Jimmy Cawley: Government
'Remember that everyone around you is trying to figure things out, just like you are.'
A&S Communications
Let curiosity be your guide.
Live, study and grow at the nexus of discovery and impact.
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
Literary scholarship
Culler receives 2026 Wayne C. Booth Lifetime Achievement Award
A&S Communications
Molecular biology and genetics
Nobel-winning biochemist to speak on the origins of life
Cornell Chronicle
>2000
Courses offered in A&S of 4000 courses at Cornell.
Distinguished Visiting Journalist
Journalist offers master class on op-eds, narrative storytelling
Cornell Chronicle
42
Majors to choose in A&S. Design your education.
~4,800
Students in A&S, each with an extraordinary journey to tell.
Distinguished Visiting Journalist
William F. Buckley’s secrets revealed in Oct. 9 talk
Cornell Chronicle
>90K
A&S alumni in our network. Go Big Red!
The College Welcomes New Faculty for 2025
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.
Popular Destinations
Majors and Minors Admissions requirements and process Degree Requirements Advising Career DevelopmentUncommon 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.
China & Asia-Pacific Studies
major
minor
Overview
The Brittany and Adam J. Levinson Program in China and Asia–Pacific Studies (CAPS) offers a unique and rigorous curriculum in the study of contemporary China, through a set of courses on China’s language, history, politics, economy, society, and international relations, and by providing students with experiential learning opportunities, including one required semester in Beijing and one optional semester in Washington, D.C. Designed as an interdisciplinary program to train future leaders in various domains of U.S.-China relations, the Levinson Program offers both the Major and Minor in China and Asia-Pacific Studies to Cornell undergraduate students.
More information can be found on the Cornell University Registrar site and through the Levinson Program site.
Details
Arabic
minor
Overview
The undergraduate minor in Arabic is intended for Cornell students who wish to broaden and deepen their competence in the Arabic language and knowledge of Arab culture. Such linguistic competence and knowledge have helped Cornell students in the past obtain positions in government agencies and think tanks and to enroll in the most competitive Arabic programs in this country.
Details
Mathematics
major
minor
graduate
Overview
As a mathematics major, you can focus on the study of the theoretical aspects of mathematics or explore applications to other fields. You can choose one of seven different concentrations and take a rich variety of courses in analysis, algebra, topology, geometry, probability, statistics and logic to tailor a program that meets your individual needs and interests.
Details
American Sign Language/Deaf Studies
minor
Overview
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.
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
Medieval Studies
minor
Overview
With a minor in medieval studies, you’ll enhance your enjoyment and understanding of the artistic and material relics of the Middle Ages. You can choose among a wide array of subjects spanning more than a thousand years of languages and cultures—from Old and Middle English literature to Byzantine monuments; from Icelandic sagas to Andalusian architecture; from Chinese intellectual history to Islamic legal history. You can explore how many of our current challenges in the fields of law, human rights, attitudes toward power, authority, gender relations and sexual mores derive from how such issues were formulated a millennium ago.
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
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
Visual Studies
minor
Overview
With a visual studies minor, you’ll pursue an interdisciplinary approach to visual art, media (including digital works), performance and perception. You’ll study with faculty from disciplines throughout the college, including history of art, film, literary studies, psychology, theatre and more.
Details
Government
major
graduate
Overview
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).
DetailsBeyond Majors & Minors
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Engaging our community and our world
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.
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.
Faculty Commentary on Current Events
Religion
#RaptureTok and the history of end-times beliefs: Cornell religion expert
A&S Communications
Government
Cornell expert: Indonesia’s Prabowo ignoring ‘needs of the people’ in cabinet shake-up
A&S Communications
Sociology
Macron to blame for instability in French government, says Cornell scholar
A&S Communications
Government
DOD rebrand ‘risks being performative’ without subsequent structural changes
A&S Communications
History
China’s parade signals power shift, cold war parallels, says Cornell expert
A&S Communications
Faculty in the news
The Guardian
Related people
NoViolet Bulawayo
Related Departments
Literatures in English
09/27/2025
New York Times
Related people
Kim Haines-Eitzen
Related Departments
Near Eastern Studies, Religious Studies Program
09/28/2025
ABC News
Related people
Sarah Kreps
Related Departments
Government
09/27/2025
Newsweek
Related people
Michael H. Goldstein
Related Departments
Psychology
09/26/2025
Upcoming A&S Events
Oct 02
2:00
AI Exploration Series
Oct 02
7:30
Matthew Bengtson, fortepiano and John Haines-Eitzen, cello (CU Music)
Barnes Hall
Oct 03
5:15
An Evening at the Goethe House
Johnson Museum of Art: Robinson Lecture Hall