PSU's unique location in downtown Portland will give you opportunities to intern with some of the state's largest environmental organizations, including the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Port of Portland, City of Portland's Water Environmental Services, the United States Geological Survey, and the Columbia Slough Watershed Council.

Our partnerships with local, state, and national agencies, including the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, give you a chance to work with scientists worldwide and gain a better understanding of the breadth of environmental science.

PSU’s engaged student body has many student-run groups focused on Environmental Science in addition to other Green Student Groups:

• Association of Environmental Science Students: Advance student curiosity and engagement in environmental science through interdisciplinary interactions. They hold regular social events and outdoor activities that allow opportunities to discuss, analyze and tackle issues related to environmental science.
• PSU Environmental Club: Unite students in the common interests of a variety of environmental issues and projects and make connections within and outside the PSU community.

Students who want to continue their education and go on to graduate school can work with environmental science faculty to find the right program and apply for graduate school.

Portland is a popular city for writers and creatives interested in pursuing careers in film TV and production work. Portland State contributes to this community by creating an environment for aspiring writers and creatives to grow and develop. Our students have interned on TV shows like "Portlandia" and "The Librarians," worked on independent films, assisted local equipment and production companies, and helped to plan Portland film festivals. We believe that hands-on knowledge is a critical part of our film program, giving you context for what you learn in the classroom.

Students at Portland State and in the Film Studies program are encouraged to take part in our student groups:

• KPSU: Streaming online every day, KSPU has been bringing you the student voice of Portland State since 1994. Operated by student and community DJs, KPSU's independent voice has become a mainstay in the greater Portland area! Listen at KPSU.org.
• Sub-Basement Studios: Media created by students, for students, Sub-Basement Studios is your source for interesting creative content on and around the Portland State campus. It provides a great way to get involved doing what you love whether it be reporting, marketing, editing, camera work, and much more. Sub-Basement Studios has the hands-on experience you need.
• 5th Avenue Cinema: PSU’s student-run cinema house screens an eclectic selection of camp, cult, classic, and contemporary independent and mainstream films. Free for Portland State students and staff with ID.

Portland State University is home to Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik, one of the nation’s premier German intensive programs offered in the summer. Leading students through language, history, culture, literature, and pedagogy during five-weeks of thoughtful coursework.

The program is open to all students regardless of class standing, age, or cultural background. Participants can earn credit that goes towards their bachelor’s degree at Portland State. Most students leave the program having advanced an entire level in their language proficiency.

Many public agencies in the Portland metropolitan region recognize the importance of this analytical tool, have GIS capacity, and need trained practitioners. The U.S. Department of Labor has identified GIS and geospatial technology as a field in high demand with excellent job opportunities.

Our Geology program builds on a foundation of physics, chemistry and math to help you better understand earth systems and processes. You’ll also take engaging geology courses on topics like national parks, volcanoes and earthquakes, and energy, minerals and the environment.  

Hands-On Fieldwork and Research Opportunities in the Pacific Northwest

You’ll take field trips to natural sites in the region, assist with exciting faculty research, participate in hands-on lab courses and collaborate with public and private organizations in the city and beyond. No matter your background, we’ll invite you into our diverse community and accessible, accommodating and supportive program. 

Discover Your Focus: From Natural Resources to Geologic Hazards

Whether you're interested in natural resources, climate and land-use change or geologic hazards such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions, our program will spark your curiosity and prepare you for an exciting and in-demand career.

Explore the Pacific Northwest: A Living Geology Laboratory

There’s no better classroom to study the Earth than the Pacific Northwest, a true geological paradise. You’ll enjoy unmatched opportunities to explore the region’s world-class geology, including extinct and active volcanoes, landslides, the Columbia River flood basalts, Mt. Hood’s glaciers and tsunami deposits along the coast.

Collaborate with Public and Private Organizations on Real-World Projects

Our location provides opportunities to work with community partners on meaningful projects. Our students have collaborated with the City of Portland, Oregon state departments, environmental consulting firms, K-12 institutions and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Leverage PSU’s Urban Location for Internships and Industry Connections

Our urban location keeps us well-connected with a strong, locally employed alumni network, who work at public and private organizations. Through these connections, you’ll build relationships and discover opportunities to participate in internships and research partnerships that will benefit your career.

Join PSU’s School of Earth, Environment and Society for Interdisciplinary Learning

When you major in geology, you’ll be part of PSU’s School of Earth, Environment and Society. This new school focuses on interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research that addresses the most pressing and complex issues facing the planet, and the people who call it home.

PSU's location in downtown Portland, with easy access to the Pacific Coast, the Cascade Mountains, and the Willamette Valley, provides ample opportunity for field work-based classes and field work opportunities for research in urban, rural, and wilderness sites. Numerous local, state, and federal agencies are within walking or driving distance, providing opportunities for applied research in a wide variety of areas.

Faculty engage in local, regional and international research projects in hydrology, water resources, biogeography, climate science, sustainable resource use, land use analysis, cultural and political ecology, the urban environment, and geographic information science. Faculty incorporate research findings into their courses and their work has been featured in the media.

The geography department’s engaged faculty and students create a close-knit community with active student-led groups like the ASPRS/GIS Club. The ASPRS/GIS Club is a student organization focused on the advancement of knowledge and improved understanding of GIS, remote sensing, photogrammetry and supporting technologies on the PSU campus. The group also facilitates the partnerships between the industry and PSU students and enhances professional development of undergraduate and graduate students in geography and related disciplines.

PSU's French program is committed to developing your intellectual potential, knowledge of the French language, and understanding of the world. Our small French classes will help you become proficient at reading, writing, and speaking the language and provide opportunities to get to know your classmates and professors.

Our faculty are experts in a historical period from the Middle Ages to today, and our courses offer solid training in the French language, and broad exposure to the rich store of ideas and human experience found in the culture, history, literature, and film of French-speaking people and societies.

You'll also have opportunities to immerse yourself in French-speaking communities, both at home and abroad. We sponsor internships for students to teach French in schools around the Portland area, host cultural events such as the Champs-Elysees Independent Film Festival, and partner with the French Consulate in San Francisco to bring French authors and graphic artists to PSU.

Portland State is the first four-year institution in the state of Oregon (and only the third in the region) to establish a major in Indigenous Nations and Native American Studies. Portland, Oregon has one of the largest urban Native American populations in the United States and Portland State is uniquely positioned to partner with the many governmental agencies, Tribal and Native organizations, and nonprofits that are headquartered in the city. Several of which have inter-governmental and cooperative agreements and grants with the PSU Indigenous Nations Studies program. Community partners were integral in encouraging the establishment of the major which is reflected in the significant community-based component of the program.

Sustainability is a central aspect of Indigenous Nations and Native American Studies internationally, and a core theme of the program at Portland State. Sustainability — particularly its interrelated cultural and environmental components — is inextricably connected to Native worldviews around the need to protect and cherish the ecological systems of the Earth, and the need to embrace self-determination and sovereignty. Sustainability is not only critical to the survival of the planet in environmental terms; it is critical to the survival of Indigenous peoples in cultural, political, and physical terms. Students will take several courses that deal with sustainability issues, engage in partnerships such as the one with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, and connect with faculty who are experts in this area.

The Portland State Indigenous Nations and Native American major offers a focus on Native, Indigenous, and First Nation peoples and Nations of the Northwest and Alaska. The program overall has a global Indigenous view.

Our expert faculty are international scholars who work with Native peoples across the globe. They bring their knowledge, scholarship, and rich experiences into the classroom. Through mentorship, our faculty and staff provide students with the support you need to grow as a person and as a professional. Courses in this major will encourage you to analyze and reflect upon your own identity. Much of what students gain from the program happens outside of the classroom through engagement with a cohort, the community, and faculty. All of these components contribute to the deconstruction and building of identity, self, and Native/Indigenous/First Nations peoples. This will allow you to forge your own pathway of decolonization alongside your peers.

Here, you’ll find an interwoven community of both Native and non-Native students. PSU’s Native American Student Community Center is unique in the United States. Native staff, faculty, community members, and students guide and serve the Center. It houses four active student groups:

• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES): The goal of this student group is to increase the representation of American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Pacific Islanders in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Using a “full circle of support” model, AISES programs serve the organization’s members as pre-college and college students, professionals, mentors, and leaders.
• Healing Feathers: The purpose of Healing Feathers is to promote wellness to Native American/Alaska Native students of Portland State University and community members.
• Pacific Islanders Club (PIC): A student organization that educates and gathers PSU students who are familiar with and interested in the pacific island heritage. We represent the different Island Nations located in Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia.
• United Indigenous Students in Higher Education (UISHE): Assists American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Indigenous Peoples in maintaining cultural values, while pursuing their educational goals.

Portland State offers a robust Japanese-American community through the Center for Japanese Studies, a student-oriented resource center focused on preparing students to become leaders in business, government, and the arts by fostering cross-cultural understanding through a variety of curricular and outreach programs.

Portland State and the Center for Japanese Studies has a special relationship with Waseda University, one of Japan’s preeminent private universities located in Tokyo, and Hokkaido University, a public university in Portland’s Sister City, Sapporo. These relationships provide you with uniquely immersive experiences, allowing you to study Japanese in Japan and live with a Japanese host family.

A senior Capstone project provides you with the opportunity to work with elementary school programs that offer Japanese in the Portland area by assisting a classroom teacher and developing teaching materials.

Studying the past helps us better understand not only where we’ve been, but where we may be going. Historical knowledge has the power to be both individually and collectively transformative, and there is no better place in the Pacific Northwest to gain a critical understanding of the past than the PSU History Department. Our award-winning and internationally recognized faculty offer courses that span the globe and cover chronological periods from Antiquity to the Present, with concentrations in U.S. history since 1800; modern Europe and East Asia; Latin America, Africa, Russia, and the Middle East; ancient Rome and medieval Europe, environmental history, public history, and more.

The study of History cultivates appreciation for the diversity of human experience and fosters empathy for the stories, traditions, cultures, and world views of historical groups and individuals. It also provides the foundation for informed participation in the local and the global community, by teaching its students how to apply critical thinking skills to solving problems. Our History majors learn valuable and broadly applicable skills in making arguments from evidence, collecting and interpreting data, and communicating ideas clearly both in writing and orally. 

History students at PSU are able to build strong relationships with faculty members through coursework, departmental and community events, and student groups. These connections are further supported through opportunities for career and academic advising, directed research, and internships in the local community. All of our Majors engage in hands-on experience in our seminars through the development and completion of a research agenda. 

Students at PSU can also join both the national History Honors Society—Phi Alpha Theta—or the History Club, where they can share their research and love of history with their fellow students. We offer a variety of competitive scholarships and awards, and our majors and minors have gone on to succeed in a variety of different occupations and professions, including business, government, non-profit administration, law, and education, to name just a few.