Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages

Alumna Natalie Jacobsen turns her passion for writing into global change

CINEMA STUDIES, EAST ASIAN STUDIES — For Natalie Jacobsen explored multiple majors before landing on cinema studies and media history. That well-rounded education took her across the globe and to her current position as director of marketing and communications at Airlink, a humanitarian aviation nonprofit. She is also a published novelist!

Studying Spanish Took this Alumna to the Olympics

SPANISH - Alumna Kara Buckley works as a senior advisor to the US Olympic and Paralympic Team. She consults on sponsorship and marketing and is helping prepare for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy. She also serves on the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business’s Board of Advisors. What Buckley learned while studying Spanish—both the language itself and the process of learning a language—has helped her advance her career.

Health without Home

ANTHROPOLOGY, GLOBAL HEALTH - Mentored by professors Jo Weaver of global studies and Josh Snodgrass of anthropology, CAS students in this research group all share a common goal: conducting interdisciplinary research with a social impact.

New book challenges the “migration crisis” narrative

GLOBAL LANGUAGES – Migration “crises” continue to make headlines, but according to Professor Eleanor Paynter, the ways we often talk about migration in public debate rarely line up with the experience of migrating across a border. She's been researching the issue and published her findings in her new book, "Emergency in Transit: Witnessing Migration in the Colonial Present."

Ducks fly high at Veterans Affairs for those who served

GLOBAL STUDIES - Jennifer Esparza served in the Marines Corps for 11 years, earning the rank of staff sergeant and a half-dozen awards. In 2011 she enrolled at the UO, and in 2017 she earned a bachelor's degree in international studies and went to law school at Georgetown University. She worked for the Biden-Harris administration as a White House liaison and now is senior adviser to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher, the department’s second-highest official.