ANTHROPOLOGY - Professor Phil Scher uses science fiction and alien cultures to teach anthropology—and to challenge college students’ assumptions about humanity. In Anthropology and Aliens, a 100-level course in the Department of Anthropology, students examine speculative and science fiction to learn how societal structures influence behavior and culture—similar to how anthropologists study real-world societies.

ANTHROPOLOGY - Meet Gabi Gauthier, a UO student with a passion for Oregon history who studied at Connley Caves Field School this past summer under the mentorship of UO alum and Professor Katelyn McDonough. As a freshman, Gauthier was considering a STEM field. However, after taking classes with McDonough, BS ’14 (anthropology), Gauthier knew she wanted to officially major in anthropology with a focus on archaeology.

ANTHROPOLOGY - The College of Arts and Sciences is investing in its Latinx studies courses by hiring nine new tenure-track faculty members. Ramón Resendiz is one of the faculty members hired as part of this initiative. He joins CAS in fall 2025. Coming from Indiana University, Bloomington, Resendiz’s research investigates the relationship between historical institutions, visual culture, and documentary media in the process of seeing and imaging the history and citizenship of Latinx and Indigenous Peoples in the US.

ANTHROPOLOGY, HISTORY, LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation announced this year's Outstanding Research Awards, many of which went to College of Arts and Sciences faculty members: Professor Carlos Aguirre (history and Latin American studies) and Assistant Professor Gabriel Sanchez (anthropology).

ANTHROPOLOGY - Todd Braje's (PhD, anthropology, '07) newest book, Understanding Imperiled Earth: How Archeology and Human History Can Inform Our Planet’s Future, looks back in history to find solutions for the climate crisis. Braje is also the Museum of Natural and Cultural History executive director.

ANTHROPOLOGY - James L. Flexner, an associate professor of historical archeology and heritage at the University of Sydney, Australia, will discuss the archeology of mission sites in the Mangareva Islands of Polynesia. The lecture is 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History Galleria.

ANTHROPOLOGY, FOOD STUDIES, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - A Thursday, Jan. 25, a film screening of 'LAND/TRUST' at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History will feature a discussion with Alexii Signona (UC Berkeley, Tribal Member, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band) and Ruth Anne Beutler (University of California, Santa Cruz).

ANTHROPOLOGY, GLOBAL STUDIES - Led by Jo Weaver, a global studies associate professor, the study is focused on health among people experiencing housing insecurity in Lane County and how it drives health inequity. The research team, which includes Department of Anthropology faculty members Zachary DuBois and Josh Snodgrass, is collecting data from people living on the street, in short-term shelters, in encampments and in more permanent supportive housing arrangements.

ANTHROPOLOGY - The monthly roundup from the Department of Anthropology includes news of a Rhodes scholar, a faculty book award, conference presentations — and more.

GLOBAL HEALTH - University of Oregon senior Nayantara Arora has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford, making her the first Duck to earn the prized award in more than 15 years. Arora is majoring in neuroscience and minoring in global health and chemistry. At Oxford, Arora plans to pursue two master’s degrees, one in modeling for global health and the other in international health and tropical medicine.

ANTHROPOLOGY - University of Oregon researchers are teaming up with scientists throughout the US to study the most recent mass extinction—the one in the late Cretaceous that killed the dinosaurs—to prepare for a future one caused by humans.

The UO’s Environment Initiative has awarded seed funding to five new teaching projects to support faculty members who have proposed innovative courses and dynamic classroom experiences. The funding supports both research and curricular projects and focuses the intellectual energy and work of faculty, students and community partners on a just and livable future through transdisciplinary research, teaching and experiential learning.

ANTHROPOLOGY - Todd Braje earned a doctorate in archaeology at the University of Oregon in 2007, and now he’s been selected to return to the UO to lead the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

ANTHROPOLOGY, HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY - The College of Arts and Sciences is adding six Latinx studies tenure-track faculty members in several departments as part of the college’s commitment to becoming a premier institution for Latinx studies while meeting student demand for culturally relevant classes.

ANTHROPOLOGY - Senior Rowan Glass's research on the Kamëntšá people took him to Colombia three times. While in the field, he studied jajañ, attended the annual Bëtsknaté festival and interviewed Kamëntšá people. Glass encourages undergrads to pursue similar ambitious research projects. He will pursue a master of social and cultural anthropology at KU Leuven in Belgium in fall, with his sights set on a PhD.