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.
Alison Rittershaus/Provided
John Henderson, professor of anthropology, works with an object from the Mesoamerican Archaeology Lab, which is now part of the Anthropology Collaboratory.
Alison Rittershaus/Provided
An Amazonian headdress is displayed with two cases of artifacts in the Anthropology and CIAMS Collections
Courses offered in A&S of 4000 courses at Cornell.
Ryan Young/Cornell University
Semiconductors are at the core of the economy and national security. Their importance makes them a target. Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, discusses how Cornell is helping to keep the semiconductor supply chain safe.
Ryan Young/Cornell University
Semiconductors are at the core of the economy and national security. Their importance makes them a target. Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, discusses how Cornell is helping to keep the semiconductor supply chain safe.
Dan Rosenberg/Provided
From left, MFA students Gerardo Iglesias, Sarah Iqbal and Aishvarya Arora listen to observations by two young poets at the Ithaca Children’s Garden.
Dan Rosenberg/Provided
From left, MFA students Gerardo Iglesias, Sarah Iqbal and Aishvarya Arora listen to observations by two young poets at the Ithaca Children’s Garden.
Students in A&S, each with an extraordinary journey to tell.
Cornell University File Photo
Kaushik Basu at a 2016 Chats in the Stacks talk about his book “An Economist in the Real World.”
Cornell University File Photo
Kaushik Basu at a 2016 Chats in the Stacks talk about his book “An Economist in the Real World.”
Twenty-eight new faculty have joined the College of Arts & Sciences this year, bringing innovative ideas in a wide diversity of topics, from climate politics to experimental fiction, from artificial intelligence to health economics, enhancing the College’s interdisciplinary strengths and curiosity-driven discoveries.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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' 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.
Cornell undergraduate students diagnosing wine grape diseases in a plant pathology laboratory in Chile in 2018.
Cornell undergraduate students diagnosing wine grape diseases in a plant pathology laboratory in Chile in 2018.
Creative Commons license 4.0
Pope Leo XIV waves at the people gathered in St. Peter's Square in his first public appearance as pope.
Creative Commons license 4.0
Pope Leo XIV waves at the people gathered in St. Peter's Square in his first public appearance as pope.
Doug Nealy/Unsplash
The Peace Arch, situated near the westernmost point of the Canada–United States border in the contiguous United States, between Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia.
Doug Nealy/Unsplash
The Peace Arch, situated near the westernmost point of the Canada–United States border in the contiguous United States, between Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia.
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle parked on a taxiway at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle parked on a taxiway at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada
John Wisniewski/Creative commons license 2.0
Massapequa Lake, Massapequa, New York
John Wisniewski/Creative commons license 2.0
Massapequa Lake, Massapequa, New York