LINGUISTICS - Before signing up to travel to Zanzibar, Zoey Blechschmidt knew a few things about the East African country. But most importantly, she had a foundation in Swahili, the language commonly spoken there, and cultural knowledge of the geographic area, thanks to her coursework in the College of Arts and Sciences.

ENGLISH - The trial of two immigrants convicted of murder sparked a media frenzy over injustice in the US judicial system. A century later, everything—and nothing—has changed, says English Professor Mark Whalan.

CINEMA STUDIES - It was a cinema studies major’s dream come true: Four CAS undergrads traveled to Los Angeles to work on the set of Professor Ernesto Javier Martínez’s upcoming feature film. From dressing a background set to operating a boom mic in the trunk of a car, they share what it’s really like behind the scenes of a movie.

CINEMA STUDIES - Boosted by an award from the Williams Fund, Colin Williamson, an assistant professor, developed the class Hands-On Film History, featuring two in-class workshops led by guest artists who will offer hands-on experiences with historically informed animation art.

EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES - Godzilla rampaging through cities or grappling with other monsters is a hallmark of the Japanese monster film series. But there’s more to the reptilian creature than just mayhem. A new book edited by College of Arts and Sciences professor Rachel DiNitto explores Japanese cinema—including the Godzilla films—and environmentalism.

Through fellowships, the Oregon Humanities Center at the University of Oregon works to promote innovative humanities research produced by faculty members at the UO. The fellowships are for tenure-track faculty and are awarded on an annual basis. The 2025-26 fellows include CAS faculty members in the Divisions of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Experiential learning prepares many people for career and advancing education—even Dean Chris Poulsen. Hear from Poulsen about how a memorable Earth sciences undergraduate field trip set him on the path to graduate school, and read about how the CAS Experiential Learning Fund helps undergrads access life-changing hands-on learning opportunities.

COMICS AND CARTOON STUDIES - The Science and Comics Initiative recently teamed up with the International NeuroAI Conference and hosted a satellite workshop for scholars who were attending the conference at the University of Washington. The Science and Comics Initiative works to make science more accessible to a general audience through the comics format.

THEATRE ARTS – Ever since she stepped on the stage in middle school, University of Oregon alum Jerilyn Armstrong '17 knew she wanted to be an actor. Her curiosity and eagerness led her to build valuable connections with instructors and explore every opportunity the Department of Theatre Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences, setting her up to pursue her passion after college.

ROMANCE LANGUAGES, ITALIAN – Migration “crises” continue to make headlines, but according to Professor Eleanor Paynter, the ways we often talk about migration in public debate rarely line up with the experience of migrating across a border. She's been researching the issue and published her findings in her new book, "Emergency in Transit: Witnessing Migration in the Colonial Present."

The Judaic Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences recently acquired some important materials in Yiddish, including a complete and pristine set of the Soviet Yiddish journal, “Sovetish Heymland." Yiddish is a language originally spoken by Jews from Central and Eastern Europe and their descendants and combines elements of German, Hebrew, Aramaic and various Slavic and Romance languages.

THEATRE ARTS – At the North Pole, Victor Frankenstein has finally caught up with his Creature with the intent of killing him to right his wrong of creating him in the first place. Before he can, the Creature asks, “Why did you make me?” This simple question is the premise of the University Theatre's production of "Frankenstein: Playing with Fire," which opens Nov. 8 and plays for three weekends.

LINGUISTICS – A group of students in the University of Oregon's Department of Linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences spent nine months in 2024 developing a unique set of open educational resources for language learning, available to the public for free. The book is in use in Linguistics 144 Learning How to Learn.

WRITING, PUBLIC SPEAKING AND CRITICAL REASONING – Alum Irisa Mehta '23 wanted to be a voice for others, to be a representative for those who face the educational barrier of understanding our criminal justice system. She took on two majors and two minors to make sure she was prepared for anything. She learned a lot academically and about how to have fun.

CINEMA STUDIES, MATHEMATICS - Abby Lewis, a fourth-year mathematics and cinema studies major, hopes to address the divide between mathematics vs. arts students in her second children’s book, Moose and the Math Fairy, earlier this year. “Math is in patterns, and it’s all around us in the world," Lewis said.