Among the top items on the day’s docket for the new University of Oregon President Karl Scholz was sending a message to the university community, which included an invitation to a meet-and-greet social July 12 on the EMU Green from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, GEOGRAPHY - The University of Oregon's Environment Initiative has named six faculty fellows for the 2023-24 academic year, two of whom belong to the College of Arts and Sciences: Lauren Hallett, associate professor of environmental studies and biology, and Peter Walker, professor of geography and environmental studies.

POLITICAL SCIENCE - The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation announces the recipients of the 2023 Outstanding Research Awards. Ronald Mitchell, a professor in the Department of Political Science, was awarded the Outstanding Career Award, the UO's highest award for faculty. Mitchell's contributions include the policy impact of his research on the effects and effectiveness of environmental treaties, as well as developing the International Environmental Agreements Database.

On June 20, College of Arts and Sciences students wrapped up the final day of spring — and years of college work — with commencement ceremonies. Starting in the morning and running until early evening, CAS graduates celebrated their achievements around campus, from Autzen Stadium to the grassy lawns of Global Scholars Hall.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY - Graduating students offer parting words and reflect on their time at the University of Oregon.

HISTORY - Assistant Professor Steven Beda recently won two awards for his debut book on timber workers in the Pacific Northwest. The book, titled Strong Winds and Widow Makers: Workers, Nature and Environmental Conflict in Pacific Northwest Timber Country, is the winner of the Philip Taft Labor History Book Prize from Cornell University and is a co-winner of the Pacific Coast Branch Book Award.

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.

ECONOMICS - Thet 2023 Best First-Year Economics Performance award goes to David Hall, University of Oregon economics PhD student

ECONOMICS - University of Oregon PhD student Connor Mulholland awarded annual departmental Dale Underwood Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship.

SOCIOLOGY - Professor Emeritus Kenneth Liberman wins award for 2023 Distinguished Book Award from the ASA’s Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis section for his latest book, Tasting Coffee: An Inquiry Into Objectivity.

HISTORY - College of Arts and Sciences students shared their research with the academic community at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

SOCIOLOGY - Congratulations to Professor Jocelyn Hollander for being awarded the Thomas F. Herman Faculty Achievement Award for Distinguished Teaching.

GEOGRAPHY - A two-day conference June 3-4 will honor the work of University of Oregon Department of Geography Professor Alec Murphy and will discuss the changing significance of territory and the rise of right-wing populism in response to the changing state of borders.

POLITICAL SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - Amy Bowers Cordalis will speak at the University of Oregon's commencement on Tuesday, June 20. Cordalis is the co-principal of the Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, a nonprofit that represents Indigenous tribes, organizations and people in natural and cultural resource matters. She graduated from the UO in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in political science and minor in environmental studies.

ECONOMICS - People are living longer and birth rates are declining, and that could hamper growth of the U.S. gross domestic product, the monetary sum of goods and services, according to an April 2023 paper published in American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. University of Oregon Associate Professor and Petrone Chair of Economics Kathleen Mullen is a co-author of the study.