These Students 'Dig' Experiential Learning
Some College of Arts and Sciences students spent the summer on the sunny California Central Coast studying archeology, as well as tribal sovereignty. As part of the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History summer field school, students spent a month immersed in Indigenous cultural landscapes while studying archaeology, history and ecology and, at the same time, helping restore oyster beds. The students worked alongside CAS Indigenous anthropologist and assistant professor Gabe Sanchez and in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Amah Mutsun Land Trust.
“This is the future of archaeology, moving away from colonial structures and doing work that supports tribal sovereignty, access to ancestral lands and serves the people the work represents,” Sanchez said. “University of Oregon students are at the forefront of this work, working hand in hand with tribal members, learning and working together.”
News from CAS
All news »
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?
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 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
4:00 p.m.
Michael Stern, associate professor of German and Scandinavian, will give a book talk on his new book Thinking Nietzsche with Africana Thought.
In the book, Michael Stern sets Nietzsche in conversation with Africana artists and philosophers to explore the role of aesthetics in decolonial worldmaking.
Nietzsche, a theorist of power, morality, and aesthetics supplies a description of a world making that also destroys. His notion of the will to power explains how particular and local interpretations spread and dominate. Stern situates Nietzsche’s thought alongside those of Africana artists and thinkers who, confronted with the effects of the slave trade and colonial violence, speak to new theoretical paradigms addressing erasure and displacement and its relationship to form making. Thinking Nietzsche with Africana Thought opens with Nietzsche’s work on the human imagination and its institutionalized restrictions, written around when the Congress of Berlin divided Africa without the presence of Africans. The book ends with the Ghanian sculptor El Anatsui’s understanding of temporality, form, and naming as he creates a slave memorial in a Danish setting.
Eschewing notions of hierarchal authority and keeping in mind how epistemological racism has delimited our philosophical possibilities, Michael Stern employs thought from each lineage to open the space for what Frantz Fanon calls a human with a new sense for rhythm. What emerges is a different sense for history, morality, culture, and political life.
4:00–5:20 p.m.
The Art Institute of Chicago has recently decided to deaccession and return to Thailand a 12th-century Khmer pilaster depicting Krishna, marking a major step in provenance research. Long misattributed to Cambodia, the piece was confirmed through archival, stylistic, and on-site study to have come from Prasat Phanom Rung in Buriram province, Northeast Thailand. Its return recalls that of the reclining Vishnu lintel in 1988, which originated from the same doorframe and was later reinstalled during the temple’s restoration. Both works had traveled from Bangkok to Chicago in the 1960s, reflecting the challenges of tracing Khmer artifacts. Reuniting them at Phanom Rung not only corrects past errors but also restores cultural meaning by returning them to their original context.
Presented by: Nicolas Revire PhD, Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Research Fellow at Art Institute of Chicago.
Hosted by: Alison Carter PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon.
Event sponsors: Department of Anthropology, Global Studies Institute, Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, Department of History of Art and Archtecture, and Department of Asian Studies.
4:30 p.m.
The Creative Writing Program invites you to a poetry reading with Jan Verberkmoes.
Jan Verberkmoes is a poet and editor from Oregon. Her first poetry collection, Firewatch, was published by Fonograf Editions in 2021, and recent work has appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Lana Turner, and The Paris Review. Her writing has been supported by a Fulbright Fellowship to Germany, a John and Renée Grisham Fellowship, a Stadler Fellowship, and a Fairfield Fellowship from the University of Denver, where she is a PhD candidate in English and Literary Arts.
Free and open to the public.
For more information about the Creative Writing Reading Series, please visit https://humanities.uoregon.edu/creative-writing/reading-series
11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
Should you go to grad school? Going to graduate school is a BIG life decision! You can gain specialized knowledge, research, connections, and expertise in your chosen field, which can lead to better career opportunities and increased earning potential. However, it's essential to carefully consider your goals, commitment, and financial situation before deciding to pursue further education. Coming to this event is a great first step!
Explore your interest in pursuing an advanced degree at the Graduate School Fair! (11/13 from 11am-2pm in the EMU Ballrooms)
This event offers a valuable opportunity for you to learn about various graduate programs (both at the UO and other top universities!) and the benefits they provide to prepare you for a career in research, academia, or specialized industry roles. Talk to recruiters about the application process and financial aid, or ask them about career outcomes for students who pursue advanced degrees--this is your opportunity to explore and learn!
Whether you're still exploring career paths or ready to apply for the coming year, the fair is open to students at any stage of your academic journey.
Highlights of the fair:
- Representatives from graduate programs across the United States (including the University of Oregon), offering a diverse range of degree programs and academic disciplines including:
- Architecture & Design
- Business Management
- Child Behavioral Health
- Education
- Environmental Studies
- Health Sciences
- Humanities & Arts
- Law & Legal Studies
- Media & Communications
- Public Affairs & Policy
- STEM
- Social Sciences
- and more!
- Mini-Workshops featuring career readiness coaches, who will demystify the application process, writing your purpose statement, and provide tips for maximizing your experience at the fair.
Don't miss this chance to expand your horizons and discover the possibilities that await you in the world of higher education!
Register on Handshake today to learn about all the schools coming and get tips and advice for how to make the most of the fair.
For more information, visit the Unviersity Career Center in Tykeson-Garden Level to learn more about how the UCC supports students applying to grad school through career coaching and document reviews!