The Department of History thrives on its close relationship with many other departments, centers and area studies programs in the humanities and social sciences at Cornell. The faculty includes more than a dozen prize-winning authors as well as winners of Cornell’s prestigious teaching and advising awards.
An anniversary gala will mark the Cornell Black Alumni Association’s 50th anniversary April 24-26 in Washington, D.C. Hosted by alumni of Cornell University, the event honors leading alumni and launches a $1.5 million legacy fund.
Trump's threats against Iranian infrastructure could backfire legally and strategically, experts warn. Cornell University historian David Silbey says attacking bridges and power plants would harm civilians and undermine U.S. objectives.
Cornell University will host “Indigenous Voices in Abiayala/Latin America,” on April 9 at 4:45 p.m., exploring Indigenous media self-representation in Latin America – known as Abiayala in the Guna language. Held in the in the A.D. White House and organized by Polly Lauer, a Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow in Romance studies in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, the panel will feature scholars discussing Mapuche and Maya K’ishe’ cultural production, Indigenous languages and broadcasters’ fight to sustain native-language media such as Guatemala’s oldest Maya radio station.
Cornell admits the Class of 2030 emphasizing real-world impact, enrolling 5,776 students from 102 countries.
At Cornell University, the diverse cohort reflects the land-grant mission and applied learning goals across multiple colleges.
Cornell University Humanities Scholars traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for increased National Endowment for the Humanities and National Archives funding, meeting with congressional offices to highlight the impact of humanities programs on education. Their two‑day trip underscored how federal support strengthens community partnerships, language programs, and public humanities initiatives benefiting campuses and local organizations nationwide.
HIST 4084 How to be Modern: Thinking with Max Weber (HST-AS, SSC-AS (HIST-HEU)
Wednesday: 2:00-4:30 plus Independent Research
Professor Nicholas Mulder
Max Weber (1864-1920) was the sharpest analyst of modernity: a condition marked by a global capitalist economic system, in which individuals are forced to specialize in a profession and calculate rationally without the comfort of religious belief but longing for objectivity in a world overtaken by relativism. But despite Weber’s influence he never produced a major programmatic book or school and left a fragmented body work across sociology, history, law, economics, religion, and philosophy. This reading- and discussion-intensive course examines Weber in the round, exploring both his empirical historical work and why any study of the modern human condition requires grappling with the issues that Weber identified: universalism and relativism, objectivity, rationality, specialization and vocation, transnational comparison, historical development, ideal-types, and motivation.
