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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

LATINX STUDIES — On Oct.13, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History gave free admission for Indigenous Peoples’ Day and showcased the exhibit, “Transgressors,” which had been up since May 16, to highlight and honor Indigenous and Queer identities.
INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES - On Jan. 13, 2026, Ernesto Javier Martínez was awarded the two-year $150,000 Fields Fellowship from the Oregon Community Foundation in partnership with Oregon Humanities. The fellowship supports Oregon artists who use creativity and cultural expressions to address communities, such as Martínez's film stories that tell the experiences of queer Latinx youth and the immigrant experience in the US.
ANTHROPOLOGY - As a College of Arts and Sciences doctoral student, Theresa Gildner conducted research that led to publications and experience in conducting ethical field research. She continues the work she did at CAS as a faculty member at Washington University, whether she’s working on the Shuar Project or studying low-income regions of the southern US.

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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!

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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 School

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

Bruce McGough

Happening at CAS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Feb 18
NW-NALRC Consultation and Assistance Time 2:00 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...
NW-NALRC Consultation and Assistance Time
January 21–March 18
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

Feb 18
Food Studies in Costa Rica Information Session 4:00 p.m.

Join to learn more about GEO's Food Studies in Costa Rica program! This program offers an immersive experience in the study of food within Latin American history, combined...
Food Studies in Costa Rica Information Session
February 18
4:00–4:30 p.m.

Join to learn more about GEO's Food Studies in Costa Rica program! This program offers an immersive experience in the study of food within Latin American history, combined with comprehensive Spanish language instruction and engaging excursions. Over four weeks, students will participate in Spanish courses tailored to all proficiency levels during the first two weeks, followed by an in-depth course on the history and cultural significance of food in Latin America, in English, in the second half. No prior Spanish knowledge is required, making the program accessible to all students.

Feb 18
Real Estate Investment Group Meeting 6:00 p.m.

Learn about different career paths in the real estate industry and the foundations of financial analysis from guest speakers, hands-on workshops, and site tours. Join the UO Real...
Real Estate Investment Group Meeting
January 7–March 4
6:00–7:30 p.m.
Lillis Business Complex 132

Learn about different career paths in the real estate industry and the foundations of financial analysis from guest speakers, hands-on workshops, and site tours. Join the UO Real Estate Investment Group for our weekly meetings every Wednesday in Lillis 132 from 6:00–7:30 p.m.! Our club is open to all and no application is required.

Feb 20
IRES Presents: “Displaced Practices of Discursive Change Circulations of Social Justice Ephemeralities within a Leather Bar Context” 11:00 a.m.

Please join the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies for a talk with Shane T. Moreman, PhD, Department of Communication, California State University, Fresno, titled...
IRES Presents: “Displaced Practices of Discursive Change Circulations of Social Justice Ephemeralities within a Leather Bar Context”
February 20
11:00 a.m.
Ford Alumni Center Room 202

Please join the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies for a talk with Shane T. Moreman, PhD, Department of Communication, California State University, Fresno, titled “Displaced Practices of Discursive Change Circulations of Social Justice Ephemeralities within a Leather Bar Context.” 

"While not the only ones, three normative discourses still dominate U.S. Western society: Whiteness, masculinity, and heterosexuality. As a critical communication scholar working through a performance studies paradigm, my work codifies these discourses with the goal of recognizing moments of social justice reconstitutions. My latest communication performance ethnography focuses on discursive interactions within a leather gay bar—Falcon—located in a mostly commercial neighborhood on the northeast side of a major U.S. northwestern city. I am drawn to learn how Whiteness and its adjacent cis male and masculine positionalities are circulating within contemporary, shifting registers of social codes around race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. As the world changes, how are these discourses adapting and changing? Steeped within the Whiteness, cis-maleness, and masculinity of a leather gay bar context, Falcon is a context for a bar culture that modulates and incorporates macro-level discursive conceptions into its localized performative acts all situated within contemporary frameworks. Influenced by Gloria Anzaldúa, Maria Lugones, and José Esteban Muñoz, I embrace a ontoepistemological approach so as to empirically cruise Falcon for creativity that disrupts normative reductions and advances complex co-existence. As Whiteness and its adjacent cis male and masculine positionalities co-mingle with contemporary expressions of nonnormative race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, I observe moments of co-mmuning and possibly co-muting with transness, nonbinariness, and gender diversity. When normativity tries to adapt to queer worldmaking, how are those adaptations manifested in the moment? In what ways are social codes reconfigured to generate a better presence? And, as queer worldmaking is ephemeral, what might we move forward with to improve the normative worlds in which we all predominantly must exist—at least for now? I begin answering those questions as a joto with a tequila soda in my hand at a mostly White, mostly cis male, and mostly masculine leather gay bar named Falcon."