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.
Arabic Studies
Chinese
Cinema Studies
Classical Civilization
Classics
Comparative Literature
Creative Writing
Comics and Cartoon Studies
Digital Humanities
Disability Studies
English
Environmental Humanities
Ethics
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).
Stacy 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.
2024-2025 Sponsored Research in Humanities
Between July 2024 and June 2025, researchers in CAS received $83 million to fund 199 research projects, including $1.5 million for Humanities. The research projects, which span divisions and fields of study, represent CAS's commitment to curiosity, discovery, and innovation.
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
Iran Beyond the Headlines: Revolutionary Politics, Foreign Relations, and Prospects for Peace/Day 1
8:30 a.m.Oct
22
8:30 a.m.–5:15 p.m.
Day 1:
Since February the US has been at war with the Islamic Republic of Iran, yet Americans know little about that country. This interdisciplinary conference hopes to demystify Iran by examining two central questions: How has the Islamic Republic gotten to where it is now--a regime facing significant domestic challenges while simultaneously exercising substantial influence abroad? And, what might the future hold for Iran, the broader Middle East, and the US in the coming years? By more deeply looking into Iran with the goal of placing recent events within their respective historical, social, and comparative contexts, we hope to offer a better understanding of the current situation and its future prospects.
The conference is open and free to the public.
This event is part of International Education Month (IEM) programming. View the full calendar of IEM events here: https://international.uoregon.edu/IEM.
HSI Symposium: Building a Latinx-Thriving University
9:00 a.m.Oct
22
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Join the University of Oregon for the HSI Symposium: Building a Latinx-Thriving University. This two-day gathering brings campus and community together to explore how UO can strengthen support, deepen belonging, and expand opportunities for current and prospective Latiné students.
As UO explores its pathway toward becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), the symposium will build on the scholarship, student leadership, cultural initiatives, and community partnerships already shaping the university. Participants will learn from research and lived experiences and develop ideas to help shape what comes next.
Thursday, October 22 | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Day One features a keynote address by Marcela Cuellar and panels on the HSI landscape, academic success, Latiné research, and community and belonging. Thursday offers flexible, drop-in participation—attend all or part of the program when it works best for your schedule. Join us afterward for a 5 p.m. reception with acoustic music by Ricardo Cárdenas and refreshments and bites from Sheild Catering.
Friday, October 23 | 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Facilitated by Abigail Leeder, Day Two is a collaborative planning workshop focused on recruitment and enrollment, retention and graduation, research, and culture building. Participants will identify priorities and develop initial action plans, including practical steps that could begin soon and longer-term strategies.
Day Two has limited capacity, requires organizer confirmation, and asks participants to commit to the full session from 9 a.m.–2 p.m. To express interest, email cllas@uoregon.edu with a brief description of the perspectives, experiences, or ideas you hope to contribute.
We especially welcome campus and community members with lived experience as Latiné college students, as well as those who work closely with current and prospective Latiné college students, youth, and their families and can speak to their experiences, needs, and aspirations.
Free to attend. Complimentary coffee and tea will be served in the mornings, and lunch will be provided both days.
History Department Fall Term Coffee Hour
10:30 a.m.Oct
22
10:30–11:30 a.m.
Please join us Thursday mornings for a free cup of coffee, pastries, and conversation with your history department community! We’re excited to continue this tradition for our history undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff. We hope to see you there!
Fall Career & Internship Expo
noonOct
22
noon
Why YOU should come to this Expo...
- You're curious about your future. Explore different career paths and job roles across industries. EXPOse yourself to unique career pathways that can use your career readiness skills and passions to make an impact in the world.
- You want to make connections. These organizations LOVE to hire Ducks and want to help you find your career fit. You might even meet UO alumni recruiting for them at the expo. Ask a recruiter what career readiness skills you can be building now to make you a top candidate in the present or future (and add them to your Linkedin network for future connections!).
- You want to find a job, internship, year of service, volunteer opportunity, and more! If you're actively job searching, have your resume ready to hand out and a short and sweet synopsis about yourself and your professional interests ready to go! If you're just exploring options, collect contact info, do some additional research, and do an informational interview to learn more before you apply.
- You want to build your confidence! Practice asking questions of employers AND sharing about who you are and what you're passionate about. Every expo you attend and each time you approach a recruiter, you get more and more comfortable presenting yourself in a professional manner.
WHO'S COMING? Find your career fit with over 70+ employers comprised of private industry; public, educational, and non-profit organizations; local government, the federal government, law enforcement, and military--ALL on campus and excited to share more with you about their organization and early career talent opportunities. Open to students from ALL majors, classifications, and identities. Every expo looks a little different so come each term to keep exploring and expanding your career opportunities!
WHAT NEXT? Register for the Expo on Handshake today to learn about all the companies coming, and positions of interest you can be researching. We'll also send you tips and advice for how to make the most of the expo, including Career Readiness Week workshops like our Resume Extravaganza so you can have a great resume to hand to potential employers!
The University Career Center thanks Enterprise Mobility for sponsoring all our Fall Career Readiness Week events and workshops! Special thanks to Insight Global, States Industries, and Concora Credit for their support of the Fall Career & Internship Expo.
For a full list of Fall Career Readiness Week (October 16-23) events and workshops, check out http://career.uoregon.edu/events