Welcome. You have arrived at CAS's new Humanities landing page. If you were looking for the website for the Humanities Program, please visit: Humanities Program
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
Chinese Flagship Program
Cinema Studies
Classical Civilization
Classics
Comparative Literature
Creative Writing
Comics and Cartoon Studies
Digital Humanities
Disability Studies
English
News from Humanities
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World-Class Faculty in the Humanities
Leah Middlebrook
Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Spanish
Leah Middlebrook is an academic expert in the early modern literature of Spain, France, and England. A former Fulbright Scholar and Mellon Fellow, Leah has published and taught on subjects ranging from Petrarchism to the art of the sonnet to Cervantes.
More recently, she has begun to divide her time between a book on lyric poetry and classical myth and a new area of interest: Twenty-first century Spanish writing in the wake of the European economic crisis.
In addition to her primary research fields, Leah finds real joy in reading literature with UO students. She received the Herman Award for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Oregon in 2016. She received the Ersted Award for Distinguished Teaching at the junior faculty level in 2007.
Mat Johnson
Professor and Philip H. Knight Chair of English and Creative Writing, Comics and Cartoon Studies Program
Mat Johnson’s writing “addresses comtemporary race and social issues with wicked humor,” as described by the United States Artists organization, which awarded Johnson its James Baldwin Fellowship in 2007.
Mat's novel Loving Day (2015) graced the cover of the New York Times Book Review and won the American Book award, and 2022’s Invisible Things, his fifth, won praise from the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR’s Fresh Air, where he’s become a regular contributor.
Along with teaching creative writing to undergrads and graduate students, Johnson's published five graphic novels and is a faculty member in the Comics and Cartoon Studies program. When he’s not on campus, Johnson’s at work on scripts for Apple TV+ and Netflix, among other producers.
Colin Koopman
Professor of Philosophy
Colin Koopman's research and teaching focuses on the politics of information and data, in particular on issues of privacy and surveillance. Colin is interested in the ethical and political problems that arise out of information collection, data analytics and the vast distribution mechanisms they enable. His research looks at the history of how information has come to track, define and constitute us—how it's become so important to who we are.
From a metaphilosophical perspective, Colin always attempts to challenge himself (and his collaborators and students) to practice philosophy through a style of pluralism that draws widely on diverse figures, traditions, disciplines, and themes.
Read his interview in The New York Times Magazine with David Marchese about data politics and related topics discussed in his latest book, How We Became Our Data.
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 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
The departments and programs of the Humanities Division share a commitment to the study of human experience as it is expressed in diverse languages and cultures throughout history and across the world. A Humanities education encourages students to think creatively, independently, and critically about the human past, present, and future. Whether they choose to focus on cinema, classical languages, or philosophical ideas, Humanities students learn to reason, to build arguments, to write and communicate with confidence and conviction, and to view the world and its challenges from multiple perspectives.
Our College of Arts and Sciences is committed to providing students with a genuine liberal arts education, which means that we strive to expose students to more than one way of knowing. We want our students to appreciate the profound differences—and the no-less profound similarities—in the way a philosopher, a biologist, and a political scientist approach the same questions about the human condition. The unique lens provided by the Humanities departments and programs at UO is an essential part of that liberal arts education, which we believe prepares students to live meaningful lives in the world.
Harry Wonham
Divisional Dean, Humanities
Happening at CAS
Art exhibition by the 2023 Art & Technology BFA cohort, #FF00FF.
Show runs from June 5 - 8 with a closing exhibition on June 8, 5-6 pm in the LVK Gallery.
Art exhibition by the 2023 Art & Technology BFA cohort, #FF00FF.
Show runs from June 5 - 8 with a closing exhibition on June 8, 5-6 pm in the LVK Gallery.
Mitra's work is on display through Spring Term in the Erb Memorial Union (2nd Floor, just past the Adell McMillan Gallery). Please visit emu.uoregon.edu to view open hours.
Mitra Gruwell is a community focused upcycle fashion/product designer and sewist, with 20 years experience in business management, entrepreneurship and event production. As the owner of Discard Upcycling, her mission is to make upcycling more accessible and affordable for both businesses and individual clients. Mitra is the program manager and developer for Viking Textile Maker Hub and she also teaches workshops in upcycled design and design thinking, and apprentices and mentors youth in these skills. She has bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Religious Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder and has served on the board of the Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene for 8 years. Mitra is passionate about the arts and the role it plays in connecting people and keeping them happy, healthy and prosperous.
Artist Talk: April 21st, 6pm-9pm in the Lease Crutcher Lewis Room in the Erb Memorial Union. No registration required.
Artist Workshop: Upcycled T-Shirts (Session B), May 20th, 1pm-4pm. Registration required. Please visit craftcenter.uoregon.edu.
The University of Oregon MFA Art Exhibition 2023 culminates three years of independent research and experimentation by Lily Wai Brennan, Mary Evans, Anastasiya Gutnik, David Peña, and William Zeng, a cohort of five artists whose various practices engage a broad range of inquiry. This year marks the 100th year of the University’s MFA degree, making it one of the oldest programs in the country. As a marker of the program’s centennial moment, the MFA exhibition returns to the JSMA, making the work accessible to the UO and Eugene community, while celebrating the MFA graduates’ efforts in the high standard of the museum setting.
9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Art and Tech BFA Thesis Exhibition anna hothai talia jeffrey kyler shahalami julian schonfeld julia stalnaker lindy mccool clutch anderson