The departments and programs of the Humanities Division are committed to the study of human meaning as it is expressed in diverse languages, explained in diverse literatures, and reflected upon from diverse philosophical and religious perspectives. Students seek to understand the values and purposes that make practices and systems worthwhile. In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to critically consider how individuals and communities make sense of their world is an essential skill. Explore majors, minors, concentrations, and academic programs in the humanities.
American English Institute
Arabic Studies
Chinese
Cinema Studies
Classical Civilization
Classics
Comparative Literature
Creative Writing
Comics and Cartoon Studies
Digital Humanities
Disability Studies
English
Environmental Humanities
News from Humanities
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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!
World-Class Faculty in the Humanities
Stephen Shoemaker
Professor of Religious Studies
Stephen Shoemaker teaches courses about Christian traditions and is a prolific contributor to research related to ancient and early medieval Christian traditions in early Byzantine and Near Eastern Christianity.
Shoemaker has received research fellowships over the years and received two in 2024 to complete the translation of the earliest surviving Christian hymnal from sixth-century Jerusalem, which is in Old Georgian. The fellowships include one from the National Endowment for the Humanities for 2024–2025 and a Senior Fellowship funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation).
He recently published The Quest of the Historical Muhammad and Other Studies on Formative Islam (2024) and is the co-author of The Capture of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614 CE (2024).
Stacey Alaimo
Professor of English
Stacey Alaimo’s research explores the intersections between literary, artistic, political, and philosophical approaches to environmentalism. She has published three books and more than 60 scholarly articles, on such topics as toxins, gender and climate change, environmental justice, queer animals, Anthropocene feminisms, marine science studies, the blue humanities, and new materialist theory.
Her concept of trans-corporeality has been widely taken up in the arts, humanities and sciences. She has been interviewed many times in print and podcasts. Her work has been translated into at least 12 languages and has inspired several art exhibitions.
Her fourth book, The Abyss Stares Back: Encounters with Deep Sea Life (2025), explores the science and aesthetics of deep-sea creatures since the 1930s. Alaimo currently serves as the English department’s director of graduate studies and is a core faculty member in the Environmental Studies Program.
Lowell Bowditch
Professor of Classics
Lowell Bowditch is the head of the Department of Classics. Her research explores the interface between the literature and socio-political relations of Augustan Rome.
Her newest project addresses issues of free speech and censorship in the early imperial age. She explores this through the work of Ovid in the context of the growing authoritarianism of the Augustan regime, with the planned book to draw comparisons with the contemporary political landscape.
Her previous work focused on love elegy and Roman imperialism from postcolonial perspectives. Along with multiple articles and research papers, she is the author of two books and a commentary, including the most recent, Roman Love Elegy and the Eros of Empire (London and New York 2023).
Bowditch came to the UO in 1993 and particularly enjoys mentoring classics undergraduates and master’s students.
Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages
At the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages (SGSL), UO students engage with diverse cultures, languages, histories, and lifeways across the world. Students of the humanities, from Cinema Studies to Religious Studies, 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 Humanities
Inquiry in humanities fields centers around our collective human experience. Our stories are told in many forms, be it a script, a screenplay, a religious text, in literature or in folktales. Researchers in the humanities employ tools of analysis to explore the long history and rapidly changing landscape of ideas, values and beliefs that coalesce in a different sort of knowledge about reality and human life.
Explore Other Majors and Minors in the College of Arts and Sciences
Meet our Dean
Welcome to the humanities!
With the human condition as our starting point, and an orientation spanning the past, present, and far into the future, the humanities at the University of Oregon address society’s core human questions of meaning, making, communication, and understanding.
In the College of Arts and Sciences, humanities span disciplinary fields, such as literature and languages, folklore, theatre and cinema, philosophy, classics, and religious studies. Our faculty teach students key humanistic skills such as writing, critical analysis, logical reasoning, translation, and expression. Our programs emphasize the liberal arts through engaged student learning, and our students are trained by the UO’s world-class research faculty to be resilient thinkers, capable of bringing their humanistic insights to bear on a transforming world.
Like any other time of rapid change, whether the Industrial Revolution or the technological revolution, thinkers of the human condition reflect and analyze human experiences and make it possible to share them. Through its many disciplines, the humanities inspire communication, uniting diverse communities in a common path, helping us address some of our most pressing human concerns.
We hope you will explore the humanities at the UO.
Erica Bornstein
Divisional Associate Dean, Humanities
Happening at CAS
2:00–3:30 p.m.
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies A Place of Our Own Talk and Light Reception with June Thomas
June Thomas is a journalist and podcaster and the author of A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces that Shaped Queer Women’s Culture (Seal Press, 2024). She spent 25 years at Slate magazine as a writer, editor, and podcast host/producer, and her freelance work has appeared in outlets including Bloomberg Businessweek, Marie Claire, the New York Times’ T magazine, the Washington Post and the Advocate. After 40 years in America, she now lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
4:00–5:00 p.m.
Thinking about an Experiential Learning Opportunity? Hear from scholarship recipients!
Curious about internships, research, study abroad, or leadership experiences and how to fund them? Join us for a student-focused panel featuring recipients of the College of Arts and Sciences Experiential Learning Opportunity (ELO) Scholarship, who will share how they found, funded, and made the most of their ELOs.
Panelists include:
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Yazzie Chee (Class of 2024), who completed his ELO in undergraduate research.
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Larissa Vandehey (Class of 2025), whose ELO was in the Hallett Lab.
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One or two current students wrapping up summer 2025 ELOs.
Whether you're planning your first Experiential Learning Opportunity or preparing to apply for the ELO Scholarship, this is a chance to hear real stories, ask questions, and get inspired. Learn how to connect your interests to meaningful experiences and how the ELO Scholarship can help make it happen.
*Light snacks provided; contact careerlab@uoregon.edu with questions.
11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Did you know you can have someone review your resume before the Fall Career & Internship Expo on 10/23? Drop-in with a career readiness coach or peer coach in Tykeson Hall Commons to get feedback on your resume! Free cookies & hot chocolate too :)
Don’t have a resume? Come learn how to make one!
This University Career Center event is part of the 2025 Fall Career Readiness Week sponsored by Enterprise Mobility. To learn more about all of the week's events visit http://career.uoregon.edu/events
5:00–6:30 p.m.
~ Follow your dreams and explore Japan! ~
The JET Program is a competitive employment opportunity that allows young professionals to live and work in cities, towns, and villages throughout Japan. Being a JET is a chance to teach English and represent the United States as a cultural ambassador to Japan. Most participants serve as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and work in public and private schools throughout Japan; some work as Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) as interpreters/translators.
Applicants must hold a bachelor's degree in any field by the time of departure for the program and coordinators for International Relations must also have a high level of proficiency in the Japanese language.
Gain valuable insights into how submit a strong application. Before attending the info session, please watch an important video on how to write a great JET Statement of Purpose at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eaq-rxLLUg4
To speak with a JET Program representative contact Matt Turner at: matthew.turner@se.mofa.go.jp
More information and application available at: JET Program USA – The Experience of a Lifetime