Marc Lacey at an even with students
Making an impact

Public engagement: local and global

The College of Arts & Sciences is committed to education and research that engages with the world -- no ivory towers on this campus. As a land grant university with a longstanding imperative to contribute to the greater good, an ethos of public service and engagement runs deep at Cornell. In Arts & Sciences we are forging community partnerships, solving local and global challenges and creating knowledge to benefit humanity.

Programs and initiatives

two women sitting on stage
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.

Explore recent and upcoming Arts Unplugged events.

David Folkenflik ’91 (left) moderates the panel “Free Press in a Free Society: U.S. Newsrooms on the Front Lines” with Suzanne Mettler, the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions in government, and Sewell Chan, editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune.
David Folkenflik ’91 (left) moderates the panel “Free Press in a Free Society: U.S. Newsrooms on the Front Lines” with Suzanne Mettler, the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions in government, and Sewell Chan, editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune.

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. 

Learn more about the program.

More ways to make an impact

Engagement programs across Cornell

Cornell's commitment to public engagement extends across the university with many exciting programs for both students and faculty. Here are a few more ways to make an impact.

Public engagment in the news

The panelists sitting in arm chairs, all three looking at Prof. Jamila Michener talking into the microphone.
Chris Kitchen for Cornell University Ann Marimow ’97, the Fall Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist (far left) discussed the impact of Supreme Court decisions on ordinary Americans with panelists, from left, Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of government (A&S); Jamila Michener, associate professor of government (A&S) and of public policy in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy; and Michael Dorf, the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law.
The panelists sitting in arm chairs, all three looking at Prof. Jamila Michener talking into the microphone.
Chris Kitchen for Cornell University Ann Marimow ’97, the Fall Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist (far left) discussed the impact of Supreme Court decisions on ordinary Americans with panelists, from left, Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of government (A&S); Jamila Michener, associate professor of government (A&S) and of public policy in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy; and Michael Dorf, the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law.
Distinguished Visiting Journalist Program

A politicized Supreme Court meets a new moment for America

Cornell Chronicle
Person speaking into a microphone
Sreang Hok/Cornell University. Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute, associate professor of astronomy and author of “Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos,” said the thousands of exoplanets detected to date suggest there are “billions and billions” of possibilities for life beyond Earth.
Person speaking into a microphone
Sreang Hok/Cornell University. Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute, associate professor of astronomy and author of “Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos,” said the thousands of exoplanets detected to date suggest there are “billions and billions” of possibilities for life beyond Earth.
Astronomy

Sagan celebrated for scientific mind – and imagination

Cornell Chronicle
Three people sit in armchairs, part of a panel discussion event
Patrick Shanahan for Cornell University Valzhyna Mort, center, discusses the risks writers take to speak out in many countries, with Suzanne Nossel, left, and David Folkenflik ’91.
Three people sit in armchairs, part of a panel discussion event
Patrick Shanahan for Cornell University Valzhyna Mort, center, discusses the risks writers take to speak out in many countries, with Suzanne Nossel, left, and David Folkenflik ’91.
Freedom of Expression

Paying a price to speak out, dissident writers help preserve freedoms

Cornell Chronicle

Faculty engaged with the world

Faculty commentary on current events

Cornell undergraduate students diagnosing wine grape diseases in a plant pathology laboratory in Chile.
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.
Cornell undergraduate students diagnosing wine grape diseases in a plant pathology laboratory in Chile in 2018.
Physics

Cornell STEM education expert weighs in on NSF funding cuts

A&S Communications
People in religious robes on a balcony
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.
People in religious robes on a balcony
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.
Sociology

Pope Leo XIV bridges Catholicism's geographic divide

A&S Communications
White stone building with two flags flying over it
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.
White stone building with two flags flying over it
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.
International politics

Carney’s first meeting with Trump yields ‘mixed outcomes’

A&S Communications
Large aircraft without a cockpit parked on a runway at sunset
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle parked on a taxiway at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada
Large aircraft without a cockpit parked on a runway at sunset
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle parked on a taxiway at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada
Government

$36B drone plan echoes Ukraine, may not map onto U.S. Army

A&S Communications