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 performing and media arts major, you’ll benefit from the synergies between the study and practice of theatre and live performance, cinema/media and/or dance. Whether you’re an actor/director, a filmmaker, a scholar-critic, a choreographer or a designer, you’ll be able to take many possible combinations of courses depending on your interest in history/theory/criticism, creative authorship, design or embodied performance and more. Students are also welcome to explore our four minors: Performing and Media Arts, Dance, Film and Theatre.
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As an information science major, you’ll examine information systems in their social, cultural, economic, historical, legal and political contexts. Although computer science is an important part of the program, the emphasis is on systems and their use, rather than on the technologies that underlie them.
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As a philosophy major, you can choose among courses in epistemology, metaphysics, history of philosophy, logic, ethics, social and political philosophy, Continental philosophy, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, aesthetics and philosophy of science. You’ll participate each year in events that range from informal reading groups and workshops to formal conferences and large public lectures by visiting philosophers. The Sage School's small classes and collegial atmosphere support vibrant philosophical exchange among undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and visiting philosophers.
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With a minor in dance, you’ll engage with the fundamental practices of doing, making and thinking about dance. You can take courses that explore choreography and courses that study dance as an historical and cultural behavior, as well as more familiar dance technique courses. Students with a primary interest in dance can incorporate that into the PMA major.
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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.
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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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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.
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As a Near Eastern studies major, you’ll have the opportunity to acquire language skills as well as familiarity with the history, cultures, literatures and religions of the Near East/Middle East from antiquity to the modern day. You’ll become acquainted broadly with the region – which extends from Turkey east through Iran and Afghanistan, south through the Arabian Pennisula to Yemen and across north Africa from Egypt to Morocco — and its cultures and be able to study a particular subfield in depth. Special focus is given to the ancient east Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions and to the Levant and Egypt.
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As an economics major, you can take a broad range of courses in such fields as economic theory, econometrics, money and banking, international economics, economic history, growth and development and industrial organization. You can also study the new field of behavioral economics, which attempts to improve economic analyses by incorporating insights from psychology, and take a new seminar that facilitates collaboration among economists and psychologists and draws students into faculty research.
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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.
MSNBC
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Lawrence B. Glickman
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History, American Studies Program
Associated Press
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Sarah Kreps
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Government
New York Times
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Nikole Lewis
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Astronomy, Carl Sagan Institute
