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

PhD students having a picnic next to Cayuga Lake, beneath a willow tree, with golden hour light

News

COMM Updates - 9/9/2026
September 9, 2026 Awards Graduate student Nishat Tasnim received a Media Scholarship award from the Islamic Scholarship Fund. The organization funds scholars studying and working in fields with the greatest impact on public opinion and policy...
COMM UPDATES from the Department of Communication

News

September 4, 2026 The Department of Communication is pleased to welcome Dr. Dominic Balog-Way as an Assistant Professor. Dominic is a scholar of risk communication. His research examines how societies communicate, interpret, and govern risk amid...
4 individuals stand holding groceries

News

April 29, 2026 Awards Undergraduate student Rafaela Dandolfo Bustamante has been named the inaugural Marshall Engaged Scholar. As part of the program, Rafaela will spend summer 2026 working in public media at KNPR in Las Vegas. When she returns...

Communication in the News

Dominic Balog-Way

Spotlight

Meet our faculty: Dominic Balog-Way
Academic focus: Risk communication Research summary: I study how societies communicate, interpret and govern risk amid technological innovation, political controversy and environmental change. My research asks three interconnected questions: Why...
  • Communication
Andrea Stevenson Won, associate professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and her students visit the Center for Teaching Innovation’s Creative Technology Lab.

News

After a successful pilot launch in the spring, Cornell’s AI Critical Literacy Program will be offered in the fall to all incoming students as well as other interested students, faculty members and staff.

  • Neurobiology and Behavior
  • Communication
Illustration of a woman running on a smart phone

News

Online content creator burnout is, in part, “unspeakable” – a product of a confluence of factors, including the informal nature of platform labor and the privileged status of creative work, seen by many as a “dream job.”

  • 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