Social sciences provide an analytical approach to society’s problems. As a result, faculty and students in the social sciences often focus on complex and intersectional issues such as racism, international conflict and war, climate change, and poverty. Through an objective and empirical approach to these issues, the goal is to generate genuine passion and equip future leaders with the skills they need to address the world’s challenges. Explore majors, minors, concentrations, and academic programs in the social sciences.
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World-Class Faculty in the Social Sciences
Jo Weaver
Associate Professor, Global Studies and Director, Global Health Program
Lesley Jo Weaver is an academic expert in medical anthropology, global health, mental health, race, gender, chronic diseases, and food insecurity. She directs the Global Health Program at UO. Her research focuses, broadly, on the social production of health and illness. In India, Weaver’s National Science Foundation-supported research explores how the day-to-day management of type 2 diabetes shapes North Indian women’s abilities to participate in social roles considered appropriate for women of their age, class, and caste groups. In Brazil, Weaver’s work has examined how food insecurity influences physical and mental wellbeing.
Weaver co-hosts and co-produces the American Anthropological Association-sponsored podcast Speaking of Race, a longstanding program that explores the history and present-day reverberations of scientific racism around the world.
Mark Carey
Professor of Environmental Studies and Geography
Mark’s research focuses on the human dimensions of climate change and ice — from glaciers in the Andes to icebergs in the North Atlantic Ocean to glacial fjords in Greenland. The research centers on power, knowledge, and cultural narratives, with an objective to understand how knowledge systems, embedded storylines, social relations, and environmental injustices shape present-day environmental issues. The work is deeply interdisciplinary, and students in the Glacier Lab are central participants in these collaborations. Mark previously served as Director of the Environmental Studies Program.
Mark has two new interdisciplinary collaborative projects, one funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation on racial and climate justice in the Pacific Northwest (part of the Just Futures Institute) and another funded by NSF and the Navigating the New Arctic Program on “Global Changes, Local Impacts: Study of Glacial Fjords, Ecosystems and Communities in Greenland.”
Laura Pulido
Collins Professor of Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies and Geography
Laura is a qualitative social scientist who works at the intersection of geography and critical ethnic studies, especially Chicanx Studies. Her interest in these fields began as a young child fascinated by maps, landscapes, nature, and places. At the same time, everyday life taught her that we live in a racial, class and gender hierarchy that shapes our lives. Through her research and teaching she explores how these processes shape places and how places inform racial and economic processes. Most of her work explores the various ways in which racial inequality is actively produced, as well as the various means by which it is denied. She works together with graduate students in the Critical Race Lab.
She is the author of numerous books, including A People’s Guide to Los Angeles (with Laura Barraclough and Wendy Cheng, University of California, 2012).
School of Global Studies and Languages
At the School of Global Studies and Languages (GSL), UO students engage with diverse cultures, languages, histories, and lifeways across the world. Students of the social sciences, from Anthropology to Sociology, will broaden and deepen their education in their field by viewing it—and experiencing it—through a global lens. GSL prepares our graduates for life after college with an interdisciplinary curriculum, innovative language teaching, abundant learning opportunities outside the classroom, and paths of study that lead to many options for real-world careers.
Research in the Social Sciences
Research in the social sciences investigates human behavior and the motivations that influence it. Although some of our research occurs in the lab, much of it is conducted out in the field using a variety of methodological approaches, from exploratory to experimental. The results of our research often carry societal-level implications and may point to solutions for addressing local, national, or global challenges.
Explore Other Majors and Minors in the College of Arts and Sciences
Meet Our Dean
Welcome to the social sciences division of the College of Arts and Sciences. Within our community, we address some of the world’s problems—big or small—through interdisciplinary research and critical thinking. What drives us is a passion for exploring human behavior and society.
The social sciences provide the necessary foundation for any academic inquiry, from the creative arts to the natural sciences. Inside the classroom, we lead courses that are engaging and thought-provoking, inspiring students to become better citizens of our world and work toward a more inclusive future.
We also believe real-world experience offers some of the most impactful learning opportunities. From internships to study abroad trips that offer new cultural experiences, our students regularly engage in hands-on learning work that reaches across social, disciplinary, and geographic boundaries, allowing them to forge new connections and spark new ideas.
We look forward to changing the world with you.
Bruce McGough
Divisional Associate Dean, Social Sciences
Happening at CAS
Congratulations to UO English Professor Emeritus Bill Rossi for winning the Thoreau Society Medal, a prestigious lifetime award from the Thoreau Society! 🎉 #UOCAS #UOEnglish pic.twitter.com/ynY95DEm67
— UO College of Arts and Sciences (@uocas) March 8, 2024
Did you hold a student organization officer/leadership position? Are you graduating Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Summer 2024, Fall 2024? If so, you are eligible to receive a FREE Student Organization Leader Cord. To receive your cord, fill out this form https://oregon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zRIfukUZUz1EGO before July 1, 2024.
To be eligible for a Student Organization Leadership Cord a student must:
be graduating Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Summer 2024, Fall 2024, be in a UO Student Club that is officially registered or recognized and verified through the Engage system, hold a Student Leadership position and that position should be indicated in the Engage system, fill out the form completely, submit it by July 1, 2024, and have not been given a student organization leadership cord in a previous year.Cords can be picked up or mailed to you, your choice. Questions about cords should be directed to Center for Student Involvement csi@uoregon.edu, 541-346-2631
Presented by the Center for Art Research
Adam DeSorbo: Ablaze (With Destruction and Abundance)
March 1- May 19, 2024 CFAR billboard project at 510 Oak Street, Eugene, OR 97403
Ablaze (With Destruction and Abundance) depicts ochre-tinted maple leaves nailed to wood planks that have been strengthened through a traditional Japanese charring process known as the Yakisugi method. The burned boards and maple leaves allude to transitional states, both benign and seasonal, and the more destructive forces of increasing wildfire activity. The embedded relationship between preservation and destruction as it relates to the Anthropocene brings our paradoxical tendencies as a species into full relief. The image is activated through original text by the artist, making explicit the process of grieving a burning world. The interaction between the image and the text proposes an embrace of our ecological cracking, the necessity to witness, the urge to preserve, and the radical act of finding joy while existing in the cracks.
This CFAR billboard project is supported by the University of Oregon Department of ARt’s Center for Art Research in conjunction with the exhibition series Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World.
The Craft Center is excited to welcome our spring 2024 visiting artist, Frank Gosar. Frank has been creating pottery for over 30 years as Off Center Ceramics. His work will be on view in the Craft Center Gallery from April 1 - June 7.
Frank will also be teaching two workshops with the Craft Center this term, "Brush Making and Ceramic Painting" and "Potter's Tool Kit." For more information or to register, please visit https://craftcenter.uoregon.edu/workshops.
(The Craft Center Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the Erb Memorial Union just past the Adell McMillan Gallery. Please check the Erb Memorial Union website for site hours.)
8:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m.
Come view the stunning artistic work from students in UO Printmaking classes in the UO Art Department. This exhibit displays an incredible assortment of pieces provided by over 20 student artists. Be sure to join us for our reception on April 25th @5:00 p.m. Meet these talented artists while enjoying free refreshments and fun DIY activities. The show will be on view through May 16th.