The
College of Arts and Sciences (abbreviated to
A&S or
CAS) is a division of
Cornell UniversityCornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...
. It has been part of the
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
since its founding, although its name has changed over time. It grants bachelors degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the
Cornell University Graduate SchoolThe Cornell University Graduate School confers most professional and research master's degrees and doctoral degrees in various fields of study for the university. The departments under which instruction and research take place are housed in Cornell's other schools and colleges...
. Its major academic buildings are located on the Arts Quad and include some of the university's oldest buildings. The college offers courses in many fields of study, and is the largest college at Cornell by undergraduate enrollment.
History
Originally, the university's
facultyA faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...
was undifferentiated, but with the founding of the
Cornell Law SchoolCornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University. It is one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees, hosts an array of programs and institutes, and offers more than 120 courses for its students...
in 1886 and the concomitant self-segregation of the school's
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
s, different departments and colleges formed.
Initially, the division that would become the College of Arts and Sciences was known as the Academic Department, but it was formally renamed in 1903. The College endowed the first professorships in American history,
musicologyMusicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture. In the intermediate sense, it includes all relevant cultures and a range of musical forms, styles, genres and...
, and
American literatureAmerican literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
. Currently, the college teaches 4,200 undergraduates by way of 1,800 courses, 500 professors and 150 lecturers.
The Arts Quadrangle
The
Arts Quad is the site of Cornell's original academic buildings and is home to many of the college's programs. On the western side of the
quadIn architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
, at the top of
Libe SlopeSlope Day is an annual day of celebration held at Cornell University during the last day of regular undergraduate classes. It usually falls on the first Friday of May and the official site of Slope Day is the Libe Slope, on the university campus. Though Slope Day has gone through many phases, in...
, are
Morrill HallJustin Morrill Hall, known almost exclusively as Morrill Hall, is an academic building of Cornell University on its Ithaca, New York campus. As of 2009 it houses the Departments of Romance Studies, Russian Literature, and Linguistics...
(completed in 1866), McGraw Hall (1872) and White Hall (1868). These simple but elegant buildings, built with native
CayugaCayuga Lake is the longest of western New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the largest in surface area and second largest in volume . It is just under 40 miles long. Its average width is 1.7 miles , and it is 3.5 miles wide at its widest point near Aurora...
bluestoneBluestone is the name given to several stones:# a feldspathic sandstone in the U.S.,# a form of limestone native to the Shenandoah Valley in the U.S.# a form of dolerite which appears blue when wet or freshly broken in Britain,...
, reflect
Ezra CornellEzra Cornell was an American businessman and, with Andrew Dickson White, was the founder of Cornell University.- Birth and early life :...
's
utilitarianismUtilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all people...
and are known as Stone Row. His statue, dating back to 1919, stands between Morrill and McGraw Halls. Across from this statue, in front of Goldwin Smith Hall, sits the statue of
Andrew Dickson WhiteAndrew Dickson White was a U.S. diplomat, historian, and educator, best known as the co-founder of Cornell University.-Family and personal life:...
, Cornell's other co-founder and its first president.
Lincoln Hall (1888) also stands on the eastern face of the quad next to Goldwin Smith Hall. On the northern face are the
domeA dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
d Sibley Hall and Tjaden Hall (1883). Just off of the quad on the Slope, next to Tjaden, stands the
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of ArtThe Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is most well known for its controversial concrete facade, its collection which includes two windows from Frank Lloyd Wright's...
, designed by
I. M. PeiIeoh Ming Pei , commonly known by his initials I. M. Pei, is a Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese-born American architect, known as the last master of high modernist architecture.-Early life and education:...
. Stimson Hall (1902),
Olin LibraryThe Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2005 it held 7.5 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.2 million microfilms and microfiches, and a total of 440,000 maps, motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and computer files in its collections, in addition to...
(1959) and
Uris LibraryThe Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2005 it held 7.5 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.2 million microfilms and microfiches, and a total of 440,000 maps, motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and computer files in its collections, in addition to...
(1892), with Cornell's landmark clocktower, McGraw Tower, stand on the southern end of the quad.
Olin Library, the most recent building added to the Arts Quad, replaced Boardman Hall (1892), the original location of the
Cornell Law SchoolCornell Law School, located in Ithaca, New York, is a graduate school of Cornell University. It is one of the five Ivy League law schools. The school confers three law degrees, hosts an array of programs and institutes, and offers more than 120 courses for its students...
. In 1992, an underground addition was made to the quad with Kroch Library, an extension of Olin Library that houses several special collections of the
Cornell University LibraryThe Cornell University Library is the library system of Cornell University. In 2005 it held 7.5 million printed volumes in open stacks, 8.2 million microfilms and microfiches, and a total of 440,000 maps, motion pictures, DVDs, sound recordings, and computer files in its collections, in addition to...
, including the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.
Legends and lore about the Arts Quad and its statues can be found at Cornelliana.
Academics
The College of Arts and Sciences offers both undergraduate and
graduateA graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
(through the
Graduate SchoolThe Cornell University Graduate School confers most professional and research master's degrees and doctoral degrees in various fields of study for the university. The departments under which instruction and research take place are housed in Cornell's other schools and colleges...
) degrees. The only undergraduate degree is the
Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
. However, students may enroll in the dual-degree program, which allows them to pursue programs of study in two colleges and receive two different degrees.
The departments within the college are:
- Africana Studies and Research Center
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Asian-American Studies
- Asian Studies
- Astronomy
- Biology (with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University is a statutory college of New York. With about 3,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students enrolled, it is the third-largest college of its kind in the United States and the second-largest undergraduate college...
)
- Biology & Society Major (with the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University is a statutory college of New York. With about 3,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students enrolled, it is the third-largest college of its kind in the United States and the second-largest undergraduate college...
and Human EcologyThe New York State College of Human Ecology is a statutory college at Cornell University. The college is a unique compilation of studies on consumer science, nutrition, health economics, public policy, human development and textiles, each part of the discipline of human ecology.Students at the...
)
- Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- China and Asia-pacific Studies
- Classics
- Cognitive Studies
- College Scholar Program (frees up to 40 selected students in each class from all degree requirements and allows them to fashion a plan of study conducive to achieving their ultimate intellectual goals; a senior thesis is required)
- Comparative Literature
- Computer Science (with the College of Engineering
The College of Engineering is a division of Cornell University that was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts....
)
- Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (with the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University is a statutory college of New York. With about 3,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students enrolled, it is the third-largest college of its kind in the United States and the second-largest undergraduate college...
and EngineeringThe College of Engineering is a division of Cornell University that was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts....
)
- Economics
- English
- Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
- German Studies
- Government
- History
|- valign="top" ! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | College | style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Arts and Sciences |- valign="top" ! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Department Chair | style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Barry Strauss...
- History of Art
- Human Biology
- Independent Major
- Information Science (with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University is a statutory college of New York. With about 3,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students enrolled, it is the third-largest college of its kind in the United States and the second-largest undergraduate college...
and College of EngineeringThe College of Engineering is a division of Cornell University that was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts....
)
- John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines
- Latin American Studies
- Latino Studies
- Lesbian, Bisexual, and Gay Studies
- Linguistics
- Mathematics
- Medieval Studies
- Modern European Studies Concentration
- Music
- Near Eastern Studies
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Jewish Studies
- Psychology
- Religious Studies
- Romance Studies
- Russian
- Science and Technology Studies
- Society for the Humanities
- Sociology
- Theatre, Film, and Dance
- Visual Studies Undergraduate Concentration
External links