Live, study and grow at the nexus of discovery and impact.
Our research activities and academic programs are remarkably broad, but they share one characteristic: all are curiosity-driven. Exploring the unknown is central to our mission to be the nexus of discovery and impact.
Courses offered in A&S of 4000 courses at Cornell.
Majors to choose in A&S. Design your education.
Students in A&S, each with an extraordinary journey to tell.
A&S alumni in our network. Go Big Red!
Across disciplines—from physics to philosophy, economics to environmental science—our graduating seniors have learned to listen deeply, engage diverse perspectives and adapt their knowledge to a rapidly changing world. They embrace innovation and technology not just as tools, but as opportunities to build connection and progress.
Their stories reflect a hopeful truth: that thoughtful, flexible thinkers are ready to lead no matter what comes next.
The innovative undergraduate curriculum at A&S has distribution requirements that range from global citizenship to physical sciences to ethics and the mind. Classes build upon each other and cross the boundaries of traditional academic fields. Extensive work occurs outside of your major and minors, and there are no required core courses. Work closely with inspiring faculty to develop the hallmark skills of a liberal arts and sciences education – the ability to read critically, write persuasively and think broadly.
As a religious studies major, you’ll take an interdisciplinary approach to the academic study of religion, drawing upon humanities and social scientific disciplines and situating religious traditions within historically and theoretically critical contexts. You won’t be asked to adhere to nor explain away particular religious stances; instead, you’ll develop the intellectual tools to understand how normative claims about religious beliefs and practices are implicated in constructing and contesting various social identities, and how these claims help shape historical events.
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With a minor in minority, indigenous and third world studies, you’ll learn how the literatures of U.S. minority groups and third world (especially postcolonial) societies share and reflect similar histories of imperial conquest, slavery and colonial rule. You’ll think about literature and culture in a global context, analyzing imaginative responses to history, politics and ideology in a wide range of courses that explore African American, Asian American, American Indian, U.S. Latino/a, South Asian, Pacific, Caribbean and African literatures, as well as other sub-fields in colonial/postcolonial, diaspora and cultural studies.
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As a French major, you’ll have the opportunity to explore in-depth the languages, literatures and cultures of France and the Francophone world. Whether you’re studying Haiti or Montaigne, classical theater or contemporary sexuality, you’ll have the chance to become a flexible and articulate interpreter of texts and ideas. You’ll be encouraged to study abroad and to make connections, wherever you are, across the boundaries of language, discourse, nation and time.
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With a minor in classical civilization, you’ll uncover the mysteries of ancient Greece and Rome. You’ll have the choice of any six classics courses (above 1000-level), which chart a coherent path through our offerings in ancient literature (in translation), history, philosophy, art history and archaeology. This minor does not include a language requirement.
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As an anthropology major, you’ll study the complex social and cultural relationships that define human communities and learn how to conduct engaged, collaborative, field-based research. You’ll be able to investigate topics ranging from identity politics and globalization to the origins of agriculture and the rise of empires. The settings you’ll explore can take you from the lowland rain forest of ancient Mesoamerica to the mountains of the Himalayas, from prisons in Latin America to a synagogue on New York City’s Lower East Side, from medical research centers in Tanzania to the colonial era Finger Lakes.
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With the American Sign Language (ASL)/Deaf Studies minor, students can pursue an interdisciplinary course sequence focusing on American Sign Language and Deaf culture. Courses offered range across a variety of different disciplines, to provide a broad and compelling perspective on ASL and the Deaf community.
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With a Portuguese and Brazilian studies minor, you’ll gain a linguistic and cultural understanding of Brazil, including recent cultural, political, economic and social trends, as well as familiarity with cinema, music, literature, issues of race, class, and gender, and twentieth-century Brazilian history.
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As a statistical science major, you’ll have a home in two colleges: Arts and Sciences (A&S) and the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.
Statistical Science combines modern statistical methodology and computing with data science to solve problems through the science of learning from data and from measuring, controlling, and communicating uncertainty. The major is ideal for students interested in actuarial science, applied and mathematical statistics, data mining and visualization, machine learning, quantitative reasoning, statistical programming, and more.
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The interdisciplinary Caribbean Studies Minor (CSM) prepares students to understand the region as a site foundational to modernity that remains essential to understanding the present. Courses offered by this minor are designed to provide students with the analytical framework necessary to understand the sociocultural, economic, and political forces that shape the region as well as how those forces—indigenous dispossession, slavery, capitalism—resonate well beyond the geographical space of the Caribbean. Interdisciplinary by nature, the CSM provides a structured yet flexible array of coursework that cuts across history, culture, and the social sciences. Courses in the arts and humanities draw attention to the historical import of the region; how the Caribbean is constructed across various sites and discourses; and how this construction shapes policy realms and everyday life. Social science perspectives illuminate tools for analyzing cultural heterogeneity; the roles of the state, civil society, and ethnic networks; and the way that Caribbean residents and migrants navigate their transnational realities. Students will be introduced to multiple methodologies and will have the opportunity to pursue research in the Caribbean or Caribbean diasporic communities.
The minor is offered collaboratively with courses from across the university through the Department of History, administered by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. For more information on the minor and a list of approved courses, please see the program site.
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As a music major, you’ll carry the study of music to an advanced level through the integration of performance, history, music theory and composition. Whether oriented toward eventual graduate or professional work in music or a more general approach, you can choose among courses from medieval chant to hip-hop, from classical-era European music to the musics of Latin America and Africa, from electroacoustic music to musical systems from around the globe. We also offer opportunities for performers through individual instruction in piano, violin, voice, percussion and other instruments, as well as through participation in our diverse instrumental ensembles.
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The pinnacle of the liberal arts experience
Students design their own interdisciplinary major, organized around a question or issue of interest, and pursue a course of study that cannot be found in an established major. Harrison College Scholars explore subjects with a broader integration of related disciplines than most students would attempt.
A deep dive into the humanities
This program offers a signature learning, research and collaboration opportunity for undergraduate students across the university who are interested in the humanities.
Shaping the future
Students in the Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity combine Cornell’s renowned liberal arts and sciences classes in Ithaca with the 21st century tech curriculum at Cornell Tech in NYC.
Funding your summer experience
Summer opportunities are crucial to student career success, but these life-changing experiences frequently offer little to no funding. That’s a critical barrier for many of our students – and one that the College of Arts and Sciences feels is vital to overcome.
The Summer Experiences Grants (SEG) do just that. They support students with living expenses, transportation, and travel so that these essential experiences are available to all of our students, who may otherwise not be able to afford them.
Curiosity is the driver for research in A&S. From the dendrochronology lab where archaeologists analyze tree-ring growth to understand climate change to the linguistics department where students created a new language for a Captain Marvel movie, our students and faculty take full advantage of all that our world-class research university encompasses.
With opportunities spanning the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, research here takes place in laboratories, museums, field sites, libraries, hospitals, greenhouses, performance spaces and archives.
Premier postdocs
This premier postdoctoral fellowship program offers opportunities for early-career scholars of outstanding talent, initiative and promise to devote themselves to frontline, innovative research without being tied to specific outcomes.
Undergraduate research opportunities
The Nexus Scholars Program in the College of Arts & Sciences provides undergraduate students with summer opportunities to work side by side with faculty from all across the college (humanities, social sciences, and STEM) on their research projects.
Open your mind
The College of Arts & Sciences’ Arts Unplugged series brings research and creative works into the public sphere for discussion and inspiration. These outreach events invite a broad audience to explore the work of scholars and faculty from all disciplines, all backgrounds and all time periods and to celebrate the impact that work continues to have on our daily lives.
Engagement for an informed society
The College of Arts & Sciences' Distinguished Visiting Journalist Program brings accomplished journalists to Cornell for extended visits. The program aims to recognize excellence in journalism and to provide opportunities for select journalists and the university community to engage with each other.
Forbes
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Thomas D. Gilovich
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Psychology
Newsweek
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Peter K. Enns
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Government
The Guardian
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Kate A. Manne
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Philosophy
USA Today
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Isabel M. Perera
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Government
Location: Sage Chapel
Location: Klarman Hall, Klarman Auditorium
Location: Sage Chapel
