SOU Academic Stories

Taran Cross is bound for Oxford after receiving bachelor's degrees at SOU Ashland

Unorthodox path: recent SOU graduate bound for Oxford

(Ashland, Ore.) — Achieving success wasn’t the issue for Taran Cross. He had risen to the position of vice president with a Medford-based healthcare technology company, despite dropping out of college soon after he began back in 2007. But he had unfinished business and higher ambitions. “I dreamed of going to Oxford as a kid […]

Criminology & Criminal Justice students from SOU Ashland

SOU Criminology & Criminal Justice class visits historic UK sites

A group of Criminology & Criminal Justice students from SOU spent their spring break on an immersive academic journey to Nottingham, London and other locations in the United Kingdom, delving deep into the UK’s rich legal and criminal justice history. The students in Alison Burke’s CCJ 389 class visited two prisons, a British courtroom and […]

outh Programs department brought local high school students to the university campus recently for the César E. Chávez Leadership Conference returns to SOU Ashland

César E. Chávez Leadership Conference returns to SOU

Southern Oregon University’s Youth Programs department brought local high school students to the university campus recently for the César E. Chávez Leadership Conference, which began at SOU in 2012 to celebrates the late civil rights leader’s heritage and teach young people to carry on his legacy of leadership. Last month’s 14th annual César E. Chávez […]

Crew Experience mentor Gary Lundgren at SOU Ashland

Acclaimed Ashland director and screenwriter leads SOU students’ “Crew Experience”

(Ashland, Ore.) — Ashland-based writer-director Gary Lundgren will guide student filmmakers at Southern Oregon University in bringing “An Extraordinary Year” to life this spring, when he mentors those in the Digital Cinema Department’s innovative “Crew Experience” course. “Crew Experience,” launched in 2022, has given SOU’s Digital Cinema students a chance each year to work on […]

Global Innovation Scholars from SOU and UG in Guanajuato

Global Innovation Scholars unite to serve U.S. and Mexican businesses

(Ashland, Ore.) — Nine students and two faculty members from Southern Oregon University have been working for most of the past week with their Mexican counterparts at Universidad de Guanajuato on the annual Global Innovation Scholars program – a multicultural business development initiative to help organizations and businesses in both Guanajuato and Ashland while providing […]

Raider Education Day and keynote speaker Jay Schroder come to SOU Ashland

Raider Education Day for new and prospective teachers

(Ashland, Ore.) — Author, teacher and consultant Jay Schroder will deliver a keynote address, highlighting the third annual Raider Educator Day – an event on Saturday, April 5, that will allow new and prospective teachers to gain insights into the field. The forum, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Rogue River Room of […]

Brain Bowl participants during recent tournament at SOU Ashland

SOU offers 48th “Brain Bowl” for local students

Middle and high school students from throughout the Rogue Valley came together recently to participate in the 48th annual Southern Oregon Brain Bowl, a quizbowl tournament organized by the Youth Programs Office at Southern Oregon University. The annual Brain Bowl tournament is a fast-paced quiz competition in which teams from local schools compete to answer questions […]

Southern Oregon firefighters at LA wildfires

SOU student applies classroom experience to work on LA wildfires

(Ashland, Ore.) — Bryan Cohee was juggling his usual responsibilities back in January – as a husband, father, battalion chief with Jackson County Fire District 3 and undergraduate student in Southern Oregon University’s Innovation and Leadership Program. A phone call resulted in yet another role, and both opportunities and challenges for Cohee: it was an […]

At wildlife crossing site, SOU students Shawn Johnson, Emily Heller

Funding in place for wildlife crossing with key SOU role

(Ashland, Ore.) — A total of $37 million in federal and state funding has been secured to build a wildlife crossing over Interstate 5 south of Ashland, in a project that Southern Oregon University faculty and students have supported by monitoring wildlife patterns in the area. Oregon recently was awarded a federal grant of $33.2 […]

Scavenger Hunt contestants at SOU Ashland

SOU Scavenger Hunt teaches academic skills to pre-college youth

Middle and high school students from across the southern Oregon region recently competed in the annual Scavenger Hunt event held by SOU’s Office of Youth Programs. Scavenger Hunt is a three-day academic “hunt,” in which students search for answers to clues provided by the hunt’s director, Jim Impara. Answers to the dozens of questions provided […]