🟡 Arts Quad

The largest college at Cornell, the College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 2,000 courses to 4,600 students in foundational disciplines including English, mathematics, chemistry, economics, foreign languages, music and performing arts. With no core curriculum, classes build upon each other, crossing traditional academic boundaries to further interdisciplinary understanding.

Many Arts and Sciences students take advantage of special academic pathways, like the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity, the Humanities Scholars Program and the Robert S. Harrison College Scholar Program, which allows participants to create their own major.

Rich library collections empower groundbreaking scholarship by Cornell students and faculty in all fields of study. Students may access millions of digital and print resources, including treasures like a 1623 Shakespeare folio and the Cornell Hip Hop Collection. Library staff help students navigate the collections and hone research skills to be successful at Cornell and beyond.

Cornell’s 18 libraries provide spaces for quiet study collaboration, with some — such as Olin and Mann — offering cafés to refuel. The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in the Carl M. Kroch Library mounts annual exhibitions and holds approximately 1.3 million volumes across 97,000 square feet.

Situated at the north end of the Arts Quad, the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) offers renowned undergraduate degree programs in architecture, fine art and urban and regional studies.

AAP undergraduates join a rigorous and supportive community, enjoying resources in Ithaca and at global programs in Rome (Cornell in Rome) and New York City (Gensler Family AAP NYC Center). In principle and practice, AAP prepares the next generation of architects, artists, designers and urbanists to build a more just, sustainable and equitable world.

McGraw Tower, located at the south end of the Arts Quad on Ho Plaza, is a beloved campus landmark. Adjacent to the tower is Uris Library, one of numerous libraries operated by the university and home to the stunningly beautiful A. D. White Reading Room, a favorite study space for generations of Cornellians.

Nestled atop the tower are 21 chimes played three times daily by Cornell chimesmasters, student performers with a repertoire of over 2,500 songs. Listen closely and you’ll hear the alma mater, “Happy Birthday” and the Star Wars theme, as well as familiar hits by the Beatles, Rihanna and Taylor Swift. The chimesmasters even take requests!

Although the daily concerts can normally be viewed in person, the tower will be closed to visitors until late 2024 due to construction.