The College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University

Osita Achufusi: Environment & Sustainability

'I feel equipped to handle whatever uncertainties lie ahead'

5/15/2025 A&S Communications

A home for exploration and discovery

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.

Explore research and discoveries

Five people on a stage with a screen behind them — Provided As part of the Assessing and Imagining the Impact of Generative AI on Science Symposium, Yian Yin, Peter Loewen, danah boyd, Morgan Frank and Sukwoong Choi (r-l) field questions on AI innovation and policy during a March 5 panel discussion.

Government

'Wild west' era of GenAI poses opportunities and challenges for science

4/6/2026 Cornell Chronicle

Person in late-70s chic tan sport coat, touching models of planets — Cornellians/Provided Carl Sagan

Decorative illustration featuring parts of planet Earth, a round red circle, and Saturn, on the black and white textured background

Astronomy

Cornell scientists drive breakthrough astronomy

3/24/2026 A&S Communications

Illustration of a hand, shown in blue, holding a phone screen showing a red comedy mask and a blue tragedy mask — Shea Oleksa/Cornell University

Government

Why we’re skeptical of the emotions we see on our screens

3/31/2026 Cornell Chronicle

Major new telescope on Chilean summit opens window on universe

4/10/2026 Cornell Chronicle

>2000

Courses offered in A&S of 4000 courses at Cornell.

Distinguished Visiting Journalist

Death penalty explored in Distinguished Visiting Journalist event

4/8/2026 A&S Communications

Majors to choose in A&S. Design your education.

Student experiences

Ask an ambassador: The first-year music experience

4/9/2026 A&S Student Ambassador

~4,600

Students in A&S, each with an extraordinary journey to tell.

Collage showing a photo of a bay with homes and an awningl with chickens grazing under it — Laila Milevski/Cornell University Finca de Hamberto, Edgar Oscar Ruiz's farm and resilience center on the island Vieques

Chemistry and Chemical Biology

On storm-ravaged Vieques, a microgrid builds resilience

4/2/2026 Cornell Chronicle

>90K

A&S alumni in our network. Go Big Red!

Popular Destinations

Majors and Minors Admissions requirements and process Degree Requirements Advising Career Development

Congratulations to the Class of 2030!

Welcome to the Big Red community.

Get ready to expand your life and experience beyond the classroom, and to let your curiosity drive your ambitions. The College of Arts & Sciences embodies Ezra Cornell’s founding vision where "any person can find instruction in any study."

Class of 2030 admitted students

Uncommon academic diversity abounds here

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.

Biological Sciences

major

Overview

As a biological sciences major, you’ll have novel opportunities to jump into engaging research projects. With more than 300 faculty, our undergraduate program, jointly run by the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is one of the most highly regarded in the country. You can choose a concentration from multiple areas, including animal physiology; biochemistry; computational biology; ecology and evolutionary biology; general biology; genetics, genomics and development; human nutrition; insect biology; marine biology; microbiology; molecular and cell biology; neurobiology and behavior (neuroscience); plant biology; and systematics and biotic diversity.

Details

Science Communication and Public Engagement

minor

Overview

The Science Communication and Public Engagement minor is designed for undergraduates who are interested in the sciences and/or engineering and would like to learn how to use a wide variety of communication tools for engaging publics, including non-technical audiences and policymakers. Students completing the minor will develop an identity as someone who can contribute to the public understanding of science.

Details

Environment and Sustainability

major minor

Overview

As an Environment & Sustainability major, you will receive interdisciplinary training in environmental science and studies, developing integrated approaches to address environmental and sustainability issues.

Choose a concentration from one of the following areas

Environmental Biology & Applied Ecology
Environmental Economics
Environmental Humanities
Environmental Policy & Governance
Land, Air & Water Resources
Develop a customized concentration

Cross-university partnerships

The E&S major is offered in collaboration with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), where you can explore additional classes.

Take advantage of resources such as the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest, Cornell Biological Field Station at Shackelton Point, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, Cornell Natural Areas and the Shoals Marine Lab.

Details

German Studies

major minor graduate

Overview

As a German studies major, you’ll gain proficiency in reading, speaking and writing German, become acquainted with the culture of German-speaking countries and develop skills in reading, analyzing and discussing German texts in relevant disciplines. Majors pursue individual interests in courses addressing literature and philosophy, culture and society, aesthetics and media, as well as critical and political thought. In consultation with the director of undergraduate studies, courses with a substantial German component from other departments may also be included for the major.

Details

Science & Technology Studies

major minor graduate

Overview

As a science & technology studies major, you’ll explore the social and cultural aspects of science and technology and be encouraged to ask informed and penetrating questions about the social forces that shape science and technology, the limits of scientific authority and the role of technology in modern life.

Details

Near Eastern Studies

major minor graduate

Overview

As a Near Eastern studies major, you’ll have the opportunity to acquire language skills as well as familiarity with the history, cultures, literatures and religions of the Near East/Middle East from antiquity to the modern day. You’ll become acquainted broadly with the region – which extends from Turkey east through Iran and Afghanistan, south through the Arabian Pennisula to Yemen and across north Africa from Egypt to Morocco — and its cultures and be able to study a particular subfield in depth. Special focus is given to the ancient east Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions and to the Levant and Egypt.

Details

Anthropology

major minor graduate

Overview

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.

Details

Spanish

major minor graduate

Overview

As a Spanish major, you’ll have the opportunity to explore in-depth the languages, literatures and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. You’ll be invited to engage with topics as various as medieval sin and modern film, novels from early modern Spain (most famously, Don Quixote) and from modern Latin America. You’ll also be encouraged to study abroad and to reflect critically upon the diversity that characterizes the Hispanic tradition.

Details

History of Capitalism

minor

Overview

With a minor in the History of Capitalism, you’ll be exposed to different perspectives on how capitalism has been defined and how it developed at different times and in different parts of the world, enabling you to critically reflect on economic institutions and ideas, as well as to understand how our global economy has come to be. You’ll gain the basic vocabulary of economics and business, deepened with a longer, critical perspective on the development of capitalism. This minor is offered collaboratively with courses from across the university, coordinated by the Department of History.

Details

History of Art

major minor graduate

Overview

Department majors acquire a broad understanding of the history of art in several chronological (ancient to contemporary) and geographical areas: Europe, Africa, North America and Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, China and Japan. Additionally, majors practice a range of art historical methods and interpretive strategies, and are encouraged to locate the history of art within allied humanities fields and the applied arts by taking courses in history, literature, history of architecture, and fine arts. The study of foreign languages, especially as it pertains to study abroad opportunities, is strongly encouraged.

A minor in Visual Studies is another option for undergraduates interested in an interdisciplinary approach to art history.

Details

Explore all the majors and minors

Beyond Majors & Minors

Two people sit facing each other — Michael Goldstein/Provided College Scholars Program students from the College of Arts & Sciences visit the Johnson Museum.

The pinnacle of the liberal arts experience

Robert S. Harrison College Scholar Program

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.

More details about the College Scholar Program

woman outside courthouse — Jesse Winter Louise Wang outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, where she worked this summer, in New York City.

A deep dive into the humanities

Humanities Scholars Program

This program offers a signature learning, research and collaboration opportunity for undergraduate students across the university who are interested in the humanities.

Learn more about the program

Shaping the future

Milstein Program

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.

See the Milstein Program at work

student in front of building — Amina Kilpatrick

Funding your summer experience

Summer Experience Grants

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.

Discover life-changing summer experiences

Research, scholarship and creative works to understand humanity and the cosmos

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.

Explore our research, scholarship and creative works

Person in blue lab coat, standing at a counter full of instruments and bottles — Chris Kitchen Alexa Easley is working to develop materials for low-energy carbon capture that are organic and easy to make on large scales and in realistic conditions.

Premier postdocs

Klarman Fellowships

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.

Learn more about the Klarman Fellowships.

two people working behind a computer — Chris Kitchen Students Sneah Singhi ’26, left, and David Behdad ’25 work in the observation room at the B.A.B.Y Lab, which studies infant language acquisition.

Undergraduate research opportunities

Nexus Scholars Program

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.

Explore more details about Nexus Scholars

Engaging our community and our world

two women sitting on stage — Chris Kitchen Anderson, left, and Peraino, right traced the arc of Anderson's multi-decade career.

Open your mind

Arts Unplugged series

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.

Explore recent and upcoming Arts Unplugged events.

Person speaking at the front of a room — Noël Heaney/Cornell University Natalie Wolchover speaks March 15 in Lewis Auditorium.

Engagement for an informed society

Distinguished Visiting Journalist Program

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.

Learn more about the program.

Explore public engagement at A&S