Your October 2025 reads
This month’s featured titles include short stories, a fantasy book for tweens, and a scholarly look at Carmen adaptations – all by Arts & Sciences alumni and faculty.
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As a government major, you’ll learn how to think and write rigorously and creatively about issues of public life. You’ll have the choice of courses in four subfields: American politics (the political behavior, policies and institutions of the U.S.), comparative politics (the institutions and political processes of other nations), political theory and philosophy (normative theories of politics and history of political thought) and international relations (transactions between states, international organizations and transnational actors).
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Undergraduate Program
Course offerings reflect the breadth of faculty expertise in this exciting and growing discipline, and the study of Government at Cornell trains students with skills that are in high demand in public service, business, law, the non-profit sector, and many other professions. Our introductory courses in American politics, comparative politics, political theory, and international relations introduce students to the major tools and approaches to the study of politics. From there, students apply these tools to understand the many facets of public life, from contemporary political thought to campaigns and elections, public policy, conflict and peace, and beyond. The Department of Government not only offers a major program, but also an honors program and two minors.
Graduate Program
The graduate program in Government at Cornell prepares students for academic and research careers in political science. All students admitted to the program are expected to earn a doctoral degree. Completion of the Ph.D. program normally requires two-to-three years of full-time course work at Cornell and several additional years of dissertation research and writing.
Government News
U.S. returning to ‘familiar pattern’ of interventionism in Latin America
Trump's move to cut aid to Columbia and enact tariffs is the latest in a string of escalating tensions between the U.S. and countries in Latin America, says Cornell government professor Ken Roberts.
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Gaza ceasefire shouldn’t be considered a “peace deal”
Uriel Abulof, a visiting professor in Cornell University’s government department, calls it “a survival pact for leaders who thrive on conflict and enmity."
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Hot-mic moment with President window into ‘transactional foreign policy’
Trump has turned U.S. foreign policy into a tool for petty corruption and insider deal-making instead of supporting U.S. national interests, says a Cornell government faculty member.
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Public speeches challenged assumptions in ancient Greece
In a new paper, Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow Davide Napoli argues that public speeches in ancient Greece aimed not to express personal views, but to undermine entrenched ideas and challenge common-sense conclusions.
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Cornell ‘Swifties’ bond over musical superstar 
The Cornell Swift Club will ring in a new Taylor Swift era with a late-night album release party for “The Life of a Showgirl.”
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NIH grant to fund autism research center
AR² is one of 13 projects funded by the $50 million ADSI research effort to assess the roles of genetics, environmental interactions and other factors in autism.
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William F. Buckley’s secrets revealed in Oct. 9 talk
Journalist Sam Tanenhaus will share insights gained from 20 years of investigation in “The Man Who Built a Movement: How William F. Buckley Invented Modern Conservatism,” a conversation with A&S Dean Peter John Loewen, on Oct. 9.
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