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The College of Arts & Sciences
The Department of History is committed to pursuing excellence in historical scholarship and teaching across many different time periods and research interests. Its outstanding faculty specializes in a wide array of historical issues and themes that transcend particular regions and periods. Courses connect undergraduate and graduate students with the excitement of historic discovery and provide a rigorous training in researching and analyzing the human past.
Associate Professor
Migration and Citizenship, Race and Ethnicity, Social, Comparative and Transnational
Are you interested in becoming a history major? You can apply online, after securing your own major advisor. For more information: history-major-application-information. Paper Applications are available at 120 Mary Ann Wood Drive.
Important notices:
Codes for pre-1800 and World Areas courses are now available on the Roster and in the Catalog under each course description (https://courses.cornell.edu/courses/hist/). You can also locate the full list of courses that fulfill each requirement under the curriculum tab (https://catalog.cornell.edu/programs/history-ba/#curriculumtext), and older courses are in archival Catalogs.
World Areas are coded as HAN, HNA, HEU, HGS, HTR
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Cornell College of Arts and Sciences professor Casey Schmitt won a book award from the North American Society for Oceanic History for ‘The Predatory Sea.’ The study examines early Caribbean human trafficking and captivity that shaped racialized slavery.
The School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University, a six-week summer program that serves as a hub for interdisciplinary inquiry in the humanities and social sciences, celebrated its 50th anniversary with events June 16-17.
Cornell University alum and Smithsonian space history chair Margaret Weitekamp, PhD ’01 in the College of Arts & Sciences, explains how science fiction and real spaceflight shape each other while curating cultural artifacts at the National Air and Space Museum.
Since the Cornell in Washington program launched in 1980, about 4,400 Cornellians have taken part in immersive lessons in the nation’s capital. Alumni have become U.S. representatives, federal judges, agency leaders and political journalists.
A New York Senate bill seeks to make affordable housing available for artists, but Cornell University researcher Jacob Anbinder, postdoctoral fellow in history in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, warns against 'petty squabbles' about who deserves most to live in the city. He says expanding overall housing supply is key to curbing housing inequality.
Cornell’s College of Arts & Sciences honors the winners of its 2026 teaching and advising awards. Faculty members Nicole Giannella, Karola Mészáros and Landon Schnabel stand out this year, earning major awards for excellence; many instructors and teaching assistants received recognition, as well.
During the rebuilding of McGraw Hall, workers have made several discoveries, and faculty are reusing and studying materials from the building in the classroom. Built in 1872, McGraw Hall is one of Cornell University's oldest buildings and home to College of Arts and Sciences departments of anthropology and history and the archaeology program.
Christina MacCorkle is majoring in government and history and is a Robert S. Harrison College Scholar.