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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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
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 Associate Dean, Humanities
Happening at CAS
Welcome back, Ducks! Cheers to a great summer term. 🎉#UOCAS pic.twitter.com/xmTL3jke4A
— UO College of Arts and Sciences (@uocas) June 24, 2024
9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Join us for the joint Oregon Center for Electrochemistry (OCE) annual conference and The Electrochemical Society (ECS) Pacific Northwest Section Fall meeting.
Registration is open and free!
For details and to register, visit the OCE website.
9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
The GE Day of Teaching provides is an opportunity for new GEs to learn foundational teaching skills and topics as well as what quality teaching means at UO (it's professional, inclusive, engaged, and research-informed!). It's also an opportunity to meet other GEs and build community, and to learn about resources that support the vibrant teaching community here.
Free. Registration at https://oregon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6gH3SBdROWB1e8S
Full schedule and more details at https://teaching.uoregon.edu/ge-day-teaching
9:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
We will explore the artistic evolution of the modern world’s most influential imaginative writer. Born in Dublin in 1882 and oppressed by religion but steeped in theology and the classics, James Joyce fled to Switzerland and parts of Europe to invent the concept of the literary epiphany, the moment of recognition, the flash of understanding, as embodied in a perceived mundane symbol.
6:00–7:30 p.m.
Declared Theatre Arts as a major or minor? Interested in theatre? Interested in fun?
Come to the New Student Welcome Party, hosted by Theatre Arts in the Hope Theatre (Miller Theatre Complex)!
Learn about involvement opportunities, Theatre Arts courses, the University Theatre season, etc. Meet students involved with the Pocket Playhouse, Theatre Arts Faculty, learn about auditions, study abroad, and more.
FREE SNACKS!!!!
ALL STUDENTS WELCOME!