalism for her feature “Inside the European forest that geopolitics has turned into a graveyard.” The piece investigates a refugee crisis in Poland’s primeval forest.
“I was excited to see that the award’s judges included a story…
Andrew Lorenzen ’22, a double major in government and performing and media arts (PMA) in the College of Arts & Sciences, is the winner of a 2024 Marshall Scholarship, which provides funds for U.S. students to pursue two years of graduate study at an institution in the United Kingdom. He is one of 51 students chosen for the honor this year.
With the scholarship, Lorenzen will pursue a…
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Creative Commons license 2.0
Image from a satellite showing a portion of the Middle East
Maps are not objective representations of physical space but are always imbued with social and political meanings, said Cornell sociologist Christine Leuenberger, whose new paper examines the politics at play in maps published in 2020 as part of a peace plan proposed by the Trump Administration.
“Both Palestinian and Israeli experts from across the political spectrum said those maps were …
When Nini Kaur ’26 found out that President Biden was visiting her hometown of Pueblo, Colo. to talk about climate programs, she knew she had the perfect subject for her class assignment.
Kaur and other students in Prof. Caroline Levine’s Communicating Climate Change class last fall were tasked with writing an opinion piece spurring readers to take action related to climate, to appear in a…
Informed by expert testimony from Jon Parmenter on the history of treaties between Indigenous nations and the British Crown, the Quebec Superior Court recently stayed federal charges against two Mohawk men – touching off what some Canadian legal experts called “an earthquake in Indigenous rights jurisprudence.”
In 2016, Derek White and Hunter Montour were charged with importing large amounts…
“Diet Culture Is Unhealthy. It’s Also Immoral,” an op-ed written by Kate Manne, associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, has won the American Philosophical Association’s (APA) 2023 Public Philosophy Op-Ed contest. The award honors “standout pieces that successfully blend philosophical argumentation with an op-ed writing style.”
In the op-ed, published Nov. 3, 2022…
Two professors in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts & Sciences were recently named fellows in the American Mathematical Society.
Professor Slawomir Solecki and Associate Professor Xin Zhou were recently elected as fellows, an honor given to members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication and…
On Monday, Pope Francis announced that priests were permitted to bless same-sex couples.
Landon Schnabel is an assistant professor of sociology who studies social inequality with a focus on factors like religion that compensate for inequality – by providing social, psychological and material benefits to a subordinated group – but can paradoxically end up legitimating and reinforcing it…
One day in seminar, literature scholar Laura Brown imposed a limit on the discussion: for an entire class on Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela,” no one could mention a human character.
“We found that the book was full of other-than-human beings: objects, structures, spaces, natural phenomena,” said Brown, the John Wendell Anderson Professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). …
Chris Kitchen
Amelia Tomson ’24, right, and Joy Davis ’22, left seated, talk with their families during a graduation reception Dec. 17.
Friendship runs deep for Amelia Tomson ’24 and Joy Davis ’22. So deep that Davis flew all the way from Portland, Ore. to see Tomson receive her undergraduate degree during Cornell's December graduation Dec. 17.
Tomson, a psychology major in the College of Arts & Sciences, met Davis during her first year and they ended up living together .
“We were hallmates freshman year and we just…
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation creating a new commission to study reparations and racial justice.
Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò is an expert in Africana studies at Cornell University. He wrote about how America should respond to its history of racism in an opinion piece in The Washington Post. He advocates for the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Táíwò says: “Any step…
When Ali Soong ‘16 goes to work each day at NBCUniversal, she wields her diverse Cornell education.
As senior director of product management, Soong’s days could include anything from meeting with…
Chris Kitchen
With new tools he develops, Li detects interacting electrons in specialized two-dimensional (2D) materials
Electron interactions are mysterious, delicate, basic to our understanding of matter – and exponentially complex, says physicist Hongyuan Li.
“Each electron has a charge. They also carry a quantum property called ‘spin.’ These charges and spins can interact with each other, making electron behavior very complicated,” said Li, a Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow in physics in the College of Arts…
Chris Kitchen
Students view some of the exhibits at the Cultura y Poder event in Rockefeller Hall.
On Dec. 4, nearly 60 students from Cornell’s Introduction to Latinx Studies course celebrated Latino/a roots through their exhibit “Cultura y poder.” Their collaborative mixed media projects, showcased online and in 434 Rockefeller Hall, explore how culture strengthens and uplifts communities.
After a semester dedicated to studying the experiences and intersections of U.S. Latinx identities,…
The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected a multidisciplinary team that includes Cornell to advance a superconducting approach to advanced computer chip technology. The team will explore ways to use new superconducting materials and structures in ultra-energy-efficient Superconducting Digital (SCD) electronics aimed at emerging artificial intelligence and quantum computing technologies.
…
As Congress is stalled in efforts to pass aid for Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with President Biden ahead of a joint news conference.
David Silbey, associate professor of history at Cornell University, specializes in military history, defense policy and battlefield analysis. He says the sustainability of Ukraine’s efforts is uncertain without Western…
Chris Kitchen
Budgerigar parrots get a treat of millet in Cornell's Corson Hall aviary
When humans learn to speak a language, we learn to produce new vocalizations and use them flexibly for communication, but how the brain is able to achieve this is an important but largely unanswered question, according to Zhilei Zhao, Klarman Fellow in neurobiology and behavior in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).
To explore this question, Zhao and Cornell collaborators compared the…
