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Global Cornell

Cornell University

International Research Transforms Learning

Student writing on whiteboard, instructor in background

 

58 Languages

U.S. national security requires strategic language capacity.

Cornell offers 58 languages, including many of the least frequently taught—from Ukrainian to Quechua, Urdu to Burmese. Some of these languages are only taught in one or two other locations around the world.

Cornell’s world-class leadership in international studies means the United States has the language expertise it needs to respond immediately in critical parts of the world when new national interests and diplomatic strategies emerge.

Two students working by a wall that has a posterized view of Cornell and says Language Resource Center.

Learning another language brings many benefits, from better analytical agility and multitasking to being able to communicate with friends and coworkers. Cornell’s Language Resource Center prepares students for global leadership through innovative language programs that foster cross-cultural fluency.

Cross-Cultural Education Builds Local Solutions

Students interested in education policy at Cornell and Universidad San Francisco de Quito are finding they learn more by working together.

Three children working together

Curiosity Across Borders

Sule Alan (Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy) tested a classroom intervention in Turkey designed to help teachers spark children’s curiosity about science. The approach, based on universal principles of how curiosity works in the brain, improved engagement and test scores.

The research responds to a concern in American schools that many students lose interest in science by high school. Published in the American Economic Review, the study was featured in New York Times coverage of U.S. education debates.

Sule Alan in Vox

Field Learning Creates Solutions

The Cornell-Keystone Nilgiris Field Learning Program partners Cornell students with indigenous communities in southern India to create practical solutions for sustainability and conservation in a region known for its biodiversity. This unique collaboration develops leadership skills for both American and Indian participants. Research outcomes highlight community-based strategies for better environmental governance and public health.

Nilgiris field learning program
Students in Guiyang

Preparing Leaders for U.S.-China Relations

The Brittany and Adam J. Levinson Program in China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS) offers a unique approach to understanding the evolving dynamics between the world’s two largest economies. Building on Cornell’s legacy of educating diplomats, it prepares students for careers shaped by the complexities of U.S.-China relations. CAPS combines intensive language and area studies with real-world experience in Ithaca, Washington, DC, and Beijing—training future leaders to engage across borders in diplomacy, policy, and global relations.

Learn about CAPS

A video archive from the Cornell Contemporary China Initiative shares lectures from world experts on China’s economy, politics, and society.

International summer courses on brain imaging technology taught by Chris Xu (Cornell Engineering) have trained 400 global scientists, attracted talented researchers to American laboratories, and expanded U.S. scientific influence.
A Cornell peace-building course trains future U.S. changemakers through direct engagement with communities in international conflict zones, from Congo to Israel.
Cornell’s three-decade partnership with Spain’s Universidad de Cantabria led by Todd Cowen (Engineering) gives U.S. researchers access to world-class marine facilities and trains American coastal engineering experts.
As a faculty fellow with the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, K.E. von Wittelsbach (A&S) developed guidelines helping U.S. students, mentors, and academic programs create effective international service-learning programs.
Standing architecture at the Casa della Regina Carolina in Pompeii

Pompeii: Life Before the Eruption

How did people in Pompeii live before the eruption that buried their thriving city? U.S. and Italian students working with the Casa della Regina Carolina project are excavating and surveying a large house to understand domestic life in what is today one of the major tourist attractions in the world.

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