Social sciences provide an analytical approach to society’s problems. As a result, faculty and students in the social sciences often focus on complex and intersectional issues such as racism, international conflict and war, climate change, and poverty. Through an objective and empirical approach to these issues, the goal is to generate genuine passion and equip future leaders with the skills they need to address the world’s challenges. Explore majors, minors, concentrations, and academic programs in the social sciences.
African Studies
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World-Class Faculty in the Social Sciences
Ashley Cordes
Assistant Professor of Indigenous Media in Environmental Studies and Data Science
Ashely Cordes is an academic expert in Indigenous data sovereignty, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. Her research explores how Indigenous communities can leverage technological utilities—such as cryptocurrency and AI—for Tribal economic independence, representational and data sovereignty, and preservation of knowledge systems.
Neil O'Brian
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Neil O’Brian is an academic expert in U.S. politics focusing on public opinion, political parties, and polarization. His recent work has focused on how people’s perceptions of politics and current events affect their political attitudes. He’s recently published the book The Roots of Polarization: From the Racial Realignment to the Culture Wars (University of Chicago Press).
O’Brian is the second UO researcher to receive an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship. O’Brian is using the fellowship to further explore what he calls the “doctor’s project.” The start of this research began when he identified a partisan divide in the trust people have in their physicians; those on the political right expressed less trust in their doctors than those on the left. This is a recent phenomenon, as data showed no difference in trust in one’s doctor until a shift in 2020-21, during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. O’Brian argues the partisan divide over public health measures—such as masking and vaccines—led to less trust in the medicine industry.
Melissa Graboyes
Associate Professor of History, Global Health Program
Melissa Graboyes is a historian of modern Africa and a global health specialist whose research focuses primarily on medicine and science in the East African region.
Graboyes’ current research projects have been supported by major research funds. Her work on the history of malaria elimination on the African continent is funded by a five-year National Science Foundation CAREER award. A three-year collaborative research project on returning research results from social science disciplines to African participants—removing costly barriers to make findings more accessible—is funded with a three-year NSF award. She is also working on global health research at the local Eugene level through her project on aspects of care for people who inject drugs.
As a mentor, Graboyes works with undergraduate students in research groups. She leads the Global Health Research Group, which helps students gain skills and tools for conducting undergraduate research. The group consists of students interested in global health-related topics, as well as students majoring in a STEM field who are interested in ethics, history and the processes of science.
Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages
At the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages, UO students engage with diverse cultures, languages, histories, and lifeways across the world. Students of the social sciences, from Anthropology to Sociology, will broaden and deepen their education in their field by viewing it—and experiencing it—through a global lens. GSL prepares our graduates for life after college with an interdisciplinary curriculum, innovative language teaching, abundant learning opportunities outside the classroom, and paths of study that lead to many options for real-world careers.
Research in the Social Sciences
Research in the social sciences investigates human behavior and the motivations that influence it. Although some of our research occurs in the lab, much of it is conducted out in the field using a variety of methodological approaches, from exploratory to experimental. The results of our research often carry societal-level implications and may point to solutions for addressing local, national, or global challenges.
2024-2025 Sponsored Research in Social Sciences
Between July 2024 and June 2025, researchers in CAS received $83 million to fund 199 research projects, including approximately $6 million for Social Sciences. The research projects, which span divisions and fields of study, represent CAS's commitment to curiosity, discovery, and innovation.
Explore Other Majors and Minors in the College of Arts and Sciences
Meet Our Dean
Welcome to the social sciences division of the College of Arts and Sciences. Within our community, we address some of the world’s problems—big or small—through interdisciplinary research and critical thinking. What drives us is a passion for exploring human behavior and society.
The social sciences provide the necessary foundation for any academic inquiry, from the creative arts to the natural sciences. Inside the classroom, we lead courses that are engaging and thought-provoking, inspiring students to become better citizens of our world and work toward a more inclusive future.
We also believe real-world experience offers some of the most impactful learning opportunities. From internships to study abroad trips that offer new cultural experiences, our students regularly engage in hands-on learning work that reaches across social, disciplinary, and geographic boundaries, allowing them to forge new connections and spark new ideas.
We look forward to changing the world with you.
Bruce McGough
Divisional Associate Dean, Social Sciences
Happening at CAS
noon
The Composition Writing Lab is holding a drop-in event focused on research and writing support heading into finals for WR 121z, WR 122z, and WR 123 course assignments – come ask questions, get research help from a UO Libraries expert, and chat with tutors! Snacks will be provided, along with support and resources for students in these courses.
The lab is to the left of the elevators on the third floor of Tykeson Hall.
3:00–3:50 p.m.
What happen to jobs, wages, and opportunity as AI transforms the labor market? Join leading economist Betsey Stevenson for a conversation on research, policy, and what today's students should know about tomorrow's workforce. Live Q&A.
4:00 p.m.
Please join the Department of Geography for the Colloquium Series talk: “Storing the Renewable Energy Transition: Emerging Critical Geographies of Green Hydrogen” with Kelly Kay, Associate Professor in the Geography Department at UCLA.
“Green hydrogen has been touted as “the holy grail of decarbonization” (Scita et al. 2020) due to its perceived versatility and promise as a viable alternative for difficult to decarbonize sectors, including shipping, trucking, aviation, iron and steel, and chemicals. Despite such optimism, many green hydrogen projects have recently failed. This presentation draws on new and ongoing research from Australia and Utah to understand the uneven rollout of green hydrogen technologies, their early successes and failures, and the social and environmental justice dimensions of hydrogen’s current deployments. In particular, in my talk I will focus on three key features of the current conjuncture: hydrogen’s distinct materiality—including what I call its “fuelness,” hydrogen’s reliance on increasingly unstable forms of green state capitalism, and hydrogen’s distinct remaking of hydrosocial relations and the water-energy nexus.”
Kelly Kay is an Associate Professor in the Geography Department at UCLA. She completed her PhD in Geography at Clark University, and prior to UCLA, she held positions at the London School of Economics and UC Berkeley. Kelly is a political ecologist who draws heavily from geographical political economy and legal geography, and her work tackles questions of natural resource management and governance in North America. Currently, she is working on a book project looking at the impacts of institutional investment of timberland on rural communities in Georgia and Oregon. She has also begun work on a new research project on the framing of green hydrogen as a renewable energy panacea and the ecological and social impacts of the emergent hydrogen economy in the US and Australia.
1:00–2:00 p.m.
The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) is pleased to announce a dynamic roundtable discussion featuring new UO faculty members across various departments whose work focuses on Latino/a and Latin American studies.
Bernadette Calafell is a Professor of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies whose work centers on Latina/o/x and Indigenous feminisms, performance, embodiment, and decolonial storytelling.
Salomé Herrera is an Assistant Professor of Latinx Literature and Cultural Production whose research explores contemporary Latinx writing, aesthetics, and political imagination across the Americas.
Ramón Resendiz is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology whose research examines Indigenous histories, memory, and survival, with a focus on colonial violence, land, and resistance in the Americas.
Please join us in welcoming these faculty members to UO and learning about their research, coursework, and the valuable contributions they will make in educating students about Latinx and Latin American issues across disciplines.
Lunch will be provided. We hope to see you there!