Living in a Material World
The world is on the cusp of a new technological era. And today's students have an opportunity to shape how society will go beyond the "Silicon Age," according to Kayla Nguyen, assistant professor physics in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Materials sciences is a a new, cutting-edge CAS major, preparing students to drive technological change through high-demand careers in fields such as semiconductor manufacturing and energy and sustainable materials development.
"We’re not stopping at silicon," Nguyen said. "There is a whole entire periodic table and a large number of combinations we can use to make new materials with different properties. Students who learn how to do this could be at the forefront of a revolution to bring in the next materials age.”
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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?
How can you rethink goals, whether it's for personal achievement, success in the classroom or in everyday work life? CAS Psychology Professor and Natural Sciences Divisional Associate Dean Elliot Berkman offers a way to rethink the "why" behind your goals.
Also in the January CAS Connection issue, find out what new CAS major is equipping students to drive change, how squatting in three US cities influenced housing policies, an alum who leveraged his Spanish degree to a U.S. Department of State job—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
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Interested in studying abroad in London in the 2026-2027 academic year? Stop by to learn more about your options!
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4:00–5:00 p.m.
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5:30–7:00 p.m.
Join in person in Knight Law Center 175 or via livestream for this timely discussion, which will be followed by audience Q&A. It is part of the Wayne Morse Center's 2025-2027 Theme of Inquiry Common Ground: Cities, Towns, and Counties Confronting Shared Challenges and is free and open to the public.
Click here to join the livestream. No registration required. Free and open to the public.
Moderated by Dr. Lesley Jo Weaver (UO), Associate Professor at the University of Oregon and co-director of the Homelessness Policy and Health Research Group
UCLA sociologist Chris Herring’s research focuses on poverty, homelessness, and housing in US cities. His current book project is an ethnography of the criminalization of homelessness in San Francisco to be published with UC Press. He has co-directed two participatory action research projects and publications with the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, where he organized with the Human Rights Working Group. Herring served as a researcher at the San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office of Homelessness and has collaborated on research with the National Coalition on Homelessness, Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, the Western Regional Advocacy Project, and ACORN. He regularly consults with county governments, think tanks, and legal aid groups.
Herring’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Places, Progressive Planning, Shelterforce, the Berkeley Journal of Sociology, and homeless street newspapers across the US and Canada. His research and commentary has also been featured in the LA Times, NY Times, UK Guardian, Al Jazeera, the San Francisco Chronicle, Bloomberg’s City Lab, and other outlets.
UO Professor Claire Herbert's research focuses on law, housing, property, and urban sociology. Her book, A Detroit Story: Urban Decline and the Rise of Property Informality was published with University of California Press in 2021. In this book, she examines the way that de jure illegal uses of property - like squatting, scrapping, and gardening - shape the form of the city, neighborhood conditions, and residents’ well being.
Professor Herbert is currently writing a book called When Home is Illegal: Unsheltered Homelessness in America which examines the interaction between local regulations, enforcement, and the well-being of residents experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Professor Herbert is also Co-PI on an NSF-funded, mixed-methods project called "Informality and Inequality in the Global North: Regulation, Non-Compliance, and Enforcement in US Land Use and Housing Law" which studies informal infill: housing units produced in violation of local regulations but that provide an important source of affordable housing.
3:00–6:00 p.m.
Stand out on LinkedIn and beyond with a polished, professional headshot.
Free for CAS students. No registration needed; wait time may vary.