News

HISTORY - A 17th-century court case discovered by a history PhD candidate led to a prestigious prize that had never before been awarded to a Pacific Northwest graduate student. Explore Michele Pflug’s award-winning research on the surprising drama around how early scientists named their specimens.

HISTORY - Ever wonder how research universities like UO evolved? It all comes down to one man, according to history professor Vera Keller. In her new book, she explores how Johann Daniel Major established the foundation of modern academia in the 17th century that is ethical and locally grounded.

GEOGRAPHY, INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES - Oregon’s historical markers, those roadside signs commemorating the state's past, give a version of history that University of Oregon researchers say is skewed. But a team of students is working to address the histories that highway markers omit through an online interactive map.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - Nicholas Burns (class of 2025), isn’t afraid to stop and smell the roses. Burns is dedicated to finding and applying strategies to create new pollinator habitats and combat their decline. He studies the fitness of flowering plant species in response to neighboring competition and pollination alongside mentor and professor Lauren Hallett at the University of Oregon Hallett Lab.

POLITICAL SCIENCE - Years before Sravya Tadepalli started working as a senior legislative advisor at the Oregon Employment Department, she was a Clark Honors College student studying political science and journalism. As a UO student, she received some of the highest honors for an undergrad, including being a Truman Scholar and Rhodes Scholar finalist. After the UO, Tadepalli went to graduate school at Harvard University to earn a master’s degree in public policy.

ENGLISH, WOMEN'S, GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES - From noon to 1:30 pm Monday, Feb. 17, experts will discuss on the works by Octavia E. Butler's work and her legacy, as well as Afrofuturism, and how her literature can inspire us to see new futures and view the past through a new lens. “Octavia E. Butler’s work remains as urgent and essential as ever,” said Kemi Balogun, one of the organizers and an associate professor in CAS.

SOCIOLOGY - After spending decades in the professional world, this sociology major has finally found his path—and he’s helping other students find theirs.

GLOBAL STUDIES - It’s a big world, and decisions that happen in one region often ripple out to others. The School of Global Studies and Languages provides students with an internal atlas that helps them understand the forces and decisions that have human impact.

INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES - Four CAS undergraduate students spent three weeks in Los Angeles over the summer to help film scenes for the upcoming feature film La Serenata by Ernesto Javier Martínez, a professor in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies, and co-writer and director Adelina Anthony.

WOMEN'S, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY STUDIES - Isabel Millán, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, has worked to explore how children’s literature can be used as a tool to introduce different identities to kids at a young age. Millán has recently received numerous award for her 2023 publication Coloring into Existence: Queer of Color Worldmaking in Children’s Literature.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - Kaley McCarty’s experiences as an environmental studies major landed her a job in higher ed. Now she’s paying it forward by taking students to the world’s biggest climate change conference.

Through fellowships, the Oregon Humanities Center at the University of Oregon works to promote innovative humanities research produced by faculty members at the UO. The fellowships are for tenure-track faculty and are awarded on an annual basis. The 2025-26 fellows include CAS faculty members in the Divisions of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Experiential learning prepares many people for career and advancing education—even Dean Chris Poulsen. Hear from Poulsen about how a memorable Earth sciences undergraduate field trip set him on the path to graduate school, and read about how the CAS Experiential Learning Fund helps undergrads access life-changing hands-on learning opportunities.

GEOGRAPHY - Are flying robots taking over? Not in this geography class, where students learn how to control the drones that will help map our future. The course Mapping with Drones invites students—whether they're majoring in environmental studies, geography, or journalism—to explore the basics and fundamentals of using drones to map the geographic features of a location.

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.