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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

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News

COMM Updates - 9/24/2026
September 24, 2026 Conferences Professor Lee Humphreys was a panel participant in the “Oral Histories of Mobile Communication” conference. How has the mobile phone impacted our lives? The Oral Histories of Mobile Communication project documents...
PhD students having a picnic next to Cayuga Lake, beneath a willow tree, with golden hour light

News

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...

Communication in the News

danah boyd bookcover

News

Jenga and the US census: way more than just counting people

A new book, “Data Are Made, Not Found,” from danah boyd, professor of communication, is an insider’s account of the 2020 census and how the pandemic and political forces from left, right and center threatened to take it down like a Jenga tower.

  • Communication
Danny Parker headshot

Spotlight

Academic focus: Poverty and political communication Research summary: As an ethnographer, I study rural and urban communities facing extreme poverty, using immersive fieldwork and participant observation to document and interpret how they...
  • Communication
Dominic Balog-Way

Spotlight

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

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