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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
Majors to choose in A&S. Design your education.
Courses offered in A&S of 4000 courses at Cornell.
students in A&S, each with an extraordinary journey to tell.
Talk on arts and sciences and why they matter, Nov. 30
Program in Freedom and Free SocietiesA&S alumni in our network. Go Big Red!
New Faculty for 2023-24
This year, thirty-four new faculty enrich the College of Arts & Sciences with creative ideas in a vast array of topics, including quantum materials, artificial intelligence, moral psychology and misinformation, adding to the College’s collaborative and interdisciplinary nexus of discovery and impact.
Click here to explore profiles of all the new faculty members
Popular Destinations
A&S Academic Diversity
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.
Performing & Media Arts
China & Asia-Pacific Studies
Medieval Studies
Biology & Society
Statistical Science
Moral Psychology
History of Capitalism
Beyond 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 new 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 and Scholarship
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.
High-impact seed funding
New Frontier Grants
Now in its third year, New Frontier Grants enable faculty members to pursue novel, bold ideas in research with potential for transformative advances in the arts and humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
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.
Public Engagement
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' new 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
Cornell expert: Milei’s platform ‘important driver’ of significant change
Latin America
Cornell expert: Don’t expect big breakthroughs from Biden-Xi meeting
International studies
Looking ahead: State elections ‘not always great predictors’ of what’s to come
Government
Struggling with sarcasm: Cornell expert on why Musk’s Grok chatbot isn’t funny
Philosophy
Faculty in the news
The Guardian
Related people
Sarah Kreps
Related Departments
Government
The Atlantic
Related people
Adrienne Bitar
Related Departments
American Studies Program
Washington Post
Related people
Sarah Kreps
Related Departments
Government
The Guardian
Related people
Ishion Hutchinson
Related Departments
Literatures in English
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A&S Events
Upcoming Events
Building the future of
the College of Arts & Sciences
We’re building for the future of the College of Arts & Sciences by focusing on ways we can “do the greatest good” to solve the world’s biggest challenges.
Learn more about our plan for the next decade and how your gift can support bold faculty research, expand innovative learning experiences and increase scholarship funding for our diverse student population.