The autumn leaves and cozy feelings are here, and more events are being added to the calendar as fall term gets into full swing. October is LGBTQIA+ History and Pride Month where love is love and living an authentic life is celebrated.
Celebrations
The Native American Student Union celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day Oct. 12 at the annual confederated tribes of Oregon flag-raising ceremony, with music and speeches in the Erb Memorial Union amphitheater. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History will host special hours during the day.
Everyone’s favorite outdoor food and shopping fest returns to East 13th Avenue. The ASUO Fall Street Faire runs Oct. 14-16.
Exhibitions
Stop by the Adell McMillan Gallery Oct. 13 for a reception and hear about interactive opportunities with the city of Eugene's 20x21EUG Mural Project and Urban Canvas murals.
Hands-on art
If you like maps and crafting, visit the UO Libraries GIS lab Oct. 2 to meet like-minded colleagues. Over in the Lawrence Hall Design Library, create a string art map at a free event Oct. 9.
Shop for one-of-a-kind pieces at the Craft Center Studio Sale Oct. 23 in the EMU.
Lectures
The Rennard Strickland Lecture celebrates its 20th annual event Sept. 30 with Bryan Newland presenting his virtual talk The Vanishing Indian Property Rights: How Federal Courts are Stripping Indians of the Rights to Their Own Lands.
We Hold These Truths: 250 Years of the American Experiment at Home and Abroad brings together a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and leading scholars of citizenship, political development, race, gender, immigration and civil rights to reflect on the 1776 promise. In person and livestreamed Oct. 6.
The Oct. 12 Eugene History Pub Lecture Series features Professor of Anthropology Stephen Dueppen discussing Empires, Revolutions and City-States: West Africa in the Medieval Period.
Join the Department of History for a late afternoon seminar Oct. 15 From Cabinets of Curiosity to Global Science: How Southeast Asia Shaped Modern Natural History.
Japan is shrinking. How are its cities and towns responding? Join the Jeremiah Public Lecture Oct. 15 Finding Sustainable Transitions in Declining Japanese Municipalities to learn more.
A panel will discuss Centering Indigenous Knowledge Keepers in Museum Collections Oct. 29 at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
The Department of Art and the Center for Art Research kick off the 2026-27 Visiting Artist Lecture Series with three talks in October.
Music
If you’ve been missing musical shows at the UO, October is your lucky month. Concerts are back with UO faculty, student and guest performers. More shows and details will be added as the term progresses. Some highlights include the Rose City Brass Quintet presents: The Joe Show, In Retrospect Sept. 30, Murdock International Piano Competition concert Oct. 8, Chamber Music at Beall presents “Reflections” with Simone Dinnerstein Oct. 11, and the annual Liszt Birthday Celebration Oct. 22.
You don’t have to leave the Eugene campus to hear music, but if you wanted to The Jazz Station is the place in downtown Eugene to find more UO musicians.
Readings
The Creative Writing Reading Series kicks off the 2026-27 season Oct. 7 with poet Melissa Range, author of Printer’s Fist and winner of the 2025 Vanderbilt Literary Prize.
The Oregon Humanities Center 2026-27 endowed lectureship series on the theme of “Reading” begins Oct. 13 with writer, poet and podcaster Saeed Jones discussing Creative Nonfiction and the Art of Reality.
Streaming resources
The UO Libraries give employees and students access to a variety of streaming programs including documentaries, PBS shows, classical concerts, Shakespeare plays and limited educational access to Kanopy.
Tours
Take a curators’ tour Oct. 11 and go deep into the exhibition Jeffrey Gibson: They Teach Love, from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation.
—Jennifer Archer, University Communications