College of Liberal Arts

CORVALLIS, Ore. — An Oregon State University study found evidence that Indigenous groups in the Pacific Northwest were intentionally harvesting edible camas bulbs at optimal stages of the plant’s maturation as far back as 3,500 years ago.

The findings contribute to the growing body of research around Traditional Ecological Knowledge and practices, demonstrating the care and specificity with which Indigenous groups have been stewarding and cultivating natural resources for millennia.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Five years after the first-ever academic conference to focus on the music, business and culture of jam band Phish, organizers are reconvening at Oregon State University May 17-19 for a weekend of panels, workshops, art exhibitions and concerts.

The 2024 Phish Studies Conference will build on the scholarship and connections of the 2019 event, said Stephanie Jenkins, an associate professor in OSU’s College of Liberal Arts and conference chair.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The family of Bernard Malamud, a former Oregon State University faculty member and one of the most influential post-World War II American Jewish writers, has made a gift supporting the university’s writing program, where Malamud developed his literary career.

Malamud taught at Oregon State from 1949 to 1961. During that time, he won his first National Book Award. He later went on to receive a second National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Whether delivering via cesarean or vaginally, patients’ overall experiences and perceptions of childbirth are largely determined by the kind of treatment they receive from their medical providers and whether they feel seen and heard, a recent Oregon State University study found.

The researchers say their findings underscore the need for better training for medical professionals as well as structural support within the health care system.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Indigenous author, botanist and professor Robin Wall Kimmerer has been named as Oregon State University’s 2024 recipient of the Stone Award for Literary Achievement.

Kimmerer will give a public reading, followed by a question-and-answer period, at 7 p.m. Friday, May 17 in OSU’s Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx), which opens April 6.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An Oregon State University-led collaboration of ecologists and art historians has demonstrated that landscape paintings from more than 150 years ago can advance environmental science.

Researchers from OSU, the U.S. Forest Service, the University of Vermont and the Smithsonian American Art Museum used 19^th-century depictions of preindustrial forests in the northeastern United States to show that historical artwork can reveal information about forests and other landscapes from eras that predate modern scientific investigation.