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
Anthropology
Asian Studies
Black Studies
Climate Studies
Commerce and Society
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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
10:00–11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, February 25, 2025
10:00am - 11:30am
Lokey 116
Light Refreshments
✨ Calling all majors and minors in ES, NAIS, BLST, and LTNX✨
The path after college isn’t always clear, but IRES and ethnic studies alumni are here to help!
Please join us for an IRES careers and mentorship panel featuring four University of Oregon ethnic studies alumni with experience working in non-profits, organizing, government, law, art, social work, education, and more.
Build knowledge, build confidence, build networks, connect with mentors in your field.
noon
Please join the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies for the 2026 Sally M. Gearhart Lecture with Kemi Adeyemi, Associate Professor of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington, on “Bad Dance: Making Queer and Lesbian Community.”
To hear them tell it, studs are bad dancers: awkward, self-conscious, unsure of the steps, their weight, or what to do with their hands. They knock knees, can’t hold twerkers up, and aren’t smooth enough. These descriptions circulate as shared knowledge, shaping expectations about who moves well, who is in the middle of the club, who ends up on the wall—and who is worthy of partnership on and off the dance floor.
This talk takes black queer people seriously as self-described “bad” dancers in order to think about the relationships between sexuality and movement, and the role of dance in shaping individual identity and collective life. I argue that narratives of bad dancing reveal how the meanings of lesbian and queer community depend upon the coordination of movement: shared rhythms that are embedded with expectations about racialized gender, sexuality, and desire. Focusing on moments when dance technique breaks down highlights how disillusionment and alienation are central, rather than incidental, to queer and lesbian dance floors—and disrupting the celebratory accounts of dance and sexuality studies can lead us to more nuanced theorizations of the politics of queer and lesbian life. Kemi Adeyemi is Associate Professor of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington. She is the author of Feels Right: Black Queer Women & the Politics of Partying in Chicago (Duke University Press, 2022) and co-editor of the volume Queer Nightlife (University of Michigan Press, 2021). Her forthcoming manual, Writing About Black Art, is a 2023 recipient of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant. Kemi founded and directs The Black Embodiments Studio, an arts writing incubator, public programming initiative, and publishing platform dedicated to building discourse around contemporary black art.
The Sally Miller Gearhart Lecture Series advances lesbian history and culture, promotes dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, supports diversity and empowers lesbian voices in higher education.
2:00–4:00 p.m.
From Jan. 21 and continuing until March 18, the Northwest Native American Language Resource Center (NW-NALRC) will be holding weekly consultation and assistance times.
From 2-3pm PST we will be providing consultation and assistance with Community Projects and Planning.
From 3-4pm PST we will be providing consultation and assistance for Supporting Language Teaching and Learning.
To join, please fill out this short form https://forms.office.com/r/D2pg3wErfj.
If you are in need of assistance, or if you have any questions, please contact nalrc@uoregon.edu.
5:00–6:30 p.m.
Join us for a film screening and Q&A with director Jeff Gipe. Half-Life of Memory: America's Forgotten Atomic Bomb Factory exposes the dangerous legacy of Rocky Flats, the central nuclear bomb production facility in the United States from 1952 until 1989, located near Denver, Colorado. The most notorious instances of contamination, neglect, and cover-ups occurred at the Rocky Flats--radioactive and hazardous waste was illegally dumped, released in deadly fires at the site, and contaminated the Denver metro area with long-lived radioactive toxins. Through powerful testimonials and extraordinary archival media, Half-Life of Memory reveals Rocky Flats' dark past and prompts critical reflection on the implications of the nation's renewed nuclear weapons buildup
Sponsors: Center for Environmental Futures, Oregon Humanities Center