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.
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World-Class Faculty in the Social Sciences
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.
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.
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).
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.
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
Happening at CAS
Welcome back, Ducks! Cheers to a great summer term. 🎉#UOCAS pic.twitter.com/xmTL3jke4A
— UO College of Arts and Sciences (@uocas) June 24, 2024
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Looking for a part-time job this winter/spring in Eugene? Or want to learn more about future work-study opportunities during your time at UO? Stop by the UO Part-Time Job & Work-Study Fair, Wednesday, January 15, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Tykeson Hall 1st Floor Commons area to meet local and on-campus employers hiring for seasonal employees! Bring your resume and apply on the spot, or just look around and learn more about the great ways you can get work experience and build career readiness skills during your time at the UO.
FYI: Work-Study is a specific type of part-time job available to students based on financial need. If a job says it requires Work-Study, you must have accepted an award on Duckweb. To learn more about the program and how to find your award, check out https://career.uoregon.edu/jobs-and-internships/work-study
There will still be LOTS of jobs at this event that do not require work-study in order to apply--something for everyone!
Register in Handshake to keep up to date on which employers are coming to the fair and what jobs you can be applying for!
5:00–6:30 p.m.
Join us to hear a Senior Lecturer of Landscape Architecture at the University of Hong Kong, Ms. Natalia Echeverri will discuss the integration of ecology into landscape architecture education and practice. Her lecture will highlight interdisciplinary collaboration challenges and showcase practice-based projects that address sensitive sites and transform traditional aquaculture landscapes in Southern China. The SDGs touched upon include Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, and Life on Land.
This event is housed by the Global Studies Institute along with the Association of Pacific Rim Universities and the School of Architecture and Environment. It is also sponsored by the Global Justice Program and Partnering with Student ASLA DEI Committee.
5:30 p.m.
From 1985 to 1995, Bill Watterson created one of the most celebrated and beloved newspaper comic strips of all time: Calvin and Hobbes. The strip featured the adventures (and misadventures) of 6-year-old Calvin and his trusty companion, Hobbes. Join Jenny Robb in exploring Watterson’s masterful artistry and storytelling, the evolution of the strip, and his significance in the history of the art form.
Jenny Robb is Head Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art and Associate Professor at The Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum where she manages the world’s largest collection of comics and cartoon materials. She holds master’s degrees in History and Museum Studies from Syracuse University. Before coming to Ohio State in 2005, she worked as a curator at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. Robb has curated more than 25 exhibitions of comics and cartoon art and is the author of numerous comics-related book chapters, articles and essays.
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Creating citations and bibliographies can be difficult, and so can keeping track of all the reading that you’ll do over the course of a class, a term, and your academic career. Join us for a one-hour workshop where you’ll learn to navigate Zotero, a free, open-source citation management tool designed to simplify your research process.
UO Libraries hosts a free workshop, which will introduce you to Zotero’s features, showing you how to collect, organize, cite, and share your research effortlessly. You’ll learn how to create bibliographies and in-text citations in popular styles such as MLA, APA, and Chicago, all while developing strategies to effectively utilize Zotero in your writing.
Join us in the Knight Library DREAM Lab and transform the way you manage your research!
Register through the UO Libraries' website.