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Ducks on the Sidelines, Ready to Soar

Students in the Department of Human Physiology are getting hands-on experience in medicine, preparing them for careers and medical schools after undergrad. Thanks to stipends from the department, students can participate in unpaid internships to help remove the financial barriers that may prevent them from participating in these experiential learning opportunities. 

And thanks to financial support from Eugene-based Cascade Health and the virtual medical service Oregon Telemed, more students can apply for stipends that send them to learn from medical professionals on Ducks athletics sidelines, sports occupational therapy offices or the emergency room.

“Investing in human physiology students means investing in the future of medicine, health and human understanding,” said Dr. Richard Abraham, an emergency and occupational medicine physician and member of Cascade Health. “This financial support is our way of helping passionate physiology students stay focused on learning, growing and making a real difference in people's lives and in the future of health care.” 

Soar with Human Physiology Students

News from CAS

PSYCHOLOGY - A new study led by researchers at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with Google Research found little evidence linking smartphone use with mental well-being in adults. Researchers analyzed more than 250,000 days of smartphone usage from more than 10,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and up.
PHYSICS - Far from home, Eric Torrence, a physics professor at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences, will spend the next year and a half being the ATLAS Run Coordinator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). After being elected to the position fall 2024, Torrence ensures the largest particle accelerator in the world continuously produces usable data from May 2025 to July 2026.
COMPOSITION — Core education is two things at once: a chance to explore new subjects and an opportunity to prepare for success in college. After a recent curriculum update, WR123, a compositional writing course, provides more hands-on learning experience, practice with research and a community engagement focus. 

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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?

Students in the Department of Human Physiology are getting hands on experience in the medical industry, whether that's helping Ducks sports programs on the sidelines or shadowing local physicians in the emergency room. It's one way that CAS undergrads are getting prepared for medical careers after college. 

Also in the October issue of CAS Connection: Celebrating the genius of comics creator Jack Kirby, NASA scientists visit campus, CAS researchers give antibiotics a boost—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.

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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.

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

Oct 27
Jeremiah Public Lecture: "Consent and Sexual Violence in Contemporary Japan: Rethinking Autonomy, Choice, and Equality Under the Law" 4:00 p.m.

What does it mean to give consent when social, economic, and institutional pressures make refusal difficult? This talk examines sexual violence in contemporary Japan to challenge...
Jeremiah Public Lecture: "Consent and Sexual Violence in Contemporary Japan: Rethinking Autonomy, Choice, and Equality Under the Law"
October 27
4:00–5:30 p.m.
Chiles Hall 128

What does it mean to give consent when social, economic, and institutional pressures make refusal difficult? This talk examines sexual violence in contemporary Japan to challenge liberal ideals of autonomy, choice, and legal equality. Drawing on Involuntary Consent: The Illusion of Choice in Japan’s Adult Video Industry (Stanford, 2023) and new NHK survey data, Takeyama shows how “involuntary consent” emerges through structural inequalities, workplace hierarchies, and gendered expectations like emotional labor. Linking commercial sex work to everyday experiences, she calls for rethinking how law, culture, and power define sexual harm—and for imagining consent that accounts for relational and structural constraints.

Presented by: Akiko Takeyama, PhD, Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Director of the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas.

Hosted by: Haruka Nagao, PhD, Assistant Professor, Deparmtent of Global Studies, University of Oregon.

Event sponsors: Global Studies Institute, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.

Oct 28
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
October 28–December 2
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!

Oct 28
Seminar - “A Biophysical Perspective on The Evolution of Multi-Conformation Proteins” noon

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY Promotion to Full Professor Seminar Mike Harms “A Biophysical Perspective on The Evolution of...
Seminar - “A Biophysical Perspective on The Evolution of Multi-Conformation Proteins”
October 28
noon
Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact Beetham Family Seminar Room

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY Promotion to Full Professor Seminar

Mike Harms

“A Biophysical Perspective on The Evolution of Multi-Conformation Proteins”

Oct 28
Experiential Learning Opportunity Scholarship Info Session 4:00 p.m.

ELO Scholarship Info Session: Fund Your Experience!  Are you planning an internship, research project, study abroad program, or leadership experience, and wondering how to...
Experiential Learning Opportunity Scholarship Info Session
October 28
4:00–5:00 p.m.
Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall James Commons

ELO Scholarship Info Session: Fund Your Experience! 

Are you planning an internship, research project, study abroad program, or leadership experience, and wondering how to pay for it? The CAS Experiential Learning Opportunity (ELO) Scholarship can help! 

Join us for an info session to learn: 

  • What counts as an ELO 
  • Who’s eligible to apply 
  • How to write a strong application 
  • When to apply and what to expect 

You’ll also get your questions answered by CAS CareerLab staff. 

Hosted by: CAS CareerLab  Open to: All CAS undergraduates 

Light snacks provided; contact careerlab@uoregon.edu with questions.