CAS Connection - Nov 2025

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Research report feature story

Celebrate Research Progress

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.

Explore CAS Research

Experiential Learning  |  Research & Innovation  |  Community Impact  |  Career Preparation  |  Teaching Excellence  |  21st Century Liberal Arts  |  Building Community  |  Good Vibes  |  CAS Spotlights  |  All Stories  |  Past Issues
 

Eric Torrence, physics professor

Research & Innovation

Professor is cracking the cosmos

Eric Torrence, physics professor, will spend 18 months monitoring the mysteries of our universe.

By Leo Brown

Pop-culture trends like Labubus become a global phenomenon

Good Vibes

What is behind the Labubu craze?

Professor Alisa Freedman explains how pop-culture trends like Labubus become a global phenomenon.

By Laurel Hamers

cinema studies student, Elle Thompson, internship story

Experiential Learning

Student casts her future

This cinema studies student thought she wanted to go into casting, so she found an internship to confirm it.

By Harper Wells

Assistant Professor Yu Wang's (right) research involves using machine learning to model enormous sets of data to link data

CAS Spotlights

Professor links the world’s data

Yu Wang’s research moves us toward a world where accurate information for every problem is easily found.

By Evan Ney

Sara Koski and street wagon

CAS Spotlight

Alum’s joy fuels her career

For political science alum Sara Koski, breaking from the expected path after graduation helped her discover what she really wanted to do: help people feel seen and heard, and to make real change in the unhoused community.

By Grace Connolly

Meet Alumna Sarah Koski

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

CAS News

students gathered by a poster
UO Earth sciences program pairs students with researchers
EARTH SCIENCES - CRESCENT wrapped up its first-ever cohort for the Geoscience Education and Inclusion (GEI) Twinning Program. Over the course of a year, students worked with mentors on fully funded research projects, developing practical skills and presenting their findings to fellow scientists. The program manager, Shannon Fasola, said it offered a unique opportunity because students could focus on research without having to worry about finances. The program included Libby Tonn, a CAS student.
two people in the field
Field school blends archaeology, ecology and tribal sovereignty
SOCIOLOGY - As part of the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History summer field school, the students are spending a month immersed in Indigenous cultural landscapes while studying archaeology, history and ecology and, at the same time, helping restore oyster beds. They’re learning vital career skills while helping usher in a new era of archaeology with Gabe Sanchez, a CAS assistant professor of sociology.
a person sitting in a chair with a laptop
Large national study finds minimal link between smartphone use and well-being in adults
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.

All news »

From the Media

CAHOOTS workers
The rise and fall of America’s model mobile crisis service
Research by College of Arts and Sciences economist Jonathan Davis and data scientist Rori Rohlfs is featured in the Nov. 8 print and digital issue of the Economist about the Eugene-based mental health de-escalation program CAHOOTS. The article mentions a study co-authored by Davis showed that CAHOOTS reduced the probability that a 911 call ends in an arrest by 76%. Each arrest costs taxpayers, so the service provided significant savings. And Rohlf's research is that police were dispatched to 23% fewer calls when CAHOOTS responds.
a grocery store cart
SNAP benefits dry up Saturday. What does it mean for grocery prices, food workers?
College of Arts and Sciences economist Keaton Miller speaks with The Oregonian/OregonLive about the loss of SNAP funds and what it means for the state's grocery stores. “(Grocery stores) have to pay for their facilities. They have to pay for their staff. They have to pay for all of the logistics, no matter how much they’re selling to consumers,” he said. “So, that’s going to put potentially upward pressure on pricing.”
A supermassive black hole far from its galaxy's center tears apart a star in the foreground of this artist's rendition.
Black hole caught snacking on star far from host galaxy’s center
The publication Astronomy wrote about a study by researchers who detected a unique incident of a star wandering near a supermassive black hole. “What’s exciting about this one is how well-sampled the data are,” said Yvette Cendes , an assistant professor in physics at the College of Arts and Sciences who analyzed the radio data. “We’ve seen second brightenings before, but this time we watched the rise and fall in real time.”

All media news »

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