CAS Connection Research & Innovation archive

GERMAN AND SCANDINAVIAN, FOLKLORE — How does an oral Yiddish folk story become what is perhaps the most famous of all modern Jewish literary fantasies? Associate Professor of Scandinavian Gantt Gurley's research on this very question about the legend of golem is illuminating.

Researcher Cathy Wong found a way to help students approach lab work with less anxiety and more excitement.

College of Arts and Sciences Associate Professor of Economics Keaton Miller explains why conflict in the Middle East and gas prices are so closely tied and what to worry about — or not — in the future.

PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY — A new cutting-edge major in the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences prepares students to drive technological change through high-demand careers in fields such as semiconductor manufacturing, energy and sustainable materials development.

BIOLOGY - Marine biologist Alan Shanks has a simple trap that allows him to predict the amount of Dungeness crab will be available for fisherfolk. For the past 25 years, Shanks has compared the yields of the winter commercial catch to the baby crabs his water-jug trap collects each summer.

SOCIOLOGY - New research by sociology Associate Professor Claire Herbert and doctoral student Amanda Ricketts examined three US case studies where squatting was used as a tool to influence local and state decision makers. The two CAS sociologists published their findings in the article “Resisting and Reclaiming: Squatting as Contentious Urban Politics in the US” in the November 2025 issue of Social Problems.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - It's August, and the fall term is around the corner, but associate professor Carl Brozek is heading to Japan through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. None of them, including Brozek or the lab in Japan he'll be working in, know that he’ll be there when his research colleagues at Kyoto University get some epic news about their work on structures known as metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs.

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.