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.

Music

major minor graduate

Overview

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.

Details

European Studies

minor

Overview

As a European Studies minor, you will have the opportunity to explore Europe’s past, present, and future and to demonstrate a knowledge of European languages, culture, history, politics, and international relations. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum that you can mold to your interests, the minor offers you the chance to take courses across colleges and subjects that exemplify your understanding of a globalizing world, while also providing you with an area of expertise. You will gain invaluable critical thinking skills, language abilities, and helpful frameworks for assessing today’s most pressing issues in Europe and around the world.

This multifaceted minor is provided through the Institute for European Studies at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and is available to all Cornell undergraduates. Sample Courses: Modern European Politics Introduction to Spanish Urban Design, Architecture, and Art in Renaissance and Baroque Rome German in Business Culture

Details

Data Science

minor

Overview

The minor in Data Science equips students from any major with a solid understanding of the conceptual and methodological tools of data-driven discovery. Upon completing the minor, students will be ready to leverage competencies and skills to pursue careers in various fields and professions.

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

Sanskrit Studies

minor

Overview

The Sanskrit Studies minor is intended for students who wish to broaden and deepen their competence in the Sanskrit language and traditional Indian religious, literary, and philosophical culture.

Details

Law & Society

minor

Overview

With a minor in law and society, you’ll have an opportunity for focused study of the interaction between law and society, from an interdisciplinary perspective predominantly rooted in the social sciences and humanities: anthropology, comparative literature, economics, government, history, philosophy, psychology, science and technology studies and sociology.

Details

Comparative Literature

major minor graduate

Overview

As a comparative literature major, you’ll gain a critical and historical perspective on world literature and cultures, with the choice of two tracks. If you want to emphasize literature in your course work, take the comparative literary studies track; if you’re interested in studying literature and theory by integrating rigorous work in film, video or other arts and media, take the literary, visual and media studies track. The major’s broad range of courses provides a critical and historical perspective on world literature and cultures.

Details

Game Design

minor

Overview

With a minor in game design, you can pursue your interest in game design as an extension of your major studies and of your future academic and professional careers. The core of the minor is Intro to Computer Game Architecture, followed by either Advanced Computer Game Architecture or Analytics-driven Game Design, with four additional courses that can range from Graphics and Art, the Psychology of Gaming, to Human-Computer Interaction.

Details

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

major minor

Overview

Cornell University's Bachelor of Science in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences equips students to tackle critical global challenges like climate change and natural disasters. The program features small class sizes, dedicated faculty support, and a wide range of electives and extracurricular opportunities. Nestled in the picturesque landscape of upstate New York, Cornell offers an exceptional setting for the study of environmental sciences.

What are the concentrations within Earth and Atmospheric Sciences?

Climate Science: The climate science curriculum focuses on the scientific study of climate behavior and its practical applications. It addresses critical issues such as how human activities are altering the climate system, the evolving hazards resulting from climate change, and the potential impacts of proposed mitigation strategies.
Environmental Sciences: Environmental issues often involved complex physical, chemical, and biologic interactions among air, water rocks, and soil, and therefore typically require multidisciplinary approaches to address effectively.
Geological Science: Geological science explores the processes behind Earth's origin and evolution, its relationship with the solar system, and its internal structure and composition. It also plays a vital role in addressing societal needs, such as the sustainable use of natural resources, environmental preservation, and the study and mitigation of natural hazards like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.
Ocean Science: Ocean science is a broad field that includes four key subdisciplines: marine geology, marine chemistry, physical oceanography, and biological oceanography. These areas are deeply interconnected, with significant disciplinary overlap. While the concentration in Ocean Sciences covers aspects of all four subdisciplines, it is typically designed to focus more heavily on one area, depending on the student's interests or research goals.

Program Overview:

The EAS program is inherently interdisciplinary, integrating various fields of science and engineering. Relevant engineering disciplines include civil and environmental engineering, biological and environmental engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, and electrical and computer engineering. Through this program, students engage in education and research that equips them to pursue competitive careers or advanced study at leading institutions both domestically and internationally. By exploring the complex interactions among the ocean, solid earth, atmosphere, and biosphere, students contribute to addressing society's growing needs for energy, minerals, and clean water, while also playing a role in mitigating the adverse effects of global warming, sea-level rise, natural disasters, and biodiversity loss.

Why is Earth and Atmospheric science important to our world?

Understanding human impacts on our planet provides technologies and solutions for the future. Our graduates will be able to seek careers dealing with energy, mineral and water resources, natural hazards, climate forecasting, and a host of environmental issues through employment in academia, government and the private sector.

For further information about the major:

Director of Undergraduate Studies
Dr. Rowena Lohman
Snee Hall, Room 3210
rbl62@cornell.edu

Undergraduate Coordinator
Annmarie Card
Snee Hall, Room 2102A
ac2666@cornell.edu

Details

English

major minor graduate

Overview

The Department of Literatures in English seeks to foster critical analysis and lucid writing. We also strive to teach students to think about the nature of language and to be alert to both the rigors and the pleasures of reading texts of diverse inspiration.

English majors engage with English, American, and Anglophone literature of an astounding historical span and global variety, and are trained to respond to what they read in a rich and complex variety of ways—from expository essays and scholarly inquiries to class discussions and creative writing of their own.

Students develop their own programs of study in consultation with their major advisors. Some focus on a particular historical period or literary genre, or combine sustained work in creative writing with the study of literature. Others pursue interests in such areas as women’s literature, regional literature, literature and the visual arts, or critical theory.

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