The fall semester moved most classes online, but the winter session will be completely virtual. Although the winter session will have an expanded course roster, it will not offer students any in-person options.
Many Cornell students and professors plan to continue their academic work through winter session classes, but will have to do so in a virtual setting. Because of this, facilitators will expand the number of classes held and adapt pre-existing programs to the online format.
Ann Morse, the executive director of communications and marketing at the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions, said all classes will occur within one session from Jan. 4 to Jan. 23.
Recurring courses that have been popular in the past, according to Morse, include PLBIO 2400: Green World, Blue Planet, HD 2600: Introduction to Personality and ILRST 2100: Introductory Statistics.
Visiting students must register for winter courses by Dec. 7. Continuing Cornell students can register until Jan. 4, when classes begin. Morse explained that registration usually picks up in the few weeks prior.
The winter session roster will add 10 new courses. The Center for Teaching Innovation worked alongside SCE during the summer to maximize course offerings and impact during the pandemic.
“They’ve been really proactive in helping faculty and our school either initiate new offerings and make sure they’re high quality and accessible or convert existing offerings,” Morse said.
The winter session course roster will continue to add classes over the next few days. Specifically, the School of Hotel Administration and the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management will add brand new classes, Morse said.
One SCE course that has undergone major adaptations is the human ecology course “Practicing Health Equity: Theory and Online Fieldwork in Brooklyn.” Sam Beck, director of Cornell’s Urban Semester, will lead the program in an online space instead of its regular venue in Brooklyn.
In past sessions, class participants visited New York City to examine the diverse factors impacting community health. This year, they will study the same topic throughdifferent methods: online research, a virtual case study and daily online lectures from Weill Cornell Medicine faculty.
Other courses will proceed as they normally do during winter session. HIST 3662: Women, War and Peace In Europe 1900-1950, a history course taught by prof. Jomarie Alano, history, always takes place online and asynchronously. Students turn in assignments at 5 p.m. every day except for Sunday.
Students taking winter session courses look to get ahead in their coursework. Kyra Kozin ’23, a human ecology student majoring in design and environmental analysis, plans to take “Introduction to Business Management” to start her business minor.
Kozin chose not to take classes during the fall semester, and she said she wouldn’t participate in the winter session otherwise.
“I’m going to get it over in three weeks rather than spend the whole semester on it,” Kozin said. “I am not a fan of online learning.”