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

large group poses in comm hallway with some students squatting in front

News

COMM Updates - 4/16/2025
Conferences & Symposia Assistant Professor M. Cornejo will be participating in a panel entitled “ Margins and Mobilization: Migrant Worker Precarity and Power in the Trump-era Economy.” Bringing together scholars and activists, the panel will...
COMM UPDATES from the Department of Communication

News

Awards Graduate student Amanda Vilchez was awarded a Summer 2025 Rare and Distinctive (RAD) Language Fellowship from the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. The RAD fellowship provides students the opportunity to achieve proficiency...
two pose on red carpet in front of yellow background

News

Conferences & Symposia Associate Professor Brooke Duffy delivered a lecture entitled “The Creator Economy's Labor Revolution” at SXSW 2025 in Austin, Texas. Despite the astonishing growth of the creator economy, social media creators remain...

Communication in the News

AAAS logo

News

Ecologist Jed Sparks elected AAAS Fellow

A current Cornell faculty member and an incoming professor have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Communication
  • Media
New York State Assemblyperson Anna Kelles (D-125th District) addresses an Emerson Hall audience on Feb. 28 during “What’s Next for STEM Research,” an expert panel organized by the graduate student-led Cornell Advancing Science and Policy Club.

News

Experts discussed support for science research during a pair of panels organized by faculty and students on Feb. 28.

  • Communication
Laptop displaying a graphic of the planet with tree, recycling, light bulb, and hands icons

News

A study tracked users of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Habitat Network platform, comparing "citizen science" and "environmental stewardship" labeling in the environmentally focused yard mapping tool.

  • Cornell Atkinson
  • Lab of Ornithology
  • Communication

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