The Department of Communication is a national leader in the study of communication as a social science, ranked among the top five by the National Research Council.

Our faculty and students are dedicated to understanding the role and enhancing the effectiveness of communication processes, systems and infrastructure in society. We explore communication in its many forms and contexts as a fundamentally social phenomenon. Our faculty members are recognized for developing and applying novel theoretical perspectives to the most pressing social and policy issues of the day.  

Our Programs & Research

Undergraduate

Our carefully constructed curriculum provides a core of contemporary communication knowledge, theory and practice: Students learn how communication influences attitudes, opinions and behaviors; how communication systems work in society; and how to apply this understanding of communication to solve problems, sustain the environment, reach the public with new knowledge, and manage the intricate networks of technologies.

Graduate

Our faculty and associated Graduate Field of Communication ensure that students are familiar with a wide range of tools, theories and methods, and can use these skills in original empirical research that asks and answers theoretically driven, socially relevant questions. Drawing from Cornell’s outstanding scholars and resources in the social sciences, natural sciences and humanities, our students find new ways to investigate how communication shapes society.

Research

We engage in a rich variety of research at the cutting edge of the field of communication and related disciplines, conducting research in many different areas. We encourage undergraduate and graduate students to explore faculty research areas and contact individual faculty members if interested in getting involved with research. Students must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA to do research.

COMM Updates

group of individuals standing and smiling in front of Cornell University sign

News

COMM Updates - 6/14/2024
Check out our final COMM Updates for the 2023–2024 academic year—and what a year it’s been! We’ll be back in fall 2024. Awards Congratulations to our graduate student award winners! The Outstanding CALS Graduate Teaching Assistant recognizes...
woman smiling in selfie in front of house

News

Conferences Associate Professor Andrea Stevenson Won is delivering two Late-Breaking papers at the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The first (with Y. Yoo, J. Segal, and A. Hayes) is “Just Look at Them! Encouraging Self...
woman giving speech with an audience standing around her

News

Awards Associate Professor Andrea Stevenson Won, with A. H.-C., received an honorable mention for a paper to be presented at the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Entitled “The Sound of Support: The Presence of Gendered...

Communication in the News

Smoke from wildfires burning in Canada shroud the Sage Hall tower, foreground, and McGraw Tower

News

Cornell dashboard estimates mortality risk of wildfire smoke

To help local emergency managers assess danger, Cornell researchers have created the Mortality Estimation Tool to map predicted, smoke-attributed mortality statistics in near-real time.

  • Northeast Regional Climate Center
  • Health + Nutrition
  • Cornell Atkinson
A person giving another person a vaccination indoors

News

A study involving more than 3.6 million people who’d already received COVID vaccinations found that offering free Lyft rides to a vaccination site was no more enticing than simply reminding people of the importance of getting boosted.

  • Communication
  • Department of Communication
  • Behavior
a rhubarb leaf

News

Chemical ecologist Andre Kessler makes an argument for plant intelligence, citing goldenrod's flexible, real-time, adaptive responses when eaten.

  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Communication
  • Environment

Contact Us

450 Mann Library Building
phone: (607) 254-6278
email: communication [at] cornell.edu (communication[at]cornell[dot]edu)
We are located on the 4th floor of Mann Library, accessible only by the stairs/elevators within the library, which are just past the circulation desk.

Department Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 8am to 4:30pm
Friday, 8am to 3:30pm