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!
This year, 27 new faculty have joined the College of Arts & Sciences, enriching 17 departments and programs with their excellence in an impressive range of topics, including moral psychology, gravitational waves, Black contemporary art and more.
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 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.
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With a minor in Latin American studies, you’ll explore issues and topics pertaining to Latin America with courses from various fields of study including music, politics, economics, feminist studies, archeology, theatre, art history, language, literature, architecture, agriculture, science and history.
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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.
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As a physics major, you’ll develop analytical and problem solving skills while being able to customize your studies. You’ll take a common core set of courses and can then choose a concentration that complements the core, such as physics, or an interdisciplinary concentration such as chemical physics, geophysics, astrophysics, biophysics, applied math, philosophy of science, computer science, etc. The combination of biology/chemistry as a concentration is appropriate if you’re pre-med; you can also create an individualized concentration with courses in physics-related economics, history, law or business.
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As a government major, you’ll learn how to think and write rigorously and creatively about issues of public life. You’ll have the choice of courses in four subfields: American politics (the political behavior, policies and institutions of the U.S.), comparative politics (the institutions and political processes of other nations), political theory and philosophy (normative theories of politics and history of political thought) and international relations (transactions between states, international organizations and transnational actors).
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In the early Middle Ages, Norse peoples (popularly called Vikings) surged out of Scandinavia and established themselves as settlers and rulers across Europe. Beyond their political and territorial gains, they raided and traded even more widely. These major achievements were commemorated and celebrated in an extensive corpus of historical and fictional texts, many available in English translation. With a Viking Studies minor, you will explore this history and literature, languages and archaeology from an interdisciplinary perspective, and will gain an appreciation for the period and its long-term consequences. The minor encourages combining coursework abroad and locally, allowing students to take advantage of Cornell’s unique resources.
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As an Italian major, you’ll have the opportunity to explore in-depth the language, literature and culture of that part of the world, only recently united into a single nation, where Dante wrote his Comedy, Saint Francis roamed the Umbrian hills and directors like Pasolini and Fellini redefined the relationship between cinema and realism. You’ll be encouraged to immerse yourself in Italian literary and cultural history and to question many of the stereotypes that continue to circulate, in America but also in Italy, about that very history.
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Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary field that studies the fundamental workings of cognition and the mind. It investigates perception, action, language, knowledge, development, and thinking from multiple perspectives—theoretical, experimental, and computational—with the aim of gaining a better understanding of human cognition and the nature of intelligent systems. The nature of mental representations and their acquisition and use are important themes, as are the comparison between human and artificial intelligence, and the relation between human cognition and its biological foundations.
The major will make it possible for students to cultivate unique interests within cognitive science by allowing them to create novel course combinations that transcend the typical departmental boundaries.
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As a statistical science major, you’ll take an interdisciplinary academic approach to the study of empirical quantitative reasoning in its scientific and social context, through three themes: mathematical, computational and applied statistics. You’ll learn how statistical inference and probabilistic modeling are central to all of the pure and applied sciences today, as well as how pervasive statistical thinking and quantitative reasoning have become in culture, economy, law, government and science, dramatically changing the way people view the world.
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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.
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