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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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.
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
4:00–5:00 p.m.
Learn more about French Immersion in Angers, an immersive study abroad offered throughout the calendar year. This program is designed for you to immerse yourself in the French language (regardless of language ability) while also learning about French culture, politics, and society. The program offers classes covering many disciplines, with coursework in history, sociology, political science, business, and French culture and civilization. You will study at the Centre International d'Études Françaises (CIDEF) of the Université Catholique de l’Ouest, taking courses with US and other international students.
4:00 p.m.
Join the Department of Geography for the Colloquium Series talk with Timothy Prestby from James Madison University on "Contextualizing Trust in Cartography: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach."
"Maps have long served not only as navigational aids but also as powerful rhetorical tools. Yet, the question of why and when people trust them has received limited attention by cartographic researchers. This talk presents recent advances in the emerging science of map trust. I begin by establishing a conceptual framework for understanding what “trust” in maps entails and how it can be measured in a systematic and reproducible way. Building on this foundation, I examine how specific cartographic design choices—such as color palettes and the representation of uncertainty—shape users’ trust judgments. I conclude by outlining promising directions for future research."
Prestby is an Assistant Professor of Applied GIS at James Madison University. Prestby studies the interplay between psychology and design to understand how people can make sense of geographic information. More specifically, his research centers on interactive map design, data storytelling, and trust in maps. Prestby is also the director for the JMU Map Lab where he directs mapping projects that engage students in handson work that serves communities at local and wider scales.
4:00–5:30 p.m.
Stories that Shape Worlds: Media Ecosystems in Latin America
This colloquium features CLLAS-funded research by faculty member Guillem Belmar Viernes (Linguistics), Omar Barahona (PhD Student, Spanish), and Giovanni Francischelli (PhD Student, Communication and Media Studies), and brings together interdisciplinary work focused on language, media, documentary practice, and cultural power across Latinx and Latin American contexts.
Highlights include:
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Indigenous language documentation and storytelling across print, audio, and digital platforms
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Documentary filmmaking and land conflict in 1960s–70s Mexico
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Contemporary online documentaries, misinformation, and political ideology on YouTube in Brazil
Each presentation will be followed by discussion and audience Q&A, and the event is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are all welcome. Complimentary beverages and snacks will be available!
It should be a really engaging conversation, especially for anyone interested in topics around documentary storytelling, indigenous linguistics, and misinformation and political ideology in online spaces.
4:00–5:30 p.m.
Presented By: University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business, Finley Davis Private Wealth, RiskBridge Advisors
Thursday, February 5, 2026 4:00–5:30 PM | Main Presentation and Panel Discussion (Free and open to the public. RSVP encouraged. RSVP required for reserved seating by invitation only.) 5:30–6:30 PM | Meet-and Greet Reception (By invitation only. RSVP required.)
Location: Giustina Ballroom, Ford Alumni Center University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Overview Join leading economist Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, for an engaging live event exploring the next generation of business. This in-person discussion will examine how innovation, technology, and global economic forces are shaping the future of commerce and leadership.
Topics will include the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), shifts in trade and policy, trends in real estate and workforce development, and the Great Transfer of Wealth, redefining opportunity across generations.
The program will also feature a moderated panel with Peterson, RiskBridge leadership, regional business leaders, and university faculty, offering practical insight into how these trends are influencing decision-making today. About Dana M. Peterson Dana M. Peterson is the chief economist and center leader of economy, strategy and finance at The Conference Board, where she oversees global economic analysis and policy research. With more than two decades of experience in financial economics, Peterson frequently appears in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and CNBC, and is a trusted voice on global growth, inflation, and labor dynamics. Before joining The Conference Board, she served as a North America Economist at Citi, advising institutional clients on macroeconomic trends and investment strategy.