Alum Prepares to Blast Off!
She's not 30 years old yet, but physics alum Manju Bangalore already has a long resume. From an internship at the White House to a Miss Oregon USA crown, Bangalore wears many hats. Now she's preparing to boldly go where few have been before: space. She plans to lead the first dedicated research mission to study menstruation in microgravity on a 2027 Virgin Galactic spaceflight.
What prepared Bangalore for her spaceflight countdown was the mix of time she spent in the three divisions in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) — humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
News from CAS
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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!
The CAS Experience
The College of Arts and Sciences experience is more than classroom lectures and lab experiments — it’s about putting ideas into action. Our students spend time in the classroom and then go out to the real world to apply their knowledge. A lifetime of curiosity, learning and engagement starts here at CAS.
Undergraduate Studies
Small classes. Big ideas. More than half of the University of Oregon’s student population is pursuing a College of Arts and Sciences degree. But what you’ll find at CAS is an intimate liberal arts experience at an R1 institution. With a median class size of 23 students per classroom, CAS is an environment where you can work closely with faculty dedicated to research and mentorship. With more than 50 departments and programs, we have a program where you can transform curiosity into action.
Graduate Studies
You’ve got ambition, and you’re ready for the next step: graduate school. Whether your goals are to expand scholarly knowledge or level up your professional capacities, CAS has more than 30 master’s programs and more than 20 doctoral programs, all span a range of disciplines. Our faculty members are here to support you on your academic journey, to guide you through research and advance your professional skills.
What’s Happening in CAS?
It turns out the sky isn't the limit for CAS physics alum Manju Bangalore (pictured). The physics alum is on her way to lead a research mission in space on a 2027 Virgin Galactic spaceflight. The October issue takes a look at what some of our researchers have received federal grants to study, faculty reviewing the hot topics of the 2026 midterm election, a CAS alumni couple working at Meta — and more.
Student Support Services
We’re here for you. As a CAS student, you have access to plentiful resources that can help you thrive inside and outside the classroom. Through Tykeson Advising, we provide comprehensive academic and career advising from the start of your journey. Learn about career preparation and get assistance in selecting the very best classes that resonate with you and offer the opportunity to grow. Connect with labs, libraries, IT and tutoring. Find your community on campus.
World-Class Faculty
Our faculty go beyond the frontiers of science. Whether it’s green technology of tomorrow or tackling centuries-old philosophical questions, our College of Arts and Sciences faculty are in forward motion to tomorrow.
And they’re just as committed to the classroom. They’re here to help students like you discover their academic passion so you can become the next generation of professionals and scholars. They are here to coach you, inspire you and prepare you as you enter the professional world as critical thinkers and ethical global citizens.
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!
Life at Oregon
As a CAS student, your next home could be set in the lush Willamette Valley in the city of Eugene. Set between mountain ranges, two rivers and the Pacific Ocean, your adventure awaits. In between your studies, the UO is a place where you can forge lifetime friendships and connections with an exciting backdrop — whether that’s yelling “Go Ducks” during gameday at Autzen Stadium or a quiet hike in an old growth forest.
The College of Arts and Sciences includes:
Happening at CAS
History Department Fall Term Coffee Hour
10:30 a.m.Oct
29
10:30–11:30 a.m.
Please join us Thursday 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!
Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies: Open House
4:00 p.m.Oct
29
4:00–5:00 p.m.
Join us for a spooky season-themed open house, trick-or-treat style! Meet the faculty, ask questions, learn about winter term classes, and grab candy as you go.
Free and open to all IRES students.
OHC Work-in-Progress Talk: "Peoples of the Heartland: Native Nations, Sovereign Acts, and the Making of California"
noonOct
30
noon
The Oregon Humanities Center hosts weekly Work-in-Progress Talks to showcase the humanities research of its many fellows. This week, Naomi Sussman presents her research on "Peoples of the Heartland: Native Nations, Sovereign Acts, and the Making of California."
Sussman's research maps how small Indigenous polities in California used relationships with human neighbors and the natural world to enact their sovereignty between 1769 and 1930. Indigenous peoples’ sovereign acts made the California interior into a Native heartland that survived and shaped four waves of Native and Euro-American invasion: first a Native confederacy on the Colorado River and the Spanish Empire, then Mexico and United States. Their story is an epic of Native power and adaptiveness in the face of enslavement and genocide.
Join us for this Work-in-Progress Talk in the OHC Conference Room (Prince Lucien Campbell Hall 159) at noon on Fridays. These events are free and open to the public. Please register for this event online at ohc.uoregon.edu.
Halloween Night at the Aquarium
4:00 p.m.Get your costume on and join us for a free family event. Spooky decor...Halloween crafts...face painting...photo booth...costume parades!
Oct
31
4:00–7:00 p.m.
Get your costume on and join us for a free family event. Spooky decor...Halloween crafts...face painting...photo booth...costume parades!