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The College of Arts & Sciences
The department of government offers students a variety of opportunities to engage with politics and political science, beginning in the classroom, with the chance to work one-on-one with faculty; by participating in internships, and by drawing on the department's ties with programs across the College of Arts and Sciences.
Cornell University professor Isabel M. Perera won the 2026 European Studies Book Award for research on mental health care policy. College of Arts and Sciences scholar’s book examines disparities in services across affluent democracies and government roles shaping outcomes.
Cornell University honored 31 Merrill Presidential Scholars May 19, recognizing academic excellence and mentorship. College of Arts and Sciences senior Carolina Aguilera-Garza and peers celebrated influential teachers and Cornell mentors shaping leadership, scholarship, and public impact.
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 federal jury has sided with OpenAI in a court battle with Elon Musk, and the trial outcome leaves questions and debates unresolved, says Cornell College of Arts and Sciences government scholar Sarah Kreps.
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.
Looking ahead to the May 14-15 Trump-Xi Beijing summit, professor Allen Carlson of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences says domestic pressures on both leaders favor symbolic wins over substantive agreements. The meeting highlights limited prospects for breakthroughs on trade, technology, and geopolitics.
Anees Mitri is majoring in government and Near Eastern studies.
The Government Department at Cornell is committed to free speech and academic freedom, to creating and sustaining a community all of whose members can teach, study, work and thrive, whatever their backgrounds or beliefs, without fear of intolerance, bigotry, harassment, or reprisal. Cornell University is justifiably proud of having committed itself to an affirmative responsibility to protect academic free speech, including extramural speech. It has declared this to be a year of "freedom of expression" at Cornell. We reaffirm.
Our doctoral students are trained in all the main fields of the discipline and have extensive research and teaching experience. Government graduates have gone on to outstanding careers in higher education, public service, and the private sector.