Enjoy an education staycation
& connect with Cornell faculty

CAU is committed to providing you with opportunities to connect with Cornell and university faculty, online, on campus, and around the world.

Join us for synchronous multi-session online courses from the comfort of your home this summer. Classes feature live lectures with Cornell faculty or graduate students, interactive discussions with other intellectually curious people, and access to outstanding course materials and resources available only to Cornell students.

Adult online programming

View online courses

Weeklong online courses

Between July 12 and August 6, 2021, you can enjoy live, synchronous weeklong courses complemented by asynchronous content covering a variety of topics taught by Cornell faculty.

All courses combine four hours of live lecture and discussion, with small class sizes to encourage meaningful interactions with a faculty instructor. Each course includes an additional three hours of pre-recorded lecture material to watch at your convenience, along with a rich selection of supplemental resources chosen by your instructor. Course content will be delivered via the online learning system Canvas.

These courses will give you the opportunity to learn, ask questions, chat with classmates, and participate in discussions with faculty and fellow students.

A Certificate of Completion will be issued to students who complete the class, documenting your participation in a Cornell lifelong learning course.

Registration is required and each course costs $250 per person. Each person must have a unique email address to register for a course. Multiple individuals cannot use the same email address. Some courses may have additional recommended materials fees. See the course pages for details.

Space is limited to 20 students per class to help ensure meaningful interactions; register now to save your spot!

Unable to attend a session? Contact us at cauinfo@cornell.edu and request approval to attend the alternative live section. Recordings of most sections will be made available within 24 hours of the section meeting time. (Note: Due to copyright issues, not all sessions will be available for recording.)

Schedule

Free webinars and videos

Enjoy free online content featuring CAU lectures and courses taught by Cornell faculty.

Youth & teen online programming

Stay connected

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Disability services

Cornell University is committed to providing universal access to all university programs. Please contact CAU director Lora Gruber-Hine (lkh24@cornell.edu, 607.255.4800) to request any needed disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

Thank you to our donors

Free online courses and virtual webinars are made possible in part by support from the following funds:

  • The A. David and Nancy Tobin Seminar for the Arts
  • The Kathy Dwyer Marble ’63, MAT ’65, CAU Seminar
  • The Catherine S. Penner Seminar in Writing or Literature, in honor of CAU director emeritus Catherine Penner for her years of distinguished leadership
  • The Walter and Susan Schenker Course in the Humanities or Creative Arts
  • The Ralph Janis Seminar in History, in honor of CAU director emeritus Ralph Janis for his years of distinguished leadership

We’re very grateful to all of our donors for their generous contributions to CAU. If you're interested in supporting our programs, please see ways to give.