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A Roadmap for the Future of 
College of Arts and Sciences

As many look to the start of a new year, the College of Arts and Sciences looks forward to the next five years with its new strategic plan. Based on feedback and support from the CAS community — including alumni, campus leaders, faculty, staff, and undergrad and graduate students — the plan is a roadmap to guide the college over the next several years. 

“The success of this strategy doesn't depend on a few leaders," said Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences Chris Poulsen. "It depends on all of us. And whether a community member is teaching, doing research, managing facilities, doing communications, keeping our administrative and operational infrastructure moving forward, all that work advances our mission and supports our students and academic objective.”

Read More from the Dean

News from CAS

NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - Funded through federal, state and institutional grants, the University of Oregon Home Flight program provides financial support, academic advising and culture-rich activities for qualifying American Indian and Alaska Native undergraduates. Now in its fourth year, the program has more than tripled in enrollment, to 170-plus students, while increasing the number of Native graduates.
CINEMA STUDIES - CAS senior Elle Thompson is a cinema studies major who's had multiple internships to get experience and exposure to different parts of the cinema industry. She landed a casting internship with Cast Iron Studios thanks to a cinema studies course and her persistence.
COMPUTER SCIENCE - Assistant Professor Yu Wang's research uses machine learning to model enormous sets of data on a graph where related nodes representing pieces of information are linked. “With current AI, if you ask who the president of the United States is, it can definitely answer correctly,” Wang explains. “But if you ask any kind of domain-specific question, like related to cybersecurity or some biomedical topic, it is highly likely that it does not know. So how can we mitigate the gap here?”

All news »

We Love Our Supporters

Your gifts change lives

Your Gift Changes Lives

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!

Give to CAS

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What’s Happening in CAS?

Researchers in the College of Arts and Sciences secured $83 million in sponsored grants to fund 199 research projects across the three divisions: Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. This year’s annual report provides a glimpse into the curious minds of researchers and their work. 

Also in the November issue of CAS Connection: a physics professor takes the helm of the world's largest particle accelerator, a cinema studies student shares her experience interning for a Portland-based casting company, a data science professor works to make AI be more accurate—and more.

Undergraduate students posing for camera making hand signals

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 students working in a lab

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

Speaker conducting a class with projector

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.

dean chris poulsen posing in front of Tykeson hall

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

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

UO College of Arts & Sciences (@uocas) • Instagram photos and videos

Dec 17
Exploring the Dolomites Information Session 10:00 a.m.

Interested in studying abroad in Northern Italy? Join the Exploring the Dolomites info session to learn more about Global Education Oregon's Exploring The Dolomites:...
Exploring the Dolomites Information Session
December 17
10:00–11:00 a.m.

Interested in studying abroad in Northern Italy? Join the Exploring the Dolomites info session to learn more about Global Education Oregon's Exploring The Dolomites: Landscape, History, Ecology, And Literature In Northern Italy program!

Dec 17
Community Project Planning and Development Workshop: Assessing Community Readiness 3:30 p.m.

Northwest Native American Language Resource Center. Methods for evaluating community capacity, commitment, and readiness to succesfully implement projects. Participation is on a...
Community Project Planning and Development Workshop: Assessing Community Readiness
December 17
3:30–4:30 p.m.
This is a virtual event.

Northwest Native American Language Resource Center.

Methods for evaluating community capacity, commitment, and readiness to succesfully implement projects.

Participation is on a first come, first served basis. We are capped at 50 participants per workshop.

Register at:  https://forms.office.com/r/NjGWyE6sxe 

Jan 6
Department of History Coffee Hour 10:00 a.m.

Please join us Tuesday mornings for a free cup of coffee, pastries, and conversation with your history department community! We’re excited to continue this tradition for our...
Department of History Coffee Hour
January 6–March 10
10:00–11:00 a.m.
McKenzie Hall 3rd floor (in front of office 385)

Please join us Tuesday mornings for a free cup of coffee, pastries, and conversation with your history department community! We’re excited to continue this tradition for our history undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff. We hope to see you there!

Jan 12
Eugene History Pub Lecture Series: "Blacks against Brown: The Intra-racial Struggle over Segregated Schools in Topeka, Kansas" 7:00 p.m.

Please join the Department of History for the January pub lecture. Professor Charise Cheney will discuss "Blacks against Brown: The Intra-racial Struggle over Segregated...
Eugene History Pub Lecture Series: "Blacks against Brown: The Intra-racial Struggle over Segregated Schools in Topeka, Kansas"
January 12
7:00 p.m.
Whirled Pies

Please join the Department of History for the January pub lecture. Professor Charise Cheney will discuss "Blacks against Brown: The Intra-racial Struggle over Segregated Schools in Topeka, Kansas."

Free and open to everyone!

The UO Department of History presents a series of talks with scholars about history, from the local to the global. Join us for stories, food, and conversation in a casual setting!