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College Scholar Program
The College
Scholar Program exists because the college faculty is convinced
that some students do not need the usual requirements for the degree
as guidelines in selecting courses, and that they will benefit from
and feel more satisfied with their experiences at Cornell if they
are entirely responsible for their own curricula. The program can
be useful to different students with different purposes: to explore
subjects with a little more freedom than other students enjoy, to
develop an interdisciplinary field, to pursue a subject in which
they are unusually advanced, or to study two or three distinct subjects.
The College Scholar Program is not necessarily for those who know,
or think they know, exactly what courses they will take while they
are here. It is for students who have an idea of their academic
direction, who have formulated questions they can translate into
a program, and who possess the necessary skills to carry out the
program successfully.
The program
frees up to forty students in each class from all degree requirements
except 120 credits (100 in Arts and Sciences), 34 courses, and two
semesters of P.E. This includes freedom from distribution and major
requirements. Its only requirement is the satisfactory completion
of a senior project. Scholars are, of course, free to take advantage
of all the usual academic options such as majors and study abroad.
Advising Each new
scholar is assigned a faculty adviser from the College Scholar Advisory
Board. That person will normally be the scholar's contact with the
program and a member of the senior project committee.
Seminars Each year
two or three college scholar seminars investigate basic problems
or texts. The purposes of the seminars are to prepare scholars for
interdisciplinary senior projects and to sneak some distribution
into their curricula. They are designed to help students become
aware of what a "discipline" is and to help them learn how to approach
a text or problem from various angles, such as form, the author's
approach to the subject matter, or historical and philosophical
context.
Honors A voluntary
honors track within the program has been established. Scholars who
plan to graduate with honors take two college scholar seminars (or
approved substitutes); non-scientists take at least one in some
aspect of science, and scientists at least one in the humanities
or social sciences. During the senior year, candidates for honors
who have good records (3.5 average) complete honors projects. These
can be research papers, essays on some important off-campus experience,
or artistic work. A faculty committee of three, including at least
one member of the College Scholar Advisory Board, evaluates the
projects.
Informational Meetings
Meetings are tentatively scheduled as follows to answer potential
applicants' questions about the program:
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Monday, March 2 , 5:00pm in 3331 Tatkon Center
(Balch Hall)
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Tuesday, March 3 , 12:20pm in 177 Goldwin Smith Hall
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Tuesday, March 3 , 5:00pm in 3343 Tatkon Center
(Balch Hall)
-
Wednesday, March 4 , 12:20pm in 177 Goldwin Smith Hall
If you have any questions,
please come to the Academic Advising Center (55 Goldwin Smith
Hall).
Application Due
the last Wednesday of classes before final exams, in Spring of the
freshman year - April 29, 2009.
-
The application essay (no form) should describe intellectual
questions and goals and summarize academic plans at Cornell.
They are generally three to five pages long. A cover sheet
(available in 55 Goldwin Smith) should be attached to your essay.
There is no interview.
-
A recommendation from an instructor at Cornell (including graduate
teaching assistants) should attest to the applicant's general
ability and maturity, and, if possible, to any particular talent
in the proposed field of study. The letter of recommendation
is due on the essay deadline date. The instructor writing the
recommendation may send the letter by campus mail, by email
to kag4@cornell.edu, bring
it to 55 Goldwin Smith Hall, or give it to the applicant to
hand in.
-
In addition to the essay, applicants are encouraged to submit
any other evidence of competence such as a paper for a course.
(You can retrieve this after selection.)
Selection College
Scholars are chosen by members of the College Scholar Advisory Board
and the program's director. Along with the material the applicant
submits, the selection committee considers the applicant's grades for
both fall and spring terms of their first year. The selection committee
tries to choose students who will make the best use of the program.
It is rarely more than lukewarm to the "I don't know what to do,
so let me in" and the "I need to get out of X because I don't like
it" applications. It does admit students who have no firm plans
but who seem bright, mature, interested, and capable of handling
the shock of having no guidelines. Once selected, a student remains
a College Scholar until graduation.
College Scholar research ideas - Class of '11
- Extended Musicology and Performance (Daniel Anastasio)
- Political Change and Urbanization in the Middle East (Jacob Arem)
- The Manifestations of Ancient Philosophy and its Evolution Within Societal Institutions (Shawn Bagdasarian)
- The Power of Voice: An Investigation of Past and Present Influences of Communication (Nathaniel Brown)
- The History and Future of Art: An Examination of Visual Media and Technology (Alison Coplan)
- Screen Arts, Media, and the Cultural Company(Graham Corrigan)
- Exploring Gender Identity and Socioeconomic Inequalities through Literature (Elana Dahlager)
- Culture and Visual Perception: A Two-Way Street (Madalyn Darnell)
- Transnational (1789-1914) Exchanges in Europe and America During the XIXth Centruy (Cecilia de Lencquesaing)
- The Transition of Eastern European Economic Markets to a Euro-Based System and the Impact of New Frontiers in Resource Economics (Eduard Dogaru)
- Study of History and Literature of Modern France and Russian Study of Literary Translation (Jacob Friedman)
- Modern Sand Design and a Historical Perspective on the Cultural and Political Impact of Film and Music in the Western World (Brian Han)
- The Revivalism of Shia Islam in Iraq and the Ramification of this Globally (Ali Hussain)
- A Study of the Chinese Economy (Jing Xiong Hwang)
- The Social Studies of Music (Kris Kooi)
- Neurolinguistics - Studying Brain Mechanisms Responsible for Language (Ana Lopezulloa)
- “A Freedom Still Enmeshed in Servitude”: The Feminist Struggle Against the Cultural Logic of Capitalism (Ariana Marmora)
- Examining Changes in Philosophy and Political Theory as Lenses for the Evolution of Economic Thought (Michael Milstein)
- Once Upon a Time: A contemporary Perspective of Fairy Tales and Folklore (Scott Mooney)
- Art as Power: The Rise and Fall of Renaissance Families (Caroline Paganussi)
- Minds and Machines: Aiding the Neurologically-Impaired by Applying the Findings of Neural Networks to Restore their Cognitive Functionality (Sophia Porrino)
- What is the Cash Value of Human Life? (Benjamin Preston)
- Examining the Intersection Between the Global North and South Through Literature, Language, and Development Initiatives (Meredith Shepard)
- Physiological Basis and Commercial Feasibility of Emerging Medical Technologies (Meredith Shepard)
- Relationship Between State and Individual in East Asian States (Geoffrey Squire)
- Integrated Neuroscience (Yiliu (Peter) Wang)
- Games, Demeanors and Behaviors in Industrial Organizations (WaiKin Wong)
- Art and Music: The Revolutionary Role of the Artist (Amy Zalaznick)
College Scholar research ideas – Class of ‘10
- A Rhapsody in Words: The Relationship Between Music and Literature (Julia Adolphe)
- The Role of Music and Art on Cultural Development in Cuba, Brazil, and Puerto Rico (Wren Albertson-Rogers)
- Mozart’s Operas: Music, Text, Drama, Performance (Dorian Bandy)
- Redefining America: Orientalism in US-Latin American Relations (Emma Banks)
- An Examination of Language Death in Indigenous Languages (Jonathan Bartnik)
- The Boob Tube: Interactions of Media and Gender Identity Formation (Julie Block)
- The Creative Process and Narrative Explored Through Virtual Imaging and Visual Representation (Heidi Celeghin)
- Orientalism/Occidentalism: The Cultural Relationship of the Middle East and the West (Maurice Chammah)
- Europe and the US: What Type of Alliance in the 21st Century (Luis-Francois de Lencquesaing)
- Using Ethnomedicine to Develop Culturally Sensitive Approaches to Third World Medicine (Eleanor Emery)
- Agricultural Worker’s Struggle for Social Change (Marlena Fontes)
- Social Constructions of Time and Death (Emma Herzog)
- Conservation Biology and the Benefits of Community Involvement (Iris Holmes)
- A Study in Ethnomusicology: American Musical Identity (Stephanie Jenkins)
- Another Arena: Ideology in the Near East (Suk Chun Kwak)
- Computer Science and Technical Theatre (Zachary Lipton)
- World Anarchism in Literature (Sara McDermott)
- A Marriage Proposal: The Relevance of Marriage in Modern American Society (Alka Menon)
- A Theater of Emancipation: Historical, Anthropological and Contemporary Perspectives (John Minnich)
- Understanding the Convergence of First World Countries and Spanish-Speaking Island Communities (Alissa Mrazek)
- Comparative History and Government (Chandni Navalkha)
- The Politics Behind Science: Producing Ethical Legislation in the 21st Century (Eitan Neidich)
- Looking for an Answer: Public Education Reform Through an Analysis of American History (Adam Phillips)
- Visual Art and Music: Finding a New Confluence (Noah Robbins)
- Creating Conversation with the Modern Islamic World (Rammy Salem)
- The Search for a Unified Understanding of Philosophical Ideas and the Scientific Findings of Related Disciplines (Noam Schaap)
- Searching for Meaning, Understanding, and Existence Through a Video Game (Anne Sternling)
- Film and Media Influence on Female Adolescent Identity and Empowerment (Laura Transue)
- An Examination of Transgene D57N’s Effect on Allosteric Control of Ribonucleotide Reductase in Knock-In Mice (Craig Wang)
- A Case of the “Gimmes”: America’s Obsession with Consumerism (Jennifer Warne)
College Scholar research ideas - Class of ‘09
- Marxism and Its Legacy (Gavin Arnall)
- Reading Mathematics as Critical Theorists Would…If Only They Studied Mathematics (Michael Barany)
- How literature Affects the Public Perception of Science (Janet Freilich)
- After Cultural Studies (Asad Haider)
- Computing and the Creative Mind (Chelsea Howe)
- The New Order: An Amalgamated Theory on International Relations Informed by Inter-state Politics, Resource Management, and Cultural Discord (Victoria Kahn)
- Game Theory, Inter-state Interaction, Conflict Resolution and Deterrence in Southeast Asia (Christina Kwok)
- Subsistence/Sustainability: Integrated International Development in the Global South (Jane Olin-Ammentorp)
- Comparative Colonialism: Africa and Latin America (Ezekiel Rediker)
- Fear, Awe, and Urge: How Sexuality and Mortality Affect Our Reaction to Beauty (Jane Riccobono)
- International Politics and Human Relations (Andrew Rose)
- The Existentialist Spirit in Systems of Religion, Culture and Conflict (Jeremy Siegman)
- Sensory Perception in Interdisciplinary Fields (Michal Zebede)
For more information
regarding the College Scholar Program, please contact:
Ken Gabard, Assistant Dean
E-Mail: kag4@cornell.edu
Academic Services/Advising
55 Goldwin Smith Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-5792
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