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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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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!

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a collage of images from the CAS connection February issue

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 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

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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:

52
undergraduate degree programs
36
masters programs
25
PhD programs
11,000+
Undergraduate students in CAS Majors
800+
faculty members
1,200+
masters and PhD students in CAS

Happening at CAS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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

Feb 26
Writing Lab: Research and Writing Drop-In Event noon

The Composition Writing Lab is holding a drop-in event focused on research and writing support heading into finals for WR 121z, WR 122z, and WR 123 course assignments – come...
Writing Lab: Research and Writing Drop-In Event
February 26
noon
Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall Writing Lab (Room 351)

The Composition Writing Lab is holding a drop-in event focused on research and writing support heading into finals for WR 121z, WR 122z, and WR 123 course assignments – come ask questions, get research help from a UO Libraries expert, and chat with tutors! Snacks will be provided, along with support and resources for students in these courses. 

The lab is to the left of the elevators on the third floor of Tykeson Hall.

Feb 26
AI, The Economy, And Your Future Career 3:00 p.m.

What happen to jobs, wages, and opportunity as AI transforms the labor market? Join leading economist Betsey Stevenson for a conversation on research, policy, and what today's...
AI, The Economy, And Your Future Career
February 26
3:00–3:50 p.m.
Lawrence Hall 177

What happen to jobs, wages, and opportunity as AI transforms the labor market? Join leading economist Betsey Stevenson for a conversation on research, policy, and what today's students should know about tomorrow's workforce. Live Q&A.

Feb 26
Geography Colloquium: "Storing the Renewable Energy Transition: Emerging Critical Geographies of Green Hydrogen" 4:00 p.m.

Please join the Department of Geography for the Colloquium Series talk: “Storing the Renewable Energy Transition: Emerging Critical Geographies of Green Hydrogen” with...
Geography Colloquium: "Storing the Renewable Energy Transition: Emerging Critical Geographies of Green Hydrogen"
February 26
4:00 p.m.
Condon Hall 106

Please join the Department of Geography for the Colloquium Series talk: “Storing the Renewable Energy Transition: Emerging Critical Geographies of Green Hydrogen” with Kelly Kay, Associate Professor in the Geography Department at UCLA.

“Green hydrogen has been touted as “the holy grail of decarbonization” (Scita et al. 2020) due to its perceived versatility and promise as a viable alternative for difficult to decarbonize sectors, including shipping, trucking, aviation, iron and steel, and chemicals. Despite such optimism, many green hydrogen projects have recently failed. This presentation draws on new and ongoing research from Australia and Utah to understand the uneven rollout of green hydrogen technologies, their early successes and failures, and the social and environmental justice dimensions of hydrogen’s current deployments. In particular, in my talk I will focus on three key features of the current conjuncture: hydrogen’s distinct materiality—including what I call its “fuelness,” hydrogen’s reliance on increasingly unstable forms of green state capitalism, and hydrogen’s distinct remaking of hydrosocial relations and the water-energy nexus.”

Kelly Kay is an Associate Professor in the Geography Department at UCLA. She completed her PhD in Geography at Clark University, and prior to UCLA, she held positions at the London School of Economics and UC Berkeley. Kelly is a political ecologist who draws heavily from geographical political economy and legal geography, and her work tackles questions of natural resource management and governance in North America. Currently, she is working on a book project looking at the impacts of institutional investment of timberland on rural communities in Georgia and Oregon. She has also begun work on a new research project on the framing of green hydrogen as a renewable energy panacea and the ecological and social impacts of the emergent hydrogen economy in the US and Australia.

Feb 27
Latinx Studies New Faculty Roundtable and Lunch 1:00 p.m.

The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) is pleased to announce a dynamic roundtable discussion featuring new UO faculty members across various...
Latinx Studies New Faculty Roundtable and Lunch
February 27
1:00–2:00 p.m.
Erb Memorial Union (EMU) Cedar

The Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS) is pleased to announce a dynamic roundtable discussion featuring new UO faculty members across various departments whose work focuses on Latino/a and Latin American studies.

Bernadette Calafell is a Professor of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies whose work centers on Latina/o/x and Indigenous feminisms, performance, embodiment, and decolonial storytelling.

Salomé Herrera is an Assistant Professor of Latinx Literature and Cultural Production whose research explores contemporary Latinx writing, aesthetics, and political imagination across the Americas.

Ramón Resendiz is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology whose research examines Indigenous histories, memory, and survival, with a focus on colonial violence, land, and resistance in the Americas.

Please join us in welcoming these faculty members to UO and learning about their research, coursework, and the valuable contributions they will make in educating students about Latinx and Latin American issues across disciplines.

Lunch will be provided. We hope to see you there!