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What's the Beef with the New Food Pyramid?

When the US Department of Health and Human Services announced a new set of dietary guidelines in January, they flipped the old guidelines upside down, putting an emphasis on red meat and dairy. Hannah Cutting-Jones, a global studies assistant professor in the College of Arts of Sciences, dives into the history of the food pyramid and the impacts of the new guidelines. 

“While many of us may not follow USDA advice closely,” she added, “these documents shape public policy and impact funding for school lunches, military bases, hospitals and SNAP benefits across the country.”  

Cutting-Jones teaches courses in the Food Studies Program, which is a part of the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages. She often contributes her expertise on protein and food studies to publications like the New York Times.

Get the Scoop on the Pyramid

News from CAS

ANTHROPOLOGY - Theresa Gildner’s research in the Amazon as a doctoral student in anthropology led to publications and experience in conducting ethical field research. She continues that work as a Washington University faculty member.
COMPUTER SCIENCE - Over the past few terms, computer science professors Hank Childs and Aye Thuzar have been working on reworking the entry level computer science class, “Fluency with Information Technology,” to incorporate AI-assisted programming.
THEATRE ARTS - The Robinson Theatre is reopening this February with University Theatre’s winter production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The reopening brings University Theatre’s largest performance space back into rotation, marking an important step forward for student training, production capacity and community engagement.

All news »

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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!

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What’s Happening in CAS?

What happens when the food pyramid gets flipped? Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages Assistant Professor Hannah Cutting-Jones dives into the new food pyramid announced by the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the impacts of the new guidelines.

Also in the February CAS Connection issue, read how a two-year prestigious Oregon fellowship is bringing a professor's visions to life, an alum who is a tenure-track faculty member at Washington University continuing research she did at the UO, a 100-level computer science course teaching AI — and more. 

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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.

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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

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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.

Spotlight on CAS Academics

Choose Your Path

The College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 50 majors and nearly 70 minors across multiple departments and programs in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. We also offer 36 master’s programs and 25 doctoral programs.

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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! 

More from Dean Chris Poulsen

The College of Arts and Sciences includes:

50+
undergraduate degree programs
30+
masters programs
25
PhD programs
10,000+
Undergraduate students in CAS Majors
825
faculty members
1,295
masters and PhD students in CAS

Happening at CAS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Feb 20
IRES Presents: “Displaced Practices of Discursive Change Circulations of Social Justice Ephemeralities within a Leather Bar Context” 11:00 a.m.

Please join the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies for a talk with Shane T. Moreman, PhD, Department of Communication, California State University, Fresno, titled...
IRES Presents: “Displaced Practices of Discursive Change Circulations of Social Justice Ephemeralities within a Leather Bar Context”
February 20
11:00 a.m.
Ford Alumni Center Room 202

Please join the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies for a talk with Shane T. Moreman, PhD, Department of Communication, California State University, Fresno, titled “Displaced Practices of Discursive Change Circulations of Social Justice Ephemeralities within a Leather Bar Context.” 

"While not the only ones, three normative discourses still dominate U.S. Western society: Whiteness, masculinity, and heterosexuality. As a critical communication scholar working through a performance studies paradigm, my work codifies these discourses with the goal of recognizing moments of social justice reconstitutions. My latest communication performance ethnography focuses on discursive interactions within a leather gay bar—Falcon—located in a mostly commercial neighborhood on the northeast side of a major U.S. northwestern city. I am drawn to learn how Whiteness and its adjacent cis male and masculine positionalities are circulating within contemporary, shifting registers of social codes around race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. As the world changes, how are these discourses adapting and changing? Steeped within the Whiteness, cis-maleness, and masculinity of a leather gay bar context, Falcon is a context for a bar culture that modulates and incorporates macro-level discursive conceptions into its localized performative acts all situated within contemporary frameworks. Influenced by Gloria Anzaldúa, Maria Lugones, and José Esteban Muñoz, I embrace a ontoepistemological approach so as to empirically cruise Falcon for creativity that disrupts normative reductions and advances complex co-existence. As Whiteness and its adjacent cis male and masculine positionalities co-mingle with contemporary expressions of nonnormative race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, I observe moments of co-mmuning and possibly co-muting with transness, nonbinariness, and gender diversity. When normativity tries to adapt to queer worldmaking, how are those adaptations manifested in the moment? In what ways are social codes reconfigured to generate a better presence? And, as queer worldmaking is ephemeral, what might we move forward with to improve the normative worlds in which we all predominantly must exist—at least for now? I begin answering those questions as a joto with a tequila soda in my hand at a mostly White, mostly cis male, and mostly masculine leather gay bar named Falcon."

Feb 20
Anthropology Day Party 6:30 p.m.

Join the Undergraduate Anthropology Club for a celebration of all things anthropology with food, crafts, activities, and student presentations! Everyone is welcome to...
Anthropology Day Party
February 20
6:30–10:00 p.m.
Erb Memorial Union (EMU) Redwood Auditorium

Join the Undergraduate Anthropology Club for a celebration of all things anthropology with food, crafts, activities, and student presentations! Everyone is welcome to attend. 

Feb 20
NILI Presents: Film Screening and Q&A 7:00 p.m.

In honor of International Mother Language Day, the Northwest Indigenous Language Institute (NILI) at the UO invites you to attend an evening of film and conversation to raise...
NILI Presents: Film Screening and Q&A
February 20
7:00–9:00 p.m.
Art House Theater

In honor of International Mother Language Day, the Northwest Indigenous Language Institute (NILI) at the UO invites you to attend an evening of film and conversation to raise awareness about revitalizing Indigenous languages and cultures.

Two documentaries will be screened. The first, Kla-Mo-Ya Language (20 min), by UO student filmmaker Princess (Princi) Bass-Mason, introduces people learning the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin languages, which are being revitalized by the Klamath Tribes of Oregon. The second film, And Knowledge To Keep Us (58 min), by UO journalism professor Torsten Kjellstrand, follows a Sugpiat culture and language camp that takes place annually on remote Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Immediately following the screening, a panel consisting of the two filmmakers and language revitalization practitioners will hold a conversation with the audience. Tickets are sliding scale and by donation only: suggested donation of $10 for students, $20 for adults. All proceeds will go towards the critical work at NILI helping to restore and revitalize languages of Oregon and beyond.

https://www.eugenearthouse.com/movie/and-knowledge-to-keep-us-wq

Feb 20
"Much Ado About Nothing" 7:30 p.m.

Shakespeare’s immortal comedy of love and intrigue! The people of Messina are determined to celebrate the impending marriage of Hero and Claudio with all-out merry-making,...
"Much Ado About Nothing"
February 13–March 1
7:30 p.m.
Robinson Theatre

Shakespeare’s immortal comedy of love and intrigue! The people of Messina are determined to celebrate the impending marriage of Hero and Claudio with all-out merry-making, and the Prince (Don Pedro) decides getting the always-sparring Benedick and Beatrice to fall in love is the ultimate prank. Unfortunately, the Prince’s evil brother, Don John, sees a perfect opportunity to stir up trouble, causing a huge uproar that almost destroys everything. Luckily, the inept Constable Dogberry and his band of goofy Watchmen save the day!

By William Shakespeare  Directed by Jerry Ferraccio  Robinson Theatre (Grand Reopening!)

February 13, 14, 20, 21, 22*, 27, 28, March 1*  7:30pm evening performances and 2:00pm* matinees