CAS Connection

CAS Connection
Dean Chris Poulsen speaking to an audience in a classroom

Creating a Future Forward CAS

How will CAS tackle the major challenges higher education faces? 
Dean Chris Poulsen has a strategic plan to establish the college as a leader and innovator.

By Nicole Krueger

 

In Focus  |  Around CAS  |  Liberal Arts at Large  |  Q&A  |  In the News  | Student Spotlight  |  Faculty Spotlight  |  Page Turners  |  Past Issues

Academic and career advisor Sonia Gordillo advises students who are pre-health and plan to go to medical school or other health-related graduate program.

Around CAS

Meeting Students Where They Are

What’s the best way to leverage your degree into a successful career path? Find out how CAS advisors help students flourish both in college and beyond.

By Jenny Brooks

Colin Wilfrid chose to attend UO in part for its disability studies program and in part for its marching band

Around CAS

Exploring Identity
in CAS

Students who come to CAS seeking a degree often find something even greater: themselves. Discover how an identity-focused major or minor can lead to a fulfilling career.

By Jenny Brooks 

Statue of Socrates illuminated with pink light

In Focus

Taking Liberal Arts to the Next Level

Are liberal arts degrees becoming obsolete? Far from it, say CAS faculty who are evolving liberal arts education to prepare students for jobs that don’t exist yet. 

By Nicole Krueger

A collage of images of LatinX professors

Faculty Spotlight

Meet Your New Latinx Studies Professors

Want to explore Latinx studies from a variety of perspectives? These nine new faculty members are bringing their valuable their expertise in Latinx studies-related issues to CAS.

By Henry Houston

Person on a roof making repairs with a nail gun

Student Spotlight

Finding Home
Again

It’s one thing to rebuild homes after a wildfire. Rebuilding communities is a different matter, discovered sociology graduate student Haisu Huang.

By Henry Houston

Page Turners

Book cover "Fighting Mad"

‘Fighting Mad’ Tackles Reproductive Justice 

The overturning of the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion in the US sparked a wave of responses across the nation. 

Explore the impact of this momentous decision through a collection of voices and perspectives in Sociology Associate Professor Krystale Littlejohn’s latest book.

By Codi Farmer

CAS News

an illustration of binary code illuminated by a green hue
NSF picks the UO to pilot National Quantum Virtual Laboratory
PHYSICS - The National Science Foundation has awarded a one-year, $1 million grant to a team led by University of Oregon researchers exploring practical applications for emerging quantum technologies and working to move discoveries beyond the lab. “Oregon has a small group of proficient researchers leading the way globally in quantum technology," said Brian Smith, a professor of physics and director of the Oregon Center for Optical, Molecular and Quantum Science.
headshot of Brice Kuhl standing in front of a brick building
Unlocking Memory: Brice Kuhl awarded new professorship
PSYCHOLOGY - Brice Kuhl is the first faculty member awarded the Dr. Michael Posner Psychology Professorship in Cognition and Neuroscience. This brand-new professorship, awarded in honor of the Department of Psychology’s groundbreaking researcher Michael Posner, will help support Kuhl’s teaching, research and professional development.
a collage of black and white photos of OIMB
A century beneath the waves
BIOLOGY - In 1924, the University of Oregon began teaching marine biology classes in a ramshackle collection of tents in a cove along the southern Oregon Coast. But what started as a couple of professors bringing some students on a summer camp has now become a permanent, year-round marine field station with a hundred years of coastal research and education.

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From the Media

people standing in an open field surrounded by trees
Tsunami researchers hunt for clues about the next big Pacific Northwest quake
Diego Melgar is a University of Oregon seismologist and leader of the Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT), a $15 million National Science Foundation research initiative that began in 2023 to bridge gaps between scientists who study different aspects of Cascadia but may have been isolated in their own silos — and to connect policymakers to the latest science. Valerie Sahakian, a lead investigator for CRESCENT and UO earth scientist, recalled that at a recent event, experts who work on resilience at utilities, federal agencies, emergency management and grassroots organization came together.
wood blocks that spell out thank you
RESEARCH: When You’re Grateful, Your Brain Becomes More Charitable
Psychology assistant Research Professor and senior instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences Christina Karns explores the brain-altering power of gratitude in the Being Patient publication. Psychology researchers recognize that taking time to be thankful has benefits for well-being. Not only does gratitude go along with more optimism, less anxiety and depression, and greater goal attainment, but it’s also associated with fewer symptoms of illness and other physical benefits, Karns said.
people sitting at a restaurant table, laughing
Your friends shape your microbiome — and so do their friends
Your microbiome isn't yours alone. Research published in Nature shows that a person’s microbiome is shaped not only by their social contacts but also by the social contacts’ connections. The work is one of several studies that raise the possibility that health conditions can be shaped by the transmission of the microbiome between individuals, not just by diet and other environmental factors that affect gut flora. Social interactions are “definitely a piece of the puzzle that I think has been missing until recently,” says postdoctorate microbiologist Catherine Robinson at the University of Oregon, who was not involved in the work.

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CAS Connection is produced by the CAS Communications Department and edited by Nicole Krueger.

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