Oregon Humanities

Oregon Poet Laureate Call for Nominations

Do you know a bold and articulate voice for culture across the state? Oregon’s Cultural Partners are now accepting nominations for Oregon’s next Poet Laureate.

The role of the Poet Laureate is to foster the art of poetry, encourage literacy and learning, address central issues relating to the humanities and heritage, and reflect on public life in the state. Nominees should be recognized for excellence in their work and widely considered to be a poet of stature, have a significant body of published work, can agree to the period of the appointment, and be committed and prepared to undertake this public role.

Nominations must be sent to the Oregon Cultural Trust by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, February 15, 2010. Visit the Oregon Poet Laureate website to download the call for nominations.

19 January 2010 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Free tickets to lecture by New York Times Environmental Reporter Andrew Revkin

Ecotrust is sponsoring a lecture by Andrew Revkin, New York Times environmental reporter, on November 10, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. at Portland State University’s Smith Memorial Ballroom. Tickets are free and available now from the PSU Box Office. Revkin will talk about the natural and human challenges of supporting a population that’s expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, and he’ll talk about how we can restore certain environmental conditions and create a more resilient future. Oregon Humanities is proud to be one of several cosponsors of this event.

24 September 2009 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Mercy Corps Action Center Kicks off Series with Author Tracy Kidder

Oregon Humanities is pleased to cosponsor with the Mercy Corps Action Center a lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder, who will discuss his latest book, Strength in What Remains, on October 13, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. This event is part of a celebration of the Mercy Corps Global Headquarters grand opening in Old Town Portland and will be held in the Mercy Corps Action Center Community Room (enter at 45 SW Ankeny Street).

Tickets for this event are sold out, but if you are a fan of the Oregon Humanities Facebook page, or become one by October 12, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win free tickets.

21 September 2009 | Permalink | Comments? (2 so far)

Bread & Circuses

A look through the lens of Frost/Nixon that considers how politics and entertainment, power, and truth, media, and public memory have been transformed in the intervening years since Watergate featuring nationally syndicated radio host Thom Hartmann, the Oregonian’s David Sarasohn and Jack Ohman, and moderator Al Stavitsky, director of the University of Oregon’s Turnbull Center at the School of Journalism and Communication.

This free event is sponsored by Portland Center Stage, Oregon Council for Humanities, and University of Oregon’s Turnbull Center

18 April 2009 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Four Questions: Virtue, Community, Love, and Justice in the Theater

A series of lively conversations about questions that have inspired and confounded great thinkers and writers through the ages, presented in cooperation with Portland Center Stage.

Over the course of four weeks, registered participants, led by facilitators, discussed four questions using scenes from four plays: Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel, and Radio Golf by August Wilson.

Four Questions is based on OCH’s Humanity in Perspective, a free public course in the humanities for low-income adults.

Four Questions: Virtue, Community, Love, and Justice in the Theater, Gerding Theater at the Armory, Portland, April 2007

A series of lively conversations about questions that have inspired and confounded great thinkers and writers through the ages, presented in cooperation with Portland Center Stage and Reed College.

Over the course of four weeks, registered participants, led by Reed College professors, discussed four questions using scenes from four plays: Oedipus Rex, Antigone, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Crucible.

Four Questions is based on OCH’s Humanity in Perspective, a free public course in the humanities for low-income adults.

06 April 2009 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Private lives in the public eye

In response to the controversy surrounding Portland Mayor Sam Adams, OCH invited the public to attend a free panel on politics, ethics, and the media: “Private Lives in the Public Eye.” The event was sponsored by the Oregon Council for the Humanities, in partnership with the George S. Turnbull Portland Center of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and the City Club of Portland’s Agora Committee.

This event addressed the broader ideas of privacy, ethics, and the media, with the intent of offering the public opportunities to critically reflect upon and analyze these divisive issues.

Panelists included the following: Tom Bivins, John L. Hulteng Chair in Media Ethics at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication; Caitlin Baggott, director of Politicorps, a program of the Bus Project, a nonprofit political organization; Robert Eisinger, associate professor and chair of the political science department at Lewis & Clark College; and Mark Zusman, editor of the Willamette Week. The panel was moderated by Peter Steinberger, dean of the faculty of Reed College and Robert H. and Blanche Day Ellis Professor of Political Science and Humanities.

05 January 2009 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Podcasts for Commonplace Series events now available.

Commonplace Series events were offered throughout Oregon between 2006 and 2008. For this series, OCH engaged public scholars as lecturers, panelists, and facilitators to explore provocative issues that were of special interest to a particular Oregon community, but that also resonated on statewide and national levels. With each event, OCH aimed to spark community conversations, both as part of the event and on an ongoing basis as a result of the questions and ideas raised. All events were free and open to the public.

Some past Commonplace events were published as limited-run chapbooks, which can be purchased for $5 apiece online at the OCH Store or by calling (503) 241-0543. They can also be downloaded as PDFs and, when possible, as MP3 sound files.

Read more...

08 September 2008 | Permalink | Comments? (1 so far)

On Principle

In 2006-07, OCH worked with Oregonians in Astoria, Lincoln City, and Eastern Oregon on a reading and discussion series called On Principle, which focused on five core principles of democracy: individual freedom, equality, economic opportunity, justice, and civic engagement. The program offered citizens the chance to explore important hallmarks of American democracy in a forum where everyone is welcome to participate. On Principle was designed to encourage a variety of viewpoints, active participation, and careful listening. The fall 2006 issue of Oregon Humanities was also address the program’s five core principles.

View On Principle microsite

03 December 2007 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

A Voice in the Crowd: The Art Exhibit and the Citizen

OCH offered this free, public lecture on the public art exhibit and civic life by William Ray, Reed College professor of French and humanities.

21 October 2005 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Four Questions for Humanity

This four-part reading and discussion series explored questions of fundamental importance to the citizens of a democracy: What is the relationship between an individual and his or her community? What is the nature of love and desire? What is the relationship between power and justice? What is the role of knowledge in virtuous actions? Guided by faculty from Reed College in Portland, participants looked at the ways in which these questions have been explored in ancient Athens and modern America, and discussed how we, as reflective citizens, can answer these questions in our own time.

Four Questions for Humanity is based on Humanity in Perspective, a course OCH has offered for the last four years to adults living in poverty in Portland. OCH is partnering with the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton to bring a HIP course to inmates. In addition, OCH offered this condensed lecture series to interested members of the Pendleton community.

03 October 2005 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Allegiances: A Public Conversation

In commemoration of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Multnomah County Library, City Club of Portland, and Oregon Council for the Humanities held a town meeting to discuss the values and ideas that define Americans. “Allegiances: A Public Conversation” was facilitated by poet and essayist Kim Stafford and State Senator Margaret Carter.

11 September 2005 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

Belonging to the Rest of the World: Shakespeare's Message of Hope

OCH offered this free, public lecture by Agnes Wilcox, artistic director of Prison Performing Arts in St. Louis, Missouri, on the power of theater to change people’s lives.

12 May 2005 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

The Truth of the Barnacles: Rachel Carson and the Moral Significance of Wonder

In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Rachel Carson’s The Edge of the Sea, OCH presented this free, public lecture by Oregon State University professor of philosophy Kathleen Dean Moore.

04 March 2005 | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)