Humanities News

ENGLISH, PHILOSOPHY - Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, public awareness of artificial intelligence has exploded, accelerating the technology’s inevitable creep into everyday life. In the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences, where AI has made its way into both classrooms and research labs, faculty members are grappling with its impact on student learning even as they explore its vast potential in their research.
PORTUGUESE - Senior Instructor Bene Santos is one of three winners of the Tykeson Teaching Award, an annual prize given to one outstanding faculty member in each division of the College of Arts and Sciences who goes above and beyond in the classroom.
CINEMA STUDIES - Dive into the art of producing with a hands-on immersive experience through the University of Oregon’s “The Art of Producing” Visiting Filmmaker Series 2024. Hear firsthand from the producer who brought “The Last of Us” to the screen, explore the craft of horror cinema and learn about a variety of possible careers in the film industry.
ENGLISH - After a long career centered around a fascination for 19th-century American literature, William (Bill) Rossi will soon receive a prestigious honor: the Thoreau Society Medal. As a diligent professor emeritus of English, Rossi’s dedication to understanding the works of Henry David Thoreau has left a mark on literary scholarship and the University of Oregon.
GERMAN AND SCANDINAVIAN - The term "heimat," which loosely translates to home or homeland, is tied to ideals of unity and identity in one’s homeland. It’s also tied to controversial ideas such as colonialism and genocide. The 13th special issue of “Konturen" is devoted to a critical reassessment of this word and its meanings.
RUSSIAN, EAST EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN STUDIES - Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies faculty member Jenifer Presto recently presented at an Arts Unplugged event at Cornell University on "Nabokov, Naturally." The event, which brought together artists, humanists and natural scientists, explored “Lolita” author Vladimir Nabokov's legacy as a writer and a lepidopterist.
PHILOSOPHY - Cintia Martínez Velasco, an assistant professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, appears on an episode of UO Today, a production by the Oregon Humanities Center. Her research and teaching interests include feminist philosophy, gender theory, decolonial philosophy, and critical theory in Latin America.
CINEMA STUDIES, THEATRE ARTS - Built in the late 1800s, University and Villard halls haven't been state-of-the-art in a long time. But $68 million interior and exterior construction work is bringing new life to the two iconic University of Oregon buildings, which will host new facilities for the cinema studies and theatre arts departments.
ENGLISH, THEATRE ARTS - Alumna and Tony-nominated playwright Heidi Schreck (English, theatre arts, '09) is collaborating with director Lila Neugebauer to stage a production of Uncle Vanya at the Lincoln Center Theatre in April. The play, originally written in 1897, will star Steve Carell and Alison Pill.
THEATRE ARTS - Costumes are an essential element in transporting audiences to a whole new world. The Department of Theater Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences provides experiential learning opportunities for students, teaching them industry standards in costuming, to prepare them for internships and careers in the theatre world. Go inside the Costume Shop with Annika McNair as she and her colleagues prepared for Antigone.
PHILOSOPHY - With violence against women on the rise in many Latin American countries, a UO philosophy professor is working to make feminine genocide a recognized crime throughout Mexico. Recently, she urged Mexican consulates around the world to help eliminate violence against women and girls by recognizing and enforcing femigenocidio as a federal crime.
THEATRE ARTS - In a theater production class, Grigorii Malakhov discovered a new passion that has taken him to a world-renowned opera company in Santa Fe and is preparing him for a career after graduation. Plus, take a tour of the UO Costume Shop with junior Annika McNair as students prepare for their production of Antigone, which ran in the 2024 winter term.
ENGLISH, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES - A three-year endowment fund is supporting Kirby Brown's work on his family’s Cherokee oral history and material archives to better understand Cherokee Nation literature, history, intellectual production, and lived experience in the 20th and 21st centuries. Brown is an associate professor of Native American and Indigenous literary and cultural production in the Department of English and the director of Native American and Indigenous studies.
CLASSICS, THEATRE ARTS - Directed by Tara Wibrew, the University Theatre’s production of Antigone opens March 1 and runs through March 17. The production is a product of College of Arts and Sciences students’ hands-on learning, applying concepts learned in classrooms to the stage in Robinson Theatre on the Eugene campus.
JAPANESE, LATINX STUDIES, LINGUISTICS, SPANISH - The Latinx Studies Experiential Learning Program offers funding for a limited number of undergraduates to conduct research or pursue creative projects under the supervision of a faculty member. At a Feb. 13 forum, four undergrads showcased their research, which includes language revitalization, preservation and environmental justice radio reporting.