We confront the most urgent and complex challenges facing people and the planet.

By uniting critical scholarship and practice at the intersections of agricultural, environmental, life, and social sciences, we advance a more equitable, sustainable, and food-secure world for all. Side-by-side with our diverse network of global and community partners, we engage in education with impact and create a flourishing world now and for future generations.

With a focus on education with impact, our transdisciplinary approach emphasizes real-world engagement on a global scale — with communities in New York State, across the United States, and around the world. Our dynamic learning atmosphere and academic culture goes beyond purely technical work to provide a balance of skill-building and analytical coursework toward transformative solutions.

A multidisciplinary approach

The world is complex. But we believe understanding is possible.

Wellbeing and inclusion

“A World that Leaves No One Behind”

Studying the causes, manifestations and consequences of poverty and inequality in the global political economy, the histories and legacies of development projects, and alternative models to promote wellbeing

Environmental sustainability

“A Greener World and Greener Economies”

Addressing strategies to mitigate or reverse the effects of climate change, helping people and communities adapt to new environmental realities, and researching the social and political dimensions of human-environment interactions

Food and nutritional security

“Sustainable and Sustaining Food Systems”

Identifying pathways to sustainable food systems while investigating the social and political dynamics of these systems across the cycle from cultivation to distribution, consumption, and recycling

How will you change the world?

Our experts on the global stage

Latest news

Discover how Global Development is committed to making a sustainable impact

David Kay in his office on campus at Cornell University

Multimedia

News

A conversation with David Kay
In a rapidly evolving world, strengthening connections between the work done in Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) program areas across the state and the related research conducted at Cornell University has never been more crucial. This episode...
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • Department of Global Development

Field Note

Meet Lauren Chuhta ’26, a double major in Global Development and Communication at Cornell CALS. Before coming to Cornell, Lauren explored local and global food security challenges through experiences with FFA and the World Food Prize Foundation...
  • Department of Communication
  • Department of Global Development
  • Communication
Man takes selfie in rural Gambia

News

How would bushwhacking the Rockies, wandering across Gambia, and working a Tesla assembly line shift your perception of global development? Meet Erik Endacott, this year’s Peace Corps Coverdell Fellow in the Global Development Master of...
  • Department of Global Development
  • Food
  • Global Development

Land acknowledgement

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York State and the United States of America. 

We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.