HD at Cornell University

A suggested order for the 100 courses on the map, built from prerequisite chains and how often each course has run in fall and spring across the last 12 regular terms. It is not the department’s plan, and it is not a promise a course will run. Confirm against the department’s own advising material.

Gateway courses

Each of these unlocks the largest share of downstream work on this map. Courses from other departments can appear here when they genuinely gate HD coursework.

• HD 2200The Human Brain and Mind: An Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscienceopens 9 courses (7 directly)
• HD 3300Developmental Psychopathologyopens 4 courses (4 directly)
• HD 2510Social Gerontology: Aging and the Life Courseopens 4 courses (3.5 directly)
• HD 2180Human Development: Adulthood and Agingopens 3 courses (3 directly)
• HD 3660Affective and Social Neuroscienceopens 3 courses (2 directly)
• HD 3320Gender and Psychopathologyopens 2 courses (2 directly)

The map

Intro tiers at the top, advanced work below; arrows point from a prerequisite to the course it unlocks. Courses from other departments appear where they gate HD work. Click any course to see what it requires and unlocks without leaving this page; hovering lights up its neighbors. The lists on this page carry the same courses in text form.

Showing the 100 HD and feeder courses that have prerequisite links. 111 more HD courses have no recorded prerequisites. They are listed under Tracks below, not drawn as loose dots here.

Concentration routes

The concentrations and majors that build on HD, and how their requirements are structured. Expand a program to see which courses satisfy each group, then plan it in the Planner.

Tracks

Upper-level clusters, grouped by the gateway that opens them.

The longest ladders

The deepest prerequisite chains in HD. These are the routes that take the most semesters to climb.

• 5 courses deep, ending at HD 6660

  1. BIONB 2220Neurobiology and Behavior II: Introduction to Neuroscience
  2. HD 2200The Human Brain and Mind: An Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience
  3. HD 3660Affective and Social Neuroscience
  4. HD 4660Psychobiology of Temperament and Personality
  5. HD 6660Genetic, Environmental, and Epigenetic Processes in the Development of Individual Differences

• 4 courses deep, ending at HD 4110

  1. HD 1130Introduction to Human Development
  2. HD 3300Developmental Psychopathology
  3. HD 3320Gender and Psychopathology

• 3 courses deep, ending at HD 3270

  1. HD 3280Field Practicum II
  2. HD 3270Field Practicum I

• 3 courses deep, ending at HD 3570

  1. DSOC 1101Introduction to Sociology
  2. HD 2510Social Gerontology: Aging and the Life Course
  3. HD 3570Social Inequalities in Physical and Mental Health

Grade medians

Teaching in Fall 2026

Instructors on HD sections in Fall 2026, from the registrar's schedule.

• Adam Hoffman
• Aishat Sadiq
• Anthony Burrow
• Anthony Ong
• Charles Brainerd
• Corinna Loeckenhoff
• Daniel Casasanto
• David Field
• Eve DeRosa
• Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman
• Jane Mendle
• Jonathan Rottenberg
• Jordan Wylie
• Karin Sternberg
• Kristen Elmore
• Lauren Korfine
• Marlen Gonzalez
• Misha Ailsworth
• Nora Prior
• Qi Wang
• Robert Sternberg
• Shaun Nichols
• Shimon Edelman
• Stephen Ceci
• Tom Gilovich
• Valerie Hans
• Valerie Reyna
• Vivian Zayas

Clubs & organizations

No clubs or organizations on record under HD yet.

Clubs students here join

Department events

HD does not run a page here yet. When it does, its events show up here and on the Cornell campus feed.