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.
Migration Studies
minor
Overview
The undergraduate minor in migration studies is is a university-wide, interdisciplinary undergraduate minor that helps students understand how migration shapes our world on the move. Focused on the historical and contemporary contexts and factors that drive international migration and shape migrant experiences around the globe, the minor dovetails with Migrations: A Global Grand Challenge, part of Global Cornell.
Details
Creative Writing
minor
Overview
With a minor in creative writing, you’ll take five courses in creative writing, literature and cultural studies. You can concentrate in a single genre (fiction or poetry), or freely study both.
Click here for more details on the Creative Writing program, including curriculum and requirements.
Details
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
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
Cognitive Science
major
minor
graduate
Overview
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.
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
Latin American Studies
minor
Overview
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.
Details
Classical Civilization
minor
Overview
With a minor in classical civilization, you’ll uncover the mysteries of ancient Greece and Rome. You’ll have the choice of any six classics courses (above 1000-level), which chart a coherent path through our offerings in ancient literature (in translation), history, philosophy, art history and archaeology. This minor does not include a language requirement.
Details
Crime, Prisons, Education & Justice
minor
Overview
With a minor in Crime, Prisons, Education, and Justice, you’ll have an unparalleled opportunity to learn why the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and how race, class, politics, history, gender, inequality, and law relate to mass incarceration in the United States.
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.
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
New York Times
Related people
Jed P. Sparks
Related Departments
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
10/08/2025
Quanta Magazine
Related people
Pavel Galashin
Related Departments
Mathematics
10/06/2025
The Guardian
Related people
NoViolet Bulawayo
Related Departments
Literatures in English
09/27/2025
Upcoming A&S Events
Oct 09
7:30
Ef Racker Lecture: Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak, Ph.D. '77 "The Origin of Life and the Nature of the First Cells"
Oct 10
1:30
Composers Forum: Robert Morris
Lincoln Hall: 316
Oct 16
12:30
Midday Music in Lincoln: Bach, Balch, and Brahms (CU Music)
Lincoln Hall: B20