Somewhere Beyond the Sea
New in 2025, the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology's Coastal Quarter program allows undergraduates from all majors to spend the winter term living at the coast and taking classes in marine biology, environmental studies, anthropology and science communication. For most students, this collection of classes wouldn’t be available to take within their major, but the new program waives any prerequisites typically imposed on these courses.
While students reside in the renovated barracks at the Charleston marine station, OIMB's cutting-edge labs—with access to running seawater and facilities for keeping animals alive—allow its well-established faculty and students to delve into research that fascinates them.
“It’s like a summer camp,” says Alex McGowan, a third-year marine biology major who has spent the last couple of terms at the coast. “Always have headphones and you’ll learn to live with it.”
News from CAS
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We Love Our Supporters
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!
What’s Happening in CAS?
The College of Arts and Sciences is proud to announce that the class of 2025 is nearly 3,000 strong: 2,611 undergraduates, 208 master's students, and 117 PhD students. Hear from three CAS students about their proudest accomplishments as an undergraduate student, what their post-college aspirations are, and advice for incoming first-year students.
Plus, hear from Portland real estate developer, philanthropist and UO alumnus Jordan Schnitzer about why he and his family were inspired to give CAS a $25 million gift to the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages.
Also in the June issue of CAS Connection: Find out what Batman's Joker tells us about madness over the past several decades, how the Prison Education Program is transformative for students, why volcanic ash secured by a CAS researcher is highly sought after by researchers from around the world—and more.
Undergraduate Studies
Wherever your academic goals eventually take you at the UO, all Ducks begin their journey with foundational courses in CAS. More than 60 percent of students go on to pursue a major in a CAS department or program. With more than 50 departments and programs, there’s an intellectual home for almost any interest, talent, or career aspiration.
Graduate Studies
The College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 30 master's programs and more than 20 doctoral programs across a diverse range of disciplines. Both as contributors to research teams and through their own scholarship and teaching, our CAS graduate students are indispensable to the vitality of the UO academic mission.
Student Support Services
We provide our students with a variety of resources to help you thrive inside and outside the classroom. Through Tykeson Advising, we provide comprehensive academic and career advising from the start of your journey at the University of Oregon. Learn about career preparation and get assistance in selecting the very best classes. Connect with labs, libraries, IT and tutoring. Find your community on campus.
World-Class Faculty
The College of Arts and Sciences faculty members are a driving force of the high-output, high-impact research activity that has earned the UO membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). Our world-class faculty members are inspiring teachers.
Among them are five members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, four members of the National Academy of Sciences. They are committed to helping students discover their academic passion. Every day, they work to expand students’ intellectual horizons, preparing them for life after college with real-world knowledge and skills.
Meet our Dean
In the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), we are committed to excellence in research and teaching, student success, and diversity, equity, and belonging.
A liberal arts education—one that offers a breadth of intellectual approaches and perspectives and depth in a major discipline—is the foundation to a purposeful life as a life-long learner, engaged citizen, and leader. The skills you will learn here—from written and verbal communication to analytical and quantitative reasoning, to compassion and understanding—are those that employers seek and will open the door to a wealth of opportunities.
You will find more than 50 majors and a multitude of minors within CAS, and seemingly endless opportunities for personal exploration and discovery. Whether you are an incoming first-year student, a grad student or a transfer student, you can map an exciting future and be part of a fun, warm, engaged liberal arts community here. Come join us. And go Ducks!
The College of Arts and Sciences includes:
Happening at CAS
4:00–6:00 p.m.
The University of Oregon Department of Cinema Studies invites UO alumni and faculty in the Los Angeles area to a summer social.
Cinema Studies is pleased to host a summer social for UO Cinema Studies alumni and faculty in the Los Angeles area! Join us for an informal gathering, conversation, and refreshments while connecting with CINE alumni and faculty in the Los Angeles area. This is a great opportunity for alumni involved in all aspects of film, TV, and media to help build a stronger UO cinema community in Los Angeles.
Tables in the back patio will be reserved.
For more information and to RSVP, please visit the Cinema Studies website.
Hosted by Associate Professors Masami Kawai and Daniel Gómez Steinhart, Cinema Studies
3:00 p.m.
Graduate Students! The Fall 2025 14-Day Writing Challenge is an opportunity for you to experiment with daily writing, online community, and supportive accountability. It's very simple:
- You commit to write every day for at least 30 minutes.
- At the beginning of your writing time, you login to our online community, start the timer, complete your writing, and post your progress at the end.
- You take 5 minutes to support other writers from across the U.S. in your group by commenting on their progress.
This is NOT for you if: 1) you don't want to post your progress on a daily basis and/or 2) you don't want to interact with other people.
If you're up for the challenge, then we can't wait for you to join us!
Sign up by August 29 at https://members.ncfdd.org/sessions/14dayfall2025. The event will run daily between September 8 and September 21. All UO students and faculty have free access to this resource. Please activate your NCFDD account before logging in. If needed, you can activate your account by visiting this link and selecting "Is your institution already a member?"
11:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Kick off the year right at the Graduate Student Welcome Lunch and Resource Fair! Come hang out with fellow new and returning grad students, explore the resource fair, and (best of all) enjoy some seriously delicious FREE food. You don’t want to miss it!
At the fair get connected with:
- UO Health Services
- Housing
- Student Funding
- Identity support groups
- Career Services
- Graduate student resources and more!
2:00–3:00 p.m.
This workshop, intended for international graduate students, introduces well-established processes for positioning onerself to execute a focused and successful US-based job search. Take away a four-step framework to optimize your job search game plan. Learn how to:
- Efficiently target companies that sponsor H-1B visas and hire international students
- Cultivate professional connections through strategic networking and informational interviews
- Leverage your story, skills, expertise, your university network, and brand to achieve your goals
- Practice how to use your cultural diversity as an advantage
Register for this workshop, offered by Interstride, at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iS5PU0CsSNuRAqbjkrSPsg#/registration