Learning How AI Can Do the Dirty Work
These students aren't cheating their education by bringing AI into their classroom — they're preparing for an ever-changing workplace. 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. The idea is that allowing AI to take care of smaller details — like accurate syntax — allows students to cover more ground in a single introductory class.
Students in this class are jumping ahead to more advanced technologies to learn how to use AI technologies properly.
“You want AI to do the ‘dirty work’ for you. You don’t want AI to actually take over your work and decide what you need to do,” said Thuzar.
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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!
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.
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!
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Happening at CAS
2:00–4:00 p.m.
From Jan. 21 and continuing until March 18, the Northwest Native American Language Resource Center (NW-NALRC) will be holding weekly consultation and assistance times.
From 2-3pm PST we will be providing consultation and assistance with Community Projects and Planning.
From 3-4pm PST we will be providing consultation and assistance for Supporting Language Teaching and Learning.
To join, please fill out this short form https://forms.office.com/r/D2pg3wErfj.
If you are in need of assistance, or if you have any questions, please contact nalrc@uoregon.edu.
6:00 p.m.
Filmlandia Screening Series presents: Coraline (2009). Free and open to the public.
Directed by Henry Selick | 100 min. | Rated PG
Synopsis: Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, a young girl discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life that seems too good to be true.
The Department of Cinema Studies and the University Film Society celebrate Oregon’s rich film heritage with a new screening series showcasing movies with a unique Oregon connection—from locally shot features to stories written or directed by Oregon filmmakers. Discover Oregon’s reel legacy on the big screen while connecting with the university film community.
Cosponsored by: Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Endowment; Department of Comparative Literature; Department of English; Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies; Native American and Indigenous Studies; Folklore and Public Culture Program; Art House Theater; DUX Present; and Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities.
6:00 p.m.
Join the Department of History and Marc Carpenter, historian and UO alumnus, for a talk on "Finding Accidental Archives of Atrocity."
Prof. Carpenter describes how an undergraduate research project slowly led him into uncovering new troves of evidence proving broad norms and knowledge of often-genocidal pioneer violence in the 1800s Pacific Northwest. Archives assembled to honor the invaders accidentally preserved proof from the perpetrators—and from the historians who loved them and lied for them.
3:30–5:00 p.m.
The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) is pleased to host a research colloquium featuring two CLLAS-funded scholars whose work examines how institutions shape Latiné experiences of equity, belonging, and representation across educational and workplace settings.
- Janette Avelar is a PhD candidate in Quantitative Research Methods in Education at the UO. Her research examines how innovative K–12 schools serving predominantly Latinx student populations design learning environments that center equity, cultural identity, and student belonging, particularly in the context of growing political pressures shaping educational policy and practice.
- Dr. Chanel Meyers is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the UO whose research explores how Latiné individuals evaluate corporate workplaces. Her work investigates how diversity signals, demographic representation, and organizational messaging influence perceptions of belonging, trust, and interest in potential workplaces.
Together, these scholars explore how institutional design choices in schools and organizations shape Latiné experiences of inclusion, representation, and opportunity. Please join us for this engaging discussion on equity across educational and workplace environments.
This event is presented by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) with support from UO’s Division of Equity and Inclusion.