Interdisciplinary Opportunities

Cornell offers a wide variety of interdisciplinary programs. Interdisciplinary study offers the opportunity for students to take courses across departments that look at areas of academic inquiry through various lenses. Below is a subset of programs that span different subjects and areas of knowledge. For a full and comprehensive listing of learning programs, research institutes, laboratories, and centers dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge in a particular area, please visit Cornell's Research Division's website.

Center for the Study of Inequality

63 Uris Hall
(607) 254-8674
@InequalityCU
inequality@cornell.edu
inequality.cornell.edu

Cornell University's Center for the Study of Inequality (CSI) is devoted to understanding patterns, causes, and consequences of social and economic inequality. It supports cutting-edge research on inequality, trains undergraduate and graduate students, encourages the exchange of ideas among researchers, and disseminates research findings to a broader public.

CSI is based in the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences and has more than 100 faculty affiliates and over 50 graduate student affiliates around campus.

Minor in Inequality Studies

Through its core requirements, the Inequality Studies Minor exposes students to the breadth of the social scientific literature on inequalities in many different social and economic goods (e.g., income, wealth, education, health, political power, social status, job security) and across many sources of difference (e.g., class, race and ethnicity, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation and identity, age, geographic location, or political and economic systems). Electives, which are offered across 30 departments in the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences, allow students to tailor their studies to their particular interests. The Minor in Inequality Studies is open to any student in any major. 

The Minor’s Health Equity Track allows interested students to focus their studies further on the social causes and consequences of inequalities in life expectancy, health outcomes, health-promoting behaviors, and access to health care. The Health Equity Track offers excellent preparation for students who are interested in careers in medicine, public health, social science research, or public policy.

Currently, the Minor enrolls over 400 undergraduates from all seven undergraduate colleges. Students who meet the requirements of the Minor receive an official note on their academic records. For more information on the Minor, including current course listings and enrollment information, visit the CSI website.

Cornell Botanic Gardens

Nevin Welcome Center
124 Comstock Knoll Drive
(607) 255-2400
botanicgardens@cornell.edu
cornellbotanicgardens.org

Cornell Botanic Gardens is responsible for the natural beauty of the Cornell University campus. It curates and stewards cultivated gardens; an arboretum; and natural areas. Together these areas comprise one-third of the Ithaca, New York, campus, and with off-campus natural areas, a total of 3,600 acres. Our mission is to inspire people — through cultivation, conservation, and education — to understand, appreciate, and nurture plants and the cultures they sustain. The world demands that we engage with communities and peoples to save plants and habitats. Our team is committed to raising awareness, motivating action, and sowing messages of hope.

Our natural and cultivated landscapes and living plant collections are expertly tended by professionals, and along with educational programs, support learning opportunities for students and visitors of all ages.

  • The 35-acre cultivated gardens surrounding the Nevin Welcome Center include specialty gardens of herbs, flowers, vegetables, perennials, ornamental grasses, groundcovers, and rhododendrons, among others.
  • The 100-acre F.R. Newman Arboretum is home to collections of nut trees, crabapples, maples, urban trees, and shrubs. Its rolling hills and valleys were carved by Fall Creek following the retreat of the last glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. Today, the arboretum offers a pastoral setting and panoramic views, amidst a living museum of trees, shrubs, and woodland plants.
  • The most beloved natural areas on and around the Cornell campus are stewarded by the Cornell Botanic Gardens. These include the Cascadilla and Fall Creek Gorges, Beebe Lake, and additional off-campus natural areas which include 32 miles of public trails. In addition to stewarding these treasures for the enjoyment of the public, the Botanic Gardens protects rare and endangered native plants and collaborates with scientists in many domains of research and conservancy.

Credit Courses

Cornell Botanic Gardens staff teach several for-credit courses for students wishing to gain hands-on experience working and learning alongside botanic gardens staff:

Noncredit classes and workshops such as botanical illustration, wellness programs, gardening techniques, and tours are also offered, visit the Learn page on our website, or call (607) 255-2400 for more information.

Research

We are engaged in numerous research efforts to conserve plants and the cultures they sustain.  Our staff work with faculty, students, and botanic gardens around the world to facilitate research on plants and the natural world.  To learn more and apply to conduct research at Cornell Botanic Gardens, visit our Research page.

Learning by Leading and Internships

Learning by Leading (LxL) is a student leadership development program that provides authentic experiential learning and growth opportunities for Cornell students while interfacing with a diverse range of audiences, collaborators, and mentors. The LxL program is a network of student-led teams —directly supported and mentored by Botanic Gardens' staff —that are passionate about environmental issues, skilled in collaboration and communication, and eager to learn how to adapt to and overcome challenges.  Student leaders are hired for part-time during the academic school year and full-time over the summer.  Visit the Learning by Leading page on our website for details.

Since the 1990s, more than 170 Cornell University students have worked side by side with Cornell Botanic Gardens' knowledgeable staff, learning and having fun as participants in our summer internship program. Positions in horticulture, natural areas stewardship, education and communications/marketing are available each year, beginning after finals in May. All positions build on classroom learning through hands-on work while encouraging students' interests in horticulture, outreach and the natural world. Visit the Internship page on our website for details.

Graduate Study

In partnership with the Section of Horticulture in the School of Integrated Plant Sciences, Cornell Botanic Gardens offers courses in Public Garden Leadership that can count toward the Integrative Plant Sciences (MPS) degree.

Planning a Visit

To discover and explore Cornell Botanic Gardens, visit cornellbotanicgardens.org and stop by our Nevin Welcome Center located at 124 Comstock Knoll Drive, Ithaca, NY 14850.

Program on Ethics and Public Life

218 Goldwin Smith Hall
(607) 255-8515
philosophy.cornell.edu/epl

Central issues in our public lives involve moral dilemmas and numerous ethical concerns. Market economy raises questions of equity and justice, as well as questions about the relation between prosperity, the environment, and the quality of individual lives. In constitutional law, we confront dilemmas about civil rights, freedom of speech, privacy, and abortion. In politics and government, we wrestle with questions about truth, character, and legitimacy. And in international affairs, we encounter the complexities of war and peace, human rights, global poverty, and climate change.

The university-wide Program on Ethics and Public Life (EPL) is Cornell's initiative in the systematic study of the ethical dimension of public issues. EPL promotes research and education in vital public issues through diverse initiatives. The program supports workshops and conferences related to ethics in the public domain, including an ongoing Ethics Colloquia series with invited scholars from other universities, guest lectures, and other interdisciplinary academic endeavors. EPL also offers and manages a minor in Law and Society.

Andrew D. White Professors-at-Large Program

114b Day Hall
(607) 255-0832
adwhiteprofessors.cornell.edu
facebook.com/ADWProfessorsatLarge
twitter.com/ADWHITEPAL
instagram.com/cornell_adwhitepal

The program has its origins in Cornell's early history. Andrew D. White, the first president of Cornell University, inaugurated the position of nonresident professor, to be held by eminent scholars, scientists, and intellectuals who periodically visit the university for the stated purpose of "contributing to the intellectual and cultural life of the university."

Toward this end, Andrew D. White Professors-at-Large (ADW-PAL) make 2-3 formal visits to campus during their appointment to engage in a variety of activities including public lectures, ongoing courses, and collaborative research, as well as hold office hours for undergraduate and graduate students. Professors-at-Large serve for a six-year term and are considered full members of the Cornell faculty.

A.D. White Professors-At-Large by Term

Term Ending 2025   
  • Martín Caparrós – Author, writer, and narrative journalist
  • Steven Levitsky – David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies; Professor of Government, Harvard University
  • Carl Wieman – DRC Chair in Engineering; Professor of Physics; Professor in the Graduate School of Education, Stanford University
Term Ending 2026
  • James Balog – Environmentalist, scientist, photographer, and filmmaker
  • Jordan Ellenberg – John D. MacArthur Professor of Mathematics; Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Oskar Eustis – Artistic Director, The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival; Professor of Dramatic Writing and Arts and Public Policy, New York University
  • Bram Govaerts – Director General a.i., International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)Lynn Meskell – Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor; Richard D. Green Professor of Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences; and Professor in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
  • Keri Putnam – Producer, consultant, and award-winning film and television executive; Co-founder, ReFRAME
  • Dawn Upshaw – Soprano, Founding Artistic Director, Bard College-Conservatory's Graduate Vocal Arts Program
Term Ending 2027
  • May Berenbaum '80 – Swanlund Chair of Entomology, Department of Entomology; Professor, Department of Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Tayari Jones – Professor of English and Creative Writing, Emory University, novelist
  • Ellen Rothenberg – Distinguished Professor of Biology, California Institute of Technology
Term Ending 2028
  • Sir Hilary Beckles – Vice Chancellor, University of the West Indies-UWI
  • Mabel O. Wilson – Professor, Architecture, Planning and Preservation; Professor, African American and African Diasporic Studies; and Director, Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS), Columbia University
Term Ending 2029
  • Michael Devoret – F.W. Beinecke Professor of Applied Physics, Yale University
  • Robert Stavins '80 – A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy & Economic Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Term Ending 2030
  • Cory Doctorow – Science fiction novelist, journalist, and technology activist
  • Louis Massiah ‘77 – Founding Director; Current Executive Director, Scribe Video Center
  • P. (Palagummi) Sainath – Founder and editor of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) 

Formal Campus Residencies 2025-2026

  • Cory Doctorow (Arts)  – September 12-19, 2025
  • Lynn Meskell  (Social Sciences) – September 22-26, 2025
  • Tayari Jones (Humanities) – September 18-20, 2025 *mini-visit
  • Dawn Upshaw (Arts) – October 20-24, 2025
  • Bram Govaerts (Life Sciences) – February 23-27, 2026
  • Keri Putnam (Arts) – March 16-20, 2026
  • Louis Massiah ‘77 (Arts)  – April 6-10, 2026
  • Jordan Ellenberg (Physical Sciences) – April 13-17, 2026

Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professorship

114b Day Hall
(607) 255-0832
blogs.cornell.edu/rhodes-professorship

To commemorate their 40th reunion, the Class of 1956 initiated an endowment to create the Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professorship in honor of Cornell's ninth president (1977–95). The purpose of the Rhodes Class of '56 Professorship is to strengthen the undergraduate experience by bringing to the university individuals from every walk of life who represent excellence of achievement. The professorship is awarded to those at the pinnacle of their careers in every field that enriches and expands our collective ability to grow and thrive in scholarship, public life, the professions and the arts. Such individuals share a lifetime of achievement with Cornell students. Rhodes Class of '56 Professors are appointed for a period of three years, with the possibility of renewal for two additional years, and are considered full Cornell faculty.

Individuals chosen to be Rhodes Class of '56 Professors will typically visit Ithaca for one week each year they serve. Individuals are chosen on the basis of applications submitted jointly by (at minimum) a West Campus House and an academic department. During their time on campus, Rhodes professors will be invited to reside in one of the West Campus Houses where they will spend much of their time interacting with the resident undergraduates. They will give lectures or performances in already scheduled classes as well as for the Cornell community at large. They will also be involved in meetings and discussions with members of the House in which they reside.

The first Rhodes Class of '56 Professors were appointed in 2000.

Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professor by Term

  • TBD

Formal Campus Residency 2025–2026

  • TBD