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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

ANTHROPOLOGY, GLOBAL HEALTH - Mentored by professors Jo Weaver of global studies and Josh Snodgrass of anthropology, CAS students in this research group all share a common goal: conducting interdisciplinary research with a social impact.
GLOBAL STUDIES — This year's Foreign Language and International Studies Day offered a vibrant celebration of languages, cultures and the arts for high school students. Attendees came from 19 Oregon high schools, some traveling from as far north as Seaside, as far south as Roseburg and as far east as Pendleton.
ENGLISH, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - On Thursday, May 8 and Friday, May 9, a cross-campus co-hosted symposium will focus on how the arts and humanities can address the threats that ocean species face. Blue Visions: Thinking with Ocean Ecologies across the Arts and Humanities is co-hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Environmental Futures (CEF), Oregon Humanities Center, and the Department of English.

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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

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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. 

Her book Indigenous Currencies: Leaving Some for the Rest in the Digital Age (MIT Press) challenges settler economics and currencies and argues that Indigenous currencies—from wampum and beads to the cryptocurrency MazaCoin—transcend economic value and possess a cultural, social and political context. The book has a publish date of April 2025.Cordes is a recent American Council of Learned Societies Fellow and an enrolled citizen of the Coquille Nation. She serves on the Tribal Resilience Taskforce and previously severed as Chair of the Culture and Education Committee of the Kōkwel/Coquille Nation. 

Political Science faculty member Neil O'Brien stands outside smiling with arms crossed

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.

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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.

 

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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.

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

May 23
Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies Presents: A Talk with Author Dean Spade on “Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together" 11:00 a.m.

The Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies Presents: “Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together.” Join us for...
Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies Presents: A Talk with Author Dean Spade on “Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together"
May 23
11:00 a.m.
Erb Memorial Union (EMU) Redwood Auditorium (Room 244)

The Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies Presents: Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together. Join us for a book talk and reception with Author Dean Spade on Friday, May 23 at 11 am in the Redwood Auditorium (EMU 244). Free book available to the first 100 people! 

Dean Spade is the author of Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law and Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the next). He has worked for twenty-five years in movements for trans liberation, prison abolition, and anti-militarism. His latest book,  Love in a F*cked Up World: How To Build Relationships, Hook Up and Raise Hell Together, was published by Algonquin Press in January 2025. Find him at deanspade.net.

Free and open to the public.

Cosponsored by LGBT Education and Support Services and the Mellon Foundation

 

May 23
Spring Ring Lecture noon

Brief presentations by Global Studies and Languages faculty, discussion and light catering From Memory to Algorithm: Technoloical Mediation of Knowledge in "Ypsilon...
Spring Ring Lecture
May 23
noon
McKenzie Hall Yamada Language Center

Brief presentations by Global Studies and Languages faculty, discussion and light catering

From Memory to Algorithm: Technoloical Mediation of Knowledge in "Ypsilon Minus"  (Daniel Quintero, PhD Candidate) 

AI Intergration and Collaborative Learning in the Utopian Heterotopian, and Dystopian Furture of Language Education (Jon Dell Jaramillo PhD, Career Instructor of Spanish)

May 23
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE 7:30 p.m.

Music and Lyrics by William Finn Book by Rachel Sheinkin Conceived by Rebecca Feldman Additional Material by Jay Reiss Originally Directed on Broadway by James...
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
May 23–June 8
7:30 p.m.
Miller Theatre Complex Hope Theatre

Music and Lyrics by William Finn Book by Rachel Sheinkin Conceived by Rebecca Feldman Additional Material by Jay Reiss Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine Originally produced on Broadway by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo Barrington Stage Company, Second Stage Theatre

Directed by Tara Wibrew

An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming “ding” of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves a champion! At least the losers get a juice box.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

May 24
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE 7:30 p.m.

Music and Lyrics by William Finn Book by Rachel Sheinkin Conceived by Rebecca Feldman Additional Material by Jay Reiss Originally Directed on Broadway by James...
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
May 23–June 8
7:30 p.m.
Miller Theatre Complex Hope Theatre

Music and Lyrics by William Finn Book by Rachel Sheinkin Conceived by Rebecca Feldman Additional Material by Jay Reiss Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine Originally produced on Broadway by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo Barrington Stage Company, Second Stage Theatre

Directed by Tara Wibrew

An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming “ding” of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves a champion! At least the losers get a juice box.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com