When Corey Ryan Earle '07 began teaching the Cornell history course The First American University (AMST 2001), he had several goals: to give Cornell students a deep understanding and shared appreciation for Cornell history; to explore the university's pioneering "firsts" in U.S. higher education; and to know more about its most notable people, traditions and legacies.
But he didn't anticipate it would create a multigenerational, international community, thousands of Cornellians strong, connected by their ties to the university - past, present and future.
Corey Earle '07 speaks about the origins of the course The First American
University (AMST 2001).
"It became clear that students really appreciated learning more about where they were spending these years," Earle said, "And that helps improve their sense of community and sense of belonging. And that's really where the course came from - this idea of creating community for students, by learning more about this place and why it is the way it is."
This spring marks 10 years since Earle began teaching The First American University. Its name comes from educational historian Frederick Rudolph, who, in a 1977 book, described Cornell as "the first American university" due to its unique role as a coeducational, nonsectarian, land-grant institution that offered a broad curriculum and enrolled a diverse student body.
Earle has crafted not merely a popular course that, for most of the past decade packed Uris Auditorium every Monday evening. It has also attracted a thriving following from students, faculty and staff across all colleges and units. A decade on, the course has produced a heightened understanding of the university's history among students and a growing cadre of young alumni (as well as many older fans) who have a renewed appreciation for Cornell as a groundbreaking institution. The class also provides a contextual understanding of how the university's principles, structure and history have shaped its past, informed its present and positioned it for the future.
