Humanities

Ten years in, the Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Series continues to teach and inspire cinema studies majors as they look for ways to make their Hollywood dreams come true. This year's visiting director, Sean Wang, participated in a masterclass that gave cinema studies students open and realistic insight into what it takes to make a movie.

ENGLISH, DISABILITY STUDIES — The University of Oregon’s Perfect Circle Theater is debuting its newest production, “Disabling Reality,” June 7 and 8. It’s a bold, imaginative performance created by and for a truly inclusive community. According to a few of the creative minds behind the production, the goal of Perfect Circle Theater is to create an inclusive community where people with disabilities and their allies can work together as peers. 

THEATRE ARTS — University Theatre's end-of-season production, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” is described as “good fun with plenty of heart.” It combines improv, heartfelt storytelling and audience participation. Performed by University of Oregon students, the production opens May 23 and runs through June 8.

SPANISH - Alumna Kara Buckley works as a senior advisor to the US Olympic and Paralympic Team. She consults on sponsorship and marketing and is helping prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy. She also serves on the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business’s Board of Advisors. What Buckley learned while studying Spanish—both the language itself and the process of learning a language—has helped her advance her career.

LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES — This year's Foreign Language and International Studies Day offered a vibrant celebration of languages, cultures and the arts for high school students. Attendees came from 19 Oregon high schools, some traveling from as far north as Seaside, as far south as Roseburg and as far east as Pendleton.

CLASSICS – As a new tenure-track faculty member in the Department of Classics, Ximing Lu is prepared to contribute his expertise in both research and teaching, offering students new perspectives on ancient history intertwined with modern scholarship. He also has a lot to teach on the subject of travel hacking.

PHILOSOPHY — Sure, when alum John Kaag’s mother forced him to take philosophy lessons from his Latin teacher in high school, he might not have imagined he'd pursue a career in philosophy. But he definitely didn't imagine he'd co-found an AI-driven website that allows you to read classic books alongside literary experts, including "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau.

ENGLISH — As a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and an associate professor in English at the University of Oregon, Kirby Brown blends a deep commitment to preserving his family’s personal stories with a vision for fostering Indigenous research and archival storytelling. He seeks to highlight moments of love, joy, humor, resistance, desire and futurity through storytelling and literature.