ENGLISH - The College of Arts and Sciences is investing in its Latinx studies courses by hiring nine new tenure-track faculty members. After wrapping up a doctoral studies program at University of California, Los Angeles, Salvador Herrera comes to the Department of English with expertise in contemporary Latinx literature and performance art.

LINGUISTICS - The College of Arts and Sciences is investing in its Latinx studies courses by hiring nine new tenure-track faculty members. Meet Guillem Belmar Viernes, who is joining the Department of Linguistics. After working as a foreign language teacher in Catalonia, Guillem Belmar Viernes was inspired by language revitalization efforts to pursue a PhD at University of California, Santa Barbara.

PHILOSOPHY - Camisha Russell, an associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Oregon, has been named a Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellow  for 2024. Each year, approximately 12 scholars are selected for the prize, and Russell is the UO’s first faculty member to receive this honor.

When Damon Jones '84 was diagnosed with cancer, he was determined to make some dreams come true. One of those dreams was reviving "The Last Dragon," a stage production he was part of in his last year in the Theatre Department at University of Oregon. Through sheer determination he pulled together the majority of the original cast, and they are staging it live in Portland Aug. 8-10, 2024.

ECONOMICS, GLOBAL STUDIES, PHILOSOPHY, POLITICAL SCIENCE - Two College of Arts and Sciences students — one attending an immersive Mandarin language study abroad and the other serving on a state of Oregon board on climate change and exploring Peru — are having life-transforming experiences.

GLOBAL STUDIES AND LANGUAGES, LINGUISTICS, SPANISH - U.S. Latinx students studying Spanish while studying abroad can encounter discrimination and condescending attitudes from their instructors. For students who grew up speaking Spanish, known as heritage speakers, this can lead to missed learning opportunities, according to Devin Grammon and Sergio Loza, both assistant professors of Spanish sociolinguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences.

THEATRE ARTS - Jeanette deJong, associate professor of costume design, history and technology in the College of Arts and Sciences, brings decades of experience to the theatre arts. Whether leading a lecture or writing a book, deJong draws from her professional journey and offers methods and techniques that have been honed over the years.

INDIGENOUS, RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES, PHILOSOPHY - Sensors collect data on all sorts of information, including gait consistency, body temperature, heart rate, and more. But where is the ethical line between using sensor data to help an athlete improve their performance—and even avoid injury—and that same data being used to sideline them or used as surveillance of behavior?

ENGLISH, ROMANCE LANGUAGES - Staff and faculty members came together for the inaugural College of Arts and Sciences Awards and Hallmark Achievement Reception, which celebrated some of the achievements of faculty and staff. In addition to celebrating some of the college’s faculty members who have received accolades outside of the university, the ceremony featured the college’s first-ever awards that recognize the work of faculty and staff.

CREATIVE WRITING, ENGLISH - This June, we celebrate Pride Month and the diverse identities of alumni identifying as LGBTQ+. Three College of Arts and Sciences alumni — Whitney Donielson, English, '11; Kevin Thomas, biology, '85; and Morgan Thomas, creative writing, '16— are featured in the UO Alumni Association's Shout publication.

ROMANCE LANGUAGES - Faculty members have published new research related to the Spanish language in three different countries: Bolivia, Chile and Peru.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE, SPANISH - Leah Middlebrook, associate professor of comparative literature and Spanish for the College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed as the new director of the Oregon Humanities Center. Her new position starts July 1, 2024. Middlebrook brings a rich humanities background to the position and she said the position is an honor she takes seriously.

LINGUISTICS - A historian and a linguist have received National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) awards, a prestigious honor that goes to only 16% of applicants in a given year. The grants were awarded to Gabriela Pérez Báez, associate professor of linguistics and director of the Language Revitalization Lab, and Arafaat Valiani, an associate professor in the Department of History and affiliated faculty in the Global Health program.

FOLKLORE AND PUBLIC CULTURE - Nearly 50 years after his death, Steve Prefontaine still motivates Eugene and University of Oregon runners to honor him. Professor Daniel Wojcik remembers running with the iconic runner in the May-June issue of CAS Connection.

LINGUISTICS - Language awakening is part of an ongoing effort to help Indigenous communities revitalize their languages and cultures after long periods of forced dormancy and even when no one is alive who speaks the language. While Indigenous tribes have been doing this work for decades, a growing movement within the field of linguistics aims to assist with these efforts. Read more in the May-June issue of CAS Connection.