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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. 

 


News from Social Sciences

ROMANCE LANGUAGES, WOMEN'S AND GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES - Oregon Ducks come from all over the world, including the Basque Country, a small region carved out of northern Spain on the border with France. Meet Nagore Sedano Neveira and learn about her life's journey that brought her to University of Oregon.
INDIGENOUS, RACE, AND ETHNIC STUDIES - The College of Arts and Sciences is investing in its Latinx studies courses by hiring nine new tenure-track faculty members. Meet Bernadette Calafell, who's coming from Gonzaga University in Washington.
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - Associate Professor Lauren Hallett is one of three faculty members to receive a Fulbright US Scholar Program award. Hallett will use her Fulbright award to further her research on restoration ecology in Australia and Spain.

All news »

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students walking and holding possessions during Unpack the quack day

Your Gift Changes Lives

Gifts to the College of Arts and Sciences can help our students make the most of their college careers. To do this, CAS needs your support. Your contributions help us ensure that teaching, research, advising, mentoring, and support services are fully available to every student. Thank you!

Give to CAS

World-Class Faculty in the Social Sciences

portrait of Jo Weaver

Jo Weaver

Associate Professor, Global Studies and Director, Global Health Program

Lesley Jo Weaver is an academic expert in medical anthropology, global health, mental health, race, gender, chronic diseases, and food insecurity. She directs the Global Health Program at UO. Her research focuses, broadly, on the social production of health and illness. In India, Weaver’s National Science Foundation-supported research explores how the day-to-day management of type 2 diabetes shapes North Indian women’s abilities to participate in social roles considered appropriate for women of their age, class, and caste groups. In Brazil, Weaver’s work has examined how food insecurity influences physical and mental wellbeing.

Weaver co-hosts and co-produces the American Anthropological Association-sponsored podcast Speaking of Race, a longstanding program that explores the history and present-day reverberations of scientific racism around the world.

Mark Carey in Iceland

Mark Carey

Professor of Environmental Studies and Geography

Mark’s research focuses on the human dimensions of climate change and ice — from glaciers in the Andes to icebergs in the North Atlantic Ocean to glacial fjords in Greenland. The research centers on power, knowledge, and cultural narratives, with an objective to understand how knowledge systems, embedded storylines, social relations, and environmental injustices shape present-day environmental issues. The work is deeply interdisciplinary, and students in the Glacier Lab are central participants in these collaborations. Mark previously served as Director of the Environmental Studies Program.

Mark has two new interdisciplinary collaborative projects, one funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation on racial and climate justice in the Pacific Northwest (part of the Just Futures Institute) and another funded by NSF and the Navigating the New Arctic Program on “Global Changes, Local Impacts: Study of Glacial Fjords, Ecosystems and Communities in Greenland.”

Laura Pulido

Laura Pulido

Collins Professor of Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies and Geography

Laura is a qualitative social scientist who works at the intersection of geography and critical ethnic studies, especially Chicanx Studies. Her interest in these fields began as a young child fascinated by maps, landscapes, nature, and places. At the same time, everyday life taught her that we live in a racial, class and gender hierarchy that shapes our lives. Through her research and teaching she explores how these processes shape places and how places inform racial and economic processes. Most of her work explores the various ways in which racial inequality is actively produced, as well as the various means by which it is denied. She works together with graduate students in the Critical Race Lab.

She is the author of numerous books, including A People’s Guide to Los Angeles (with Laura Barraclough and Wendy Cheng, University of California, 2012). 

 

Paris, France cityscape at night

School of Global Studies and Languages

At the School of Global Studies and Languages (GSL), 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.

Explore the GSL

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.

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

Bruce McGough

Happening at CAS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

UO College of Arts & Sciences (@uocas) • Instagram photos and videos

Oct 14
How to Be Ready for the BIG10 Academia Career Fair 11:00 a.m.

Attending the BIG10 Academia Career Fair? Are you not too familiar with a virtual career fair and how it works on Handshake, specifically? Join gradCAREERS to learn how to put...
How to Be Ready for the BIG10 Academia Career Fair
October 14
11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
This is a virtual event.

Attending the BIG10 Academia Career Fair? Are you not too familiar with a virtual career fair and how it works on Handshake, specifically? Join gradCAREERS to learn how to put your best foot forward - before, during and after any virtual fair!

Attending a virtual career fair will give you an edge in landing that next job or internship. Academic and research institutions, organizations and companies who will attend this fair and all future ones want to hire UO graduate students and postdoctoral scholars —and they’ll host virtual sessions to find the students they want to interview. If you are a graduate student or postdoc scholar, register now for this free zoom session!

Oct 14
How to: Resume and Cover Letter Tips Workshop 2:00 p.m.

Are you looking for ways to really stand out as a candidate? Come learn about the basics of resume and cover letter writing and have the opportunity to ask questions on...
How to: Resume and Cover Letter Tips Workshop
January 29–October 14
2:00–3:00 p.m.
Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall 50P-University Career Center Conference Room

Are you looking for ways to really stand out as a candidate?

Come learn about the basics of resume and cover letter writing and have the opportunity to ask questions on formatting, structure, your own resume tailoring, and much more! Questions welcomed and encouraged!

This workshop is hosted by the University Career Center's Career Readiness Coaching team!  To learn more about career coaching, drop-in peer advising, and other career readiness workshops and events visit career.uoregon.edu/coaching or stop by the UCC in Tykeson Hall-Garden Level

This event is part of the 2024 Fall Career Readiness Week. To learn more about all of the week's events visit http://career.uoregon.edu/events

 

Oct 14
Physical Chemistry Seminar: “Spectroscopic Studies of Nucleic Acid Structure, Dynamics and Photophysics” 2:00 p.m.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Seminar Series Professor Julia Widom, University of Oregon Title: Spectroscopic Studies of Nucleic Acid...
Physical Chemistry Seminar: “Spectroscopic Studies of Nucleic Acid Structure, Dynamics and Photophysics”
October 14
2:00 p.m.
Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall 140

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Seminar Series

Professor Julia Widom, University of Oregon

Title: Spectroscopic Studies of Nucleic Acid Structure, Dynamics and Photophysics

RNA performs a diverse set of biological functions, many of which require it to fold into specific structures. Many techniques have been developed to study RNA folding, a number of which are based on fluorescence detection.

I will present work in which we used fluorescent analogues of the natural RNA bases to selectively probe the structures of different conformational subpopulations of RNA.

We investigated the photophysical properties of base analogues in different structural contexts using a combination of time-resolved fluorescence measurements and fluorescence-detected circular dichroism spectroscopy, which circumvents the ensemble averaging that typically limits the power of bulk spectroscopic methods such as CD.

Ensemble averaging can also be avoided by performing measurements on single molecules. I will present work in which we utilized single-molecule microscopy to investigate the ensemble of structures adopted by RNA “switches”. These studies reveal how the 3D structure of RNA is impacted by intrinsic factors such as base sequence and extrinsic factors such as the binding of small molecules.

Oct 14
History Pub Lecture Series: "Malaria Eradication in Africa, 1920-2020: A History of Failures, but What About the Present?" 7:00 p.m.

"Malaria Eradication in Africa, 1920-2020: A History of Failures, but What About the Present?" Associate Professor Melissa Graboyes The UO Department of History and...
History Pub Lecture Series: "Malaria Eradication in Africa, 1920-2020: A History of Failures, but What About the Present?"
October 14
7:00 p.m.
Whirled Pies Downtown

"Malaria Eradication in Africa, 1920-2020: A History of Failures, but What About the Present?"

Associate Professor Melissa Graboyes

The UO Department of History and the Lane County Historical Society present a series of talks with scholars about history, from the local to the global. Join us for stories, food, and conversation in a casual setting! Free and open to everyone. For more information, please visit history.uoregon.edu.