The Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences (CAS or A&S) is an academic college at Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding in 1865, although its name has changed over time. It is the largest of Cornell University's colleges and schools with 4,251 undergraduate and 1,301 students and 526 faculty. The college grants bachelor's degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the Cornell University Graduate School. Its major academic buildings are located on the Arts Quad of Cornell University's main campus in Ithaca, New York, which includes some of the university's oldest and most historic buildings.

History

19th century

When it was founded in 1865, Cornell University's faculty was initially undifferentiated. With the founding of the Cornell Law School in 1886 and the concomitant self-segregation of the school's lawyers, however, departments and colleges began to be formed at the university.

20th century

In 1903, the academic division that ultimately became the College of Arts and Sciences was renamed as the Academic Department. The College endowed the first professorships in American history, musicology, and American literature. From 1923 to 1945, Cornell professor Robert Morris Ogden, a professor of psychology and expert on Gestalt psychology, served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

21st century

As of 2009, the College of Arts and Sciences teaches 4,100 undergraduates, with 600 full-time faculty members plus a number of lecturers, who teach 2,200 courses. In June 2018, Ray Jayawardhana was named the 22nd dean. On July 13, 2023, Rachel Bean succeeded Jayawardhana as interim dean.

Arts Quadrangle

The Arts Quad Map Cornell University.svg, are Morrill Hall (completed in 1866), McGraw Hall (1872) and White Hall (1868). All of these buildings are built with native Cayuga bluestone to reflect Ezra Cornell's utilitarianism and are known as Stone Row. The statue of Ezra Cornell, 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 White, 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 domed Sibley Hall and Tjaden Hall (1883). Just off of the quad on the Slope, next to Tjaden, stands the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, designed by I. M. Pei (1973). Stimson Hall (1902), Olin Library (1959) and Uris Library (1892), with Cornell's landmark clocktower, McGraw Tower, stand on the southern end of the quad. Olin Library replaced Boardman Hall (1892), the original location of the Cornell Law School. 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 Library, including the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. Klarman Hall, the first new humanities building at Cornell in over 100 years, opened in 2016. Klarman houses the offices of Comparative Literature and Romance Studies. The building is connected to, and surrounded on three sides by, Goldwin Smith Hall and fronts East Avenue. Legends and lore about the Arts Quad and its statues can be found at Cornelliana.

Academics

Majors

The College of Arts and Sciences offers both undergraduate and graduate (through the Graduate School) degrees. The only undergraduate degree is the Bachelor of Arts. 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 faculties within the college are:

• Africana Studies was an independent center reporting directly to the Provost until July 1, 2011.
• The English department was renamed the Department of Literatures in English in October 2020 in response to national anti-racism movements.

Admissions

Admission into the college is extremely competitive. The undergraduate program's 7.9% acceptance rate is below Cornell's 8.7% overall undergraduate acceptance rate. Furthermore, Arts and Sciences has the second lowest acceptance rate of any Cornell college, behind the Dyson School (2.9%).