Department Homepage
The College of Arts & Sciences
Since 1958, a collaboration between Cornell and Harvard has continuously excavated the ancient city of Sardis, Turkey, one of the longest-running projects of its kind.
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.
This month’s featured titles include the latest by a National Book Award winner and a classical history of Jewish resistance to Rome.
Ten students who participated in this summer's Nexus Scholars Program share their stories..
Barry Strauss ’74 shines a light on the resilience the Jews of Judea showed in their rebellion against the Romans.
“How to Have Willpower: An Ancient Guide to Not Giving In,” edited and translated by professor Michael Fontaine, brings together a pair of works by Plutarch and Prudentius that show how people can overcome pressures that encourage them to act against their own best interests.
Projects spanned topics from Confederate cemeteries to Korean textiles.
Cornell’s newest Ph.D.s found success even through the unexpected events of the last few years, President Michael I. Kotlikoff reminded nearly 400 doctoral graduates at the 2025 Ph.D. Recognition Ceremony on May 23 at Barton Hall.
Elaïnos Volume 1 was released Spring 2025.
Sarah Stephenson is majoring in English and classics.
Cristina Kiefaber is a Classics major.
The prize will help fund her project that combines her academic training with her artistic practice.
The award carries a stipend of $300,000; Strauss will receive the award at a ceremony on May 29 in Washington, D.C.
A virtual event with translator Emily Wilson and a daylong community reading of portions of Homer’s epic poem highlight the spring Arts Unplugged event.
Cornell experts comment on the restoration of Syria's damaged and looted historical sites.
A scholar of Greek and Roman epic and drama and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, Ahl was a member of the Cornell faculty for more than 52 years.
Max Nam '26 advises Cornell students to take a Classics course and discover the relevancy and relatability of ancient Rome.
Fellows will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
Sturt Manning, received the P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) in Boston in November.
The Nov. 2 conference will focus on an interdisciplinary approach.
“We felt this is an important resource that should be available to our humanists at all levels, whether they have the resources to pay for membership or not,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Cornell researchers have received a $150,000 NEH Digital Humanities Advanced Grant to create a 3D virtual modeling project based on the Casa della Regina Carolina, a large Pompeian house.
Cornell, the only institution offering regular multilevel instruction in all six of the major Southeast Asian languages – Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Filipino (Tagalog), Thai and Vietnamese – will host a conference on the teaching of these languages on Sept. 19-21.
"Cornell alumni are generous with their time and efforts to assist students, to answer questions from students, or connect them to people and places."
The Humanities Scholars Program welcomes Verity Platt, professor of classics and history of art in the College of Arts & Sciences, as the program’s incoming director
Peter John Loewen says he's excited to support faculty in their research, meet students and showcase the value of a liberal arts education.
Assistant professor Toni Alimi traces the connections between Augustine’s understanding of slavery and his broader thoughts.
More students can afford to stay on campus to work in faculty labs during the summer thanks to generous alumni.
This month’s feature titles include an ancient guide to romance and “the first book authored by a geological formation,” both by A&S faculty.
The Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory identified the likeliest timeline of the Hellenistic-era ship's sinking as between 296-271 BCE, with a strong probability it occurred between 286-272 BCE.
How to Get Over a Breakup is Michael Fontaine’s latest entry in a series that mines modern wisdom from classical works
Coming from the University of Toronto, where he was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen began his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.
“This year’s Humanities Scholar Program conference was spectacular. The range of topics covered, the diversity of approaches, and the level of mastery demonstrated by the students were inspiring,” said interim director Lawrence Glickman.
Kim Haines-Eitzen, the Paul and Berthe Hendrix Memorial Professor of Near Eastern studies, and Mostafa Minawi, associate professor of history and director of Critical Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Studies, will pursue research projects in residence in Durham, North Carolina.
Kim Montpelier is a classics and philosophy major.
The collection “Households in Context: Dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt” shifts the archaeological perspective from public and elite spaces such as temples, tombs and palaces to everyday dwellings and interactions of families.
Pietro (Piero) Pucci, an influential classical scholar who spent more than 50 years in the Department of Classics in the College of Arts and Sciences, died in Paris on April 7. He was 96.
As a new faculty fellow in the Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity, Adam T. Smith co-developed the new course this spring.
Pietro (Piero) Pucci, faculty member Cornell Classics, 1962-2015, and Professor Emeritus 2015-2024, died Paris April 7, aged 96.
Sarah Morris Townsend Lectures
Costanze Güthenke Townsend Lectures
Morris’ research involves the interaction of Greece with its Eastern neighbors, in art, literature, religion and culture.
The grants provide funding for students in unpaid or low-paying summer experiences to offset the cost of taking on those positions.
Julia Fritsch ’25, Cristina Kiefaber ’25, and Ashley Koca ‘25 have been selected as the 2024 Harry Caplan Travel Fellows, supported by the Department of Classics.
Hero of Alexandria's writings on things like pneumatics, pure geometry and catapults have influenced many others through the ages and his principles touch early modern inventions including the player piano and the fire engine.
This fifth cohort of Klarman Fellows is the largest since the program was launched in 2019.
Christopher S. Celenza will suggest some answers that arise from considering the history of the liberal arts, medieval and early modern universities, and the rise of the arts and sciences in the modern era.
The gathering in Rome is unique both in structure and theme, says Daniel Gallagher, a professor of practice in the classics department.
Faculty researchers paint a picture of what will happen if multilateral organizations fail to protect Armenian cultural heritage as Azerbaijan shells the disputed region.
Our 34 new faculty will enrich the College of Arts & Sciences with creative ideas in a vast array of topics.