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For 55 years, CAU has been creating the "Best. Summer. Ever." for alumni, family, and friends on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York. Now, as you are about to embark on your own "Best. Summer. Ever," start your learning adventure with a history lesson about how this legendary program grew from an earnest dream (pun intended, for those of you who already know this cherished tale) into the vibrant, full-scale experience you are about to share with participants from all over the world.
This intriguing story will be revealed in installments, so check back frequently to learn more!
Here's our first installment!
CAU is celebrating 55 years of learning! It’s 2023, and many of the trends of the 1970s like bell bottoms are back in style! Fondue restaurants are popping up in chic cities again. Throwback Atari games can be downloaded for your iPhone. And of course, kids are still solving Rubik’s cubes in record speed.
As trends come and go, one thing never goes out of style: learning at CAU! Some might think that learning in the ’70s was a much different experience than it is today. Back then, you had to rely on textbooks, encyclopedias, and lectures to get your information. Fast forward to today, and learning looks much different. You can search the internet and even have artificial intelligence (AI) do the thinking for you. But even with all the advances in technology, there are still some similarities between learning in the ’70s and learning today.
Learning today is the same as it was in the ’70s in the sense that, no matter the era, some students will find themselves dozing off in class. In the ’70s, students may have been caught snoozing in geometry, while today's students may be found snoozing in AP Calculus. Seriously though, going to class, engaging in learning through discussions, active learning, and exchanges within your classmates and professors is a timeless classic.
Active engagement is a necessity for learning and gaining knowledge, while styles come and go with the changing times. CAU has been providing the opportunity for deep, rich lifelong learning since 1968, and CAU’s fundamental mission has remained steadfast and steady.
Whether you're interested in taking a course in art history, mastering a new skill, or exploring the world of finance, CAU has something for you. CAU classes are taught by world renowned professors, and CAU faculty are passionate about their work and dedicated to the art of lifelong learning.
With a variety of topics and classes, you’ll be sure to find something that piques your interest. Discover the power of learning. We are thrilled you will be with us this summer to share the experience that so many before us have loved and cherished. At CAU, learning never goes out of style!
Here’s your second installment!
What was happening in the world while CAU hosted the first CAU Summer in 1968? Lots! In sports news, Billie Jean King won the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles tennis competition and the United States brought home 107 medals in the Olympic Games in Mexico City! (Who can forget seeing the Fosbury Flop for the first time?!) Charlene Mitchell became the first Black woman to run for president, and Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey was leading Republican Richard M. Nixon in the polls by 46% to 35%.
And here in Ithaca? CAU launched the first CAU Summer with one week-long residential course! Over the next ten years, CAU Summer grew to five or six courses each week for four weeks In 1973, CAU was among the first American universities to offer alumni, family, and friends the chance to travel together with Cornell faculty who are specialized in each destination. In 1980, CAU led its first tour to China—a huge milestone—Over the years, CAU grew from offering weekend birding excursions with Cornell ornithologists to making it possible for you to learn on location around the globe with acclaimed scholars, You’ve been traveling with CAU ever since!
Fifty-five years later, CAU is still focused on providing vibrant, engaging, faculty-driven content for people who are smart, active, curious, and driven to learn more. Like you! So far in 2023, CAU participants have experienced Egypt, Hawaii, and Greece with leading Cornell faculty. To learn more about traveling with Cornell faculty in 2023 and 2024, go here .
It’s not too late to invite your friends to join CAU Summer 2023! Stay tuned for another installment of the history of CAU!
"I dwell in possibility." —Emily Dickinson
Join this private group to start getting to know other each other before CAU Summer even starts!
You will receive an invitation to join the group by email. You may have to look for the invite in your clutter, other, junk, or spam folder. Don't want to wait for that email? Go into Facebook and search for CAU Summer 2023 and request to join the group.
• Gmail users: The invite will appear in your "social" tab.
• Cornell.edu users: You may experience difficulty responding to the email invitation. If that happens, go into Facebook, search for CAU Summer 2023, and request to join the group.
If you don't get the invite, or you experience any issues joining, just email the CAU team cauinfo@cornell.edu for further assistance.
Faculty:
Corey Ryan Earle '07, Visiting Lecturer in American Studies
Evan Fay Earle '02, MS '14, Dr. Peter J. Thaler '56 University Archivist
Morning classes will be held in the Cornell Archives, Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC) on Level 2B in Kroch Library. Enter Kroch Library by the clocktower entrance and follow the hallway to the back of the building. Go down the spiral staircase to the bottom and follow the signs to the RMC area. Afternoon classes will be held in the Day Hall Boardroom, located on the third floor of Day Hall. From the west entrance closest to the Arts Quad, go to the third floor, follow the hallway to the end, and turn right. The boardroom is at the end of the hall. Both buildings are located on the Central Campus north of the Arts Quad.
“I am still learning.” —Michelangelo at age 87
Faculty:
Catherine K. Blumenkamp, Lecturer in Human Centered Design
This course will be held in room T13 in the Human Ecology Building. The Human Ecology Building is on Forest Home Drive. HEB is situated between Martha Van Rensselaer Hall (MVR) and Beebe Lake. It is on top of a parking garage. From within MVR, go to level T, walk through the Commons, and turn right at the other end - you are now in HEB. GPS: enter “37 Forest Home Dr, Ithaca, NY 14853.”
“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” —Charles Mingus
This course will meet in the teaching lab of the Teaching Winery in Stocking Hall on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The 3,900-square-foot teaching winery provides a state-of-the-art facility for major and non-major students to learn all aspects of converting grapes into wine. The facility offers a range of winemaking equipment for students to explore a broad spectrum of winemaking styles. Temperature-controlled fermentation tanks and storage rooms allow simulation of conditions at modern wineries. On Thursday, the class will meet at the Discovery Kitchen, a state-of-the-art teaching facility located in Toni Morrison Dining Hall. On Friday, the class will meet at Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall before traveling by van for an off-campus wine tour and luncheon.
“I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” ~Diane Ackerman
Faculty:
Raymond Craib, the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History
(in order of preference):
Isabel Allende, My Invented Country. A wonderful memoir by one of the most important novelists of our time.
Pablo Neruda, Memoirs. The life of one of Chile’s two Nobel-prize winning poets, in his own words and completed shortly before his death in 1973.
Gabriela Mistral, Selected Poems (ed. and trans. by Ursula K. LeGuin). An excellent collection of the poetry of Chile’s other Nobel-prize winner, Gabriela Mistral.
Pedro Lemebel, My Tender Matador. A moving, funny, and serious novel set in the authoritarian Chile of the 1980s by an important queer activist and writer.
This course is taught in 149 Lincoln Hall, a handsome brick structure built in 1881. You may enter through the Arts Quad or Feeney Way and walk down the hall to room 149. After class, you may visit the Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance, which has an excellent collection containing approximately 131,000 periodicals, books, scores, and parts; 56,000 sound and video recordings; and a microfilm collection of early printed and manuscript sources. Its depth and breadth serve the needs of a wide variety of users on the campus. Highlights of the research collection include early opera libretti and scores, eighteenth-century keyboard and chamber music, and an archive of American popular songs from 1850-1950.
“To be running breathlessly, but not yet arrived, is itself delightful, a suspended moment of living hope.” —Anne Carson
Faculty:
Vanya Rohwer, Curator of Birds & Mammals, Lab of Ornithology
Welcome to Natural History Collections with Vanya Rohwer. Your instructor has provided this survey to learn a little more about you!
Allison Byrne, Reimagining the Future of Natural History Museums with Compassionate Collection.
Chris Filardi et al, a sequence of stories surrounding the collection of a single Mustached Kingfisher.
Emma Marris, Bloodshed for Diversity.
Vanya Rohwer, Yasha Rohwer, Casey Dillman, Declining Growth of Natural History Collections Fails Future Generations.
This course is taught partly on campus, at the Lab of Ornithology and out in nature. On campus part of the week the class will meet in in 316 Lincoln Hall, a handsome brick structure built in 1881. You may enter through the Arts Quad or Feeney Way and take the elevator or stairs to the third floor. After class, you may visit the Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance, which has an excellent collection containing approximately 131,000 periodicals, books, scores, and parts; 56,000 sound and video recordings; and a microfilm collection of early printed and manuscript sources. Its depth and breadth serve the needs of a wide variety of users on the campus. Highlights of the research collection include early opera libretti and scores, eighteenth-century keyboard and chamber music, and an archive of American popular songs from 1850-1950. A van will take the class on trips to natural areas around the Lab of Ornithology for exploration and to visit the Lab of Ornithology to tour various collections at the lab.
Dedicated to advancing the understanding and protection of the natural world, the Cornell Lab joins with people from all walks of life to make new scientific discoveries, share insights, and galvanize conservation action.
"It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer." —Albert Einstein
Faculty:
Matt Baughan, Head Varsity Coach for Men’s Golf with Kelly Baughan and staff of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course
The Cornell University golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones and proves to be a challenging test for all levels of golfers. The course is conveniently located at the edge of the Cornell University campus. Our facility has all the amenities needed to improve your game from tee to green – practice greens, chipping area, practice sand trap, and 300-yard driving range. There is ample parking for your vehicle, or you can walk from north campus to the course. You may leave your labeled clubs and equipment at the clubhouse each day.
“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.” —Doris Lessing
This course is taught in 107 Lincoln Hall, a handsome brick structure built in 1881. You may enter through the Arts Quad or Feeney Way and walk down the hall to room 107.
After class, you may visit the Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance, which has an excellent collection containing approximately 131,000 periodicals, books, scores, and parts; 56,000 sound and video recordings; and a microfilm collection of early printed and manuscript sources. Its depth and breadth serve the needs of a wide variety of users on the campus. Highlights of the research collection include early opera libretti and scores, eighteenth-century keyboard and chamber music, and an archive of American popular songs from 1850-1950.
“There is divine beauty in learning… To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps.” —Elie Wiesel
Welcome to Nature Photography with Jennifer Gioffre Todd and David Todd. Your instructors have provided this survey to learn a little more about you!
Nature Photography will be out in nature, taking pictures each morning and in the Photography Lab located in Tjaden Hall each afternoon. Tjaden Hall houses the Olive Tjaden Gallery, the Experimental Gallery, numerous classrooms and art studios, printmaking labs, and a darkroom. Formerly known as Franklin Hall, the structure was built during a university building boom in the late 19th century. Named for America's first great scientist, Benjamin Franklin, this first home for physics and chemistry on the Cornell campus was designed by the Reverend Charles Babcock, the university's first professor of architecture, who designed several campus buildings during his tenure. The building was completed in 1883.
“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” —Dorothy Parker
Welcome to Art for Its Time with Nancy Green and Maryterese Pasquale-Bowen. Your instructors have provided this survey to learn a little more about you!
This course will meet at the Johnson Museum of Art. The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art welcomes visitors to experience original works of art across a wide spectrum of global traditions, time periods, and media for education, inspiration, and delight. Enjoy connecting to the vibrant intellectual and cultural life of Cornell University through exhibits and displays while in class and out.
“The precise role of the artist, then, is to illuminate that darkness, blaze roads through that vast forest, so that we will not, in all our doing, lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place.” —James Baldwin
This course is taught in 124 Lincoln Hall, a handsome brick structure built in 1881. You may enter through the Arts Quad or Feeney Way and walk down the hall to room 124. After class, you may visit the Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance, which has an excellent collection containing approximately 131,000 periodicals, books, scores, and parts; 56,000 sound and video recordings; and a microfilm collection of early printed and manuscript sources. Its depth and breadth serve the needs of a wide variety of users on the campus. Highlights of the research collection include early opera libretti and scores, eighteenth-century keyboard and chamber music, and an archive of American popular songs from 1850-1950.
"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement." —Golda Meir
This course will meet daily in the Discovery Kitchen in Morrison Dining Hall. The Discovery Kitchen is a full-scale teaching kitchen with 12 two-person cooking stations and direct demonstrator visual consoles at each station. A collaboration between Cornell Dining and the Department of Nutritional Sciences, the Discovery Kitchen is a great space to hold class. We are thrilled to have our class there each day!
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan
This course is taught partly on campus, at the Lab of Ornithology, and out in nature. On campus part of the week, the class will meet in Klarman K42. Klarman Hall introduced many new green-building features to our campus, including natural-daylight shafts for the building’s interior, rainwater reclamation systems that will save valuable water resources, and an innovative rooftop photovoltaic power-purchase-agreement model. Enter Klarman from Feeney Way, and K42 is located on the first floor, near the north connection to Goldwin Smith Hall’s first-floor corridor. A van will take the class on trips to natural areas around the Lab of Ornithology for exploration and to visit the Lab of Ornithology to tour various collections at the lab.
Dedicated to advancing the understanding and protection of the natural world, the Cornell Lab joins with people from all walks of life to make new scientific discoveries, share insights, and galvanize conservation action.
Expedition to Antarctica: Ancient Landscapes to Current Soundscapes
January 9 - 21, 2024
“People will tell you were they have gone, they'll tell you where to go, but until you get there for yourself you never really know.” —Joni Mitchell
Each day, the class will visit a different geological wonder of the Finger Lakes region. Professor Allmon will guide you through each adventure with detailed explanations and marvel you with deep knowledge of local geological history. You will meet at the entrance of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall at the start of each day. Severe weather plans include the Museum of the Earth and Lincoln Hall 316.
Expedition to Antarctica: Ancient Landscapes to Current Soundscapes
January 9 - 21, 2024
“Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended with diligence.” —Abigail Adams
Faculty:
Mark Holton, Lindseth Co-Director of Cornell Outdoor Education
This course takes you on daily adventures around campus and local areas. Transportation is provided, and the class will meet at the entrance of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall each morning before departure.
“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
The sailing course is located at the Cornell Merrill Family Sailing Center, 1000 East Shore Dr., which is also State Route 34 North towards Lansing. The middle of the lake reaches depths over 500ft, but off the sailing center, the water is roughly 15ft deep. On the water, we are provided with various sailing conditions, and the balance of conditions provides a tremendous natural arena for us. Northerly winds are typically steady, bringing 2-3ft waves rolling down the lake. It’s a great condition for straight-line speed and tuning. Southerly winds generate flat water & shifty conditions, something we see at many other college venues. Easterly winds are rare because of the general weather patterns. Westerly winds create dynamic sailing conditions due to the local typography featuring high hills.
"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." (Chinese proverb)
Everything you need to know about CAU Summer social and educational offerings, staying on campus, getting to campus, what to do in your free time, and more!
From a Broadway-filled weekend in NYC, to an Antarctica cruise with Cornell scientists, CAU keeps learning with you. In addition to CAU Summer, CAU offers domestic and international study tours and subject-specific seminars.
In this 2020 webinar from the CAU Archives, Nancy Green, the Gale and Ira Drukier Curator at Cornell's Johnson Museum of Art (retired) explores a special exhibition curated to mark the 100 year anniversary of women being granted suffrage. Green is co-teaching this summer's course, Art for Its Time: Reflections of Recent American Movements.
In this 2020 webinar from the CAU Archives, Jennifer Gioffre Todd (Art & Photography Studio Manager) and David Todd (eCornell Course Facilitator and Visiting Lecturer, Art as Experience, Department of Art) take us on a photographic tour as we explore our most familiar surroundings in a new light. Travel room by room with the Todds to rediscover how famous photographers have created some of their best work right at home. The Todds are teaching Nature Photography this summer.
Cornell’s Adult University
Cornell University Alumni Affairs and Development
607-255-6260
cauinfo@cornell.edu
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Division of Alumni Affairs and Development
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Ithaca, NY 14850
