The College of
LIBERAL ARTS
Student Spotlight
An Eden with only Eves
Undergraduate student Cecily Evonuk illuminates forgotten queer histories in the rural Pacific Northwest.
On a hazelnut farm outside Silverton, Oregon, Cecily Evonuk grew up surrounded by art, agriculture, and stories. Their parents (both artists) fostered a childhood that blurred the lines between creativity and labor, history and imagination. Now, as a senior in the College of Liberal Arts, double majoring in history and women, gender, and sexuality studies, with a minor in studio art, Evonuk is weaving those early influences into groundbreaking scholarship on queer communal living in rural America.
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
New faculty starting in fall 2025
The College of Liberal Arts welcomes 23 new faculty members this academic year with expertise in artificial intelligence, early American literature, social identity, labor markets, and more. Each new faculty member will help to advance CLA’s cutting-edge research, scholarship, and creative activity.
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
Stone tools trace Paleolithic Pacific migration
A new analysis of stone tools offers strong evidence for the theory that ancient people from the Pacific Rim traveled a coastal route from East Asia during the last ice age to become North America’s First Peoples.
“This study puts the First Americans back into the global story of the Paleolithic – not as outliers – but as participants in a shared technological legacy,” said Loren Davis, professor of anthropology at Oregon State University and one of the study’s lead authors.
Faculty Focus
Advocating for students
Brittni Wisner reflects on her journey from Alaska to now leading student advising at the College of Liberal Arts
As an alumna of the School of Writing, Literature, and Film (SWLF), Wisner, M.A. ‘24, is a familiar face to many who frequented Moreland Hall. Now, Wisner leads academic advising for SWLF and the School of Communication. Read more >
With 290 faculty members, the College of Liberal Arts has the collective experience to guide our students to greatness.
Meet our Facultydonation 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