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The College of Arts & Sciences
Classics is the original interdisciplinary academic field at the heart of a Liberal Arts education. We teach and research the languages (Greek, Latin), literature, history, philosophy, science, art, and material culture that survive from the worlds of ancient Greece, Rome, and Late Antiquity, as well as people’s engagement with these ideas and artifacts throughout time. Through these media we investigate these societies and their neighbors – addressing not only the well-known monuments and famous texts but also the full range of evidence for the lives of the many people of the ancient Mediterranean. Studying the complexities of the distant past from all these angles offers fresh, critical perspectives on our present world today.
Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a lecture at Cornell on April 27, 2026. Before delivering his remarks, he visited Uris and Kroch libraries to view materials about Elias Avery Lowe 1902: his great-grandfather and one of the most notable classics graduates from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.
Jacques Bailly, Ph.D. ’97, a doctoral alumni of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, is the longtime head pronouncer for the iconic Scripps National Spelling Bee. He won the competition in 1980 at age 14 and began working as a pronouncer in 2003.
Seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program (HSP) in the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University will showcase their research at an all-day conference May 1 at the A.D. White House. Their work spans across humanities fields and also highlights intersections with science, technology, business, law and other disciplines.
Annetta Alexandridis, classical archaeologist and art historian in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences, died April 13. Known for her hands-on approach, she was associate director of the Harvard-Cornell Exploration of Ancient Sardis, Türkiye and co-curated the Cornell Plaster Cast Collection.
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.
For the ancient Greeks, an image could be understood as a seal pressed on a material to leave a mark, as opposed to an inferior imitation (mimēsis), scholar Verity Platt argues in a new book.
The Department is delighted and grateful that a Pucci Prize has been established in honor of Piero Pucci - and we thank the generous supporters who have helped to start a fund towards creating this prize - (of $1000) to be awarded to the best Cornell graduate paper presented in those academic years a CorHaLi conference is held, and otherwise the best Cornell classics graduate essay or other conference paper given that academic year. We hope others will want to support this prize fund making it a long-term annual award in honor of Piero.
Fred Ahl Prize. The Department would also very much like to honor the extraordinary contribution of Fred Ahl over 52 years at Cornell. We have created a prize fund from which to award an annual Ahl Prize for undergraduate achievement - reflecting Fred's long involvement and achievements in teaching and enthusing undergraduates at Cornell with his love of literature and drama and so much else.
If you would like to make a gift towards either or both prize funds, and wish to do on-line, please use the donation link below or the QR code. PLEASE specify which (or both) Prize Fund you wish to give money to. Please do this EITHER in the "In Honor/Memory" section OR in the "Other Designation or Special Instructions" section. Of course, old-fashioned checks are also very welcome mailed to the Classics Department (made out to "Cornell University" and again clearly indicating your choice of purpose please). Thank you very much for all and any support to help sustain and to create these prizes in honor of Piero and Fred from all the Department!
Click here to make a contribution to the Pucci and/or Ahl Prize Funds.