The College of
LIBERAL ARTS
Student Spotlight
The whole student approach: Weaving culture and wellness into higher education
Keenyn Irene Kehaulani Santiago blends Native Hawaiian health, recreation, and student affairs to develop culturally sound approaches to wellness in higher education
Growing up in the small rural town of Kahuku, Oahu, Keenyn Irene Kehaulani Santiago learned community, determination, and the value of service. Those lessons from her early years on Oahu continue to shape her journey as she finishes her master’s at the School of Language, Culture, and Society’s College Student Services Administration program.
The Launchpad Scholars Program invites all First Gen, first-term, first-year Liberal Arts students to a training session for writing successful scholarship applications.
Faculty Excellence
College of Liberal Arts year-end reading list 2025
The College of Liberal Arts consists of voracious readers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more. While there are always too many worthy books to note, these were ones faculty and staff found particularly interesting and impactful. Here are just some of the books they couldn’t put down in 2025!
CLA BY THE NUMBERS
5,026
The right size for your education
The College of Liberal Arts is the proud academic home of 5,026 students. With 1 faculty member for every 15 undergraduate students, you'll receive a personalized education paired with a robust liberal arts college experience.
World Class Instruction
Our dynamic, intellectual community of 336 expert faculty tackle the world’s biggest issues from social justice to food insecurity. They conduct symphonies and design in virtual reality. They study the past to forge solutions for the future.
336
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4-Year Graduation Guarantee
CLA is the only college at Oregon State that guarantees you'll graduate in 4 years. Our graduates go on to successful careers in medicine, technology, the arts, media, law, policy, education, business and more. Your path is wide open.
Research Highlights
Linking extreme cold and domestic violence in Peru
A new article co-authored by Assistant Professor of Economics Katie Bollman reveals how income loss due to cold shocks affecting agricultural production drives increases in intimate partner violence
Violence against women, particularly Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), affects one in three women worldwide. Relatedly, climate change continues to cause intense cold waves that endanger vulnerable populations and agricultural production, especially in highland areas of low- and middle-income countries.
In a new first-of-its-kind study, Bollman examines the effect of cold exposure on IPV, focusing on the Peruvian Highlands, where IPV is common and where extreme cold events have become more frequent, affecting millions of residents.
Faculty Focus
A love letter to theatrical design
Senior Instructor and Costumer DeMara Cabrera reflects on her career in celebration of her tenth year with the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts
DeMara Cabrera, M.S. ‘06, has always lived and breathed theatre. Even though she was a natural performer, Cabrera found early on that her primary creative outlet was actually offstage.
It wasn’t until high school that her involvement in costume design began. From that point on, Cabrera’s love of theatre remained her anchor as she moved from coast to coast, completed two master’s degrees, switched career fields, and finally found her dream job as a teacher and costumer in the theatre arts department.
donation innovation
Visionary Donations Funding our Future: PRAx
“The Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts will serve as a unique and dynamic education and performance center and will be a showcase destination for the visual, musical, theater and cultural arts for students, faculty, campus visitors and Oregonians,” said Larry Rodgers, dean of OSU’s College of Liberal Arts.
A lead gift of $25 million for the complex has been provided by Patricia Reser. Additional gifts include a $2 million commitment from the family of the late Lynne Detrick of West Linn to build a new 500-seat concert hall to offer a high-caliber venue for both listeners and performers, Rodgers said. The OSU Foundation continues to seek philanthropic support for the center, and OSU will also seek state bonding from the 2020 Oregon Legislature to help support the project.
Explore PRAx