Unpacking Accountability: What Are We Asking For?
Calls for accountability—for our leaders, for people who have caused harm, or for our communities—are common, but what exactly is being sought is often elusive. This one word may mean punishment, and much more. What do you mean when you say “accountability,” and how can we elevate the value of accountability in our communities?
Aron Klein believes in the healing potential of accountability. Through personal relationships, volunteer work, and political advocacy he has accompanied folks on their journeys toward accountability. He is the operations manager at Partnership for Safety & Justice and lives and bicycles throughout Portland.
Conversation Project: Does Nature Have a Purpose?
Oregonians have long struggled to balance cultural, political, and values-based differences tied to our use of land and resources. As we enter an age of accelerating environmental change and scarcity, it is important to understand what drives these differences. In this conversation we will explore our attitudes and assumptions about the purpose of the environment in our lives and how those attitudes and assumptions shape our perception of environmental issues and policies.
Our Untapped Treasures: Children and Elders are Problem Solvers too
There are many reasons why people fail to invite children and elders to the table when it comes to solving problems: “They’re too young.” “They need to be protected from hearing about serious issues.” “I’m sure they care, but the world is a very different place now.” “They’re just going to talk about how things used to be.” “I wouldn’t want my child to be burdened with this reality.” “I don’t want to have to explain the issues repeatedly.”
The more serious the issue, the less likely it is that a child or elder will be helping to come up with a solution. We were all children once, and sometimes we had great solutions to problems that adults didn’t have. If we’re fortunate, we’ll all become elderly, and we will have a wealth of experience and accumulated wisdom to share. The goal of this conversation is to encourage people to approach problem solving in a more inclusive manner and ask elders or children to share their ideas.
Conversation Project: Does Nature Have a Purpose?
Oregonians have long struggled to balance cultural, political, and values-based differences tied to our use of land and resources. As we enter an age of accelerating environmental change and scarcity, it is important to understand what drives these differences. In this conversation we will explore our attitudes and assumptions about the purpose of the environment in our lives and how those attitudes and assumptions shape our perception of environmental issues and policies.
Conversation Project: Does Nature Have a Purpose?
Oregonians have long struggled to balance cultural, political, and values-based differences tied to our use of land and resources. As we enter an age of accelerating environmental change and scarcity, it is important to understand what drives these differences. In this conversation we will explore our attitudes and assumptions about the purpose of the environment in our lives and how those attitudes and assumptions shape our perception of environmental issues and policies.
Todos pueden ser líderes/Everyone Can Be a Leader
Las interpretaciones populares del concepto de liderazgo nos dicen que los líderes se ven de cierta manera: llevan la batuta. Poseen una fuerza externa. Son extrovertidos y actúan de manera más pragmática que emocional. Quizás lo más importante es que los líderes son gente en puestos de autoridad y poder. ¿Existe algún tipo alternativo de liderazgo? ¿Cuándo somos nosotros líderes en nuestras comunidades? ¿Cómo nuestro irrepetible sentido propio contribuye a favor de nuestro papel como líderes? Popular understandings of leadership tell us that leaders look a certain way: they are in charge. They possess outward strength. They are extroverted and act pragmatically rather than emotionally. Perhaps most important, leaders are people in positions of authority and power. Is there an alternative type of leadership? When are we leaders in our communities? How can our unique senses of self contribute to our roles as leaders? Español & English
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: What Does Democracy Require?
As we begin, however tentatively, to move into a new moment in US political life, calls for unity are often met with skepticism and disdain. But perhaps unity is the wrong measure of democracy anyway. What if we ask instead, Who are our people? Where do we belong? In this moment coming out of the pandemic, let’s think together about expanding the scope of our people and what it means to belong so that we can consider what democracy requires of us and for us in this fraught moment.
Conversation Project: Can We Get Along?
Rodney King’s iconic question still resonates today. Despite decades of social justice movements, police brutality and divisions persist in the United States. COVID-19 has only added more challenges. How can we connect to each other during these times? What holds us back from connecting with each other? How do our personal experiences contribute to barriers, or and have the potential to break them down? Join facilitator Chisao Hata as she holds space to examine individual questions on race, cultural values, and what brings us together and what separates us.
Conversation Project: Can We Get Along?
Rodney King’s iconic question still resonates today. Despite decades of social justice movements, police brutality and divisions persist in the United States. COVID-19 has only added more challenges. How can we connect to each other during these times? What holds us back from connecting with each other? How do our personal experiences contribute to barriers, or and have the potential to break them down? Join facilitator Chisao Hata as she holds space to examine individual questions on race, cultural values, and what brings us together and what separates us.
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Loneliness and Aging
Loneliness and isolation are common experiences for elderly people, especially for those who do not have nearby family members or who are not computer literate. What do you know about the elders in your life or in your neighborhood? Are they connected to their families in an enriching way? Do they belong to a caring community of some kind? This conversation is for elderly people and people who live near elders or have elderly people in their lives to explore questions, experiences, and obstacles to showing up for elderly people and to generate ideas for connection.
Conversation Project Leader Info Session
Oregon Humanities is looking for people who want to facilitate conversations that get people talking, listening, and connecting to one another as Conversation Project leaders.
Learn about the Conversation Project, what it's like to facilitate conversations with Oregon Humanities, and how to apply at an online information session with Program Lead Juliana Posada.
To request a link to join this session, please email Juliana at juliana@oregonhumanities.org or call at 971-501-6917
Conversation Project Leaders Wanted
Oregon Humanities is looking for people who want to facilitate conversations that get people talking, listening, and connecting to one another.
Everyone Can Be a Leader: Exploring Nontraditional Community Leadership
Popular understandings of leadership tell us that leaders look a certain way: they are in charge. They possess outward strength. They are extroverted and act pragmatically rather than emotionally. Perhaps most important, leaders are people in positions of authority and power. Is there an alternative type of leadership? When are we leaders in our communities? How can our unique senses of self contribute to our roles as leaders?
Conversation Project: Music as a Tool for Justice
Liberty and justice for all? In this conversation, we’ll examine what the word “justice” means and examine how it’s applied in Oregon. With the aid of local and national hip hop music videos and lyrics, we will examine the history of our state, legal anti-Blackness, and resistance movements. We will also examine a critical question: Are we closer to or further from justice for all since 2020? Join writer, artist, speaker, and producer Donovan Scribes for an exploration of Oregon as he lets music guide these critical questions and more about the place we live in.
Hope and the Climate Crisis: The Tension Between Reality and Possibility
With evidence of the climate crisis reaching all corners and communities of the world, the reality of what we are up against as a species is more present and overwhelming than ever before. In a recent conversation with Krista Tibbett on the podcast On Being, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks a pivotal question about climate action: What if we get it right? With the 24-hour news cycle constantly reminding us that climate change is far worse and coming far faster than predicted, slipping into despair seems all too easy—but what about hope for a future full of solutions we’ve already imagined? What about what is possible? This conversation will open space to explore the tension between the reality of where we are, where we could go, and what it will take to get there. How does it feel to hold the scale of the challenge and also the possibility of a better future? This event will take place in the Boxer Pause room at Washburne Hall
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: What Is a Creative Priority?
So the world is ending, want to start a record label? This conversation investigates the relevance of making art during times of personal, communal, or global crisis. How can we justify painting when we don’t know where our food is going to come from? What resources are needed to create meaningful work when resources are limited? What exactly does creativity offer us during this time of obvious uncertainty? What is our collective and personal obligation to creativity during a significant upheaval? Join MOsley WOtta for a conversation about getting creative during the apocalypse.
Loneliness and Aging: Making Space for Our Elders
Loneliness and isolation are common experiences for elderly people, especially for those who do not have nearby family members or who are not computer literate. What do you know about the elders in your life or in your neighborhood? Are they connected to their families in an enriching way? Do they belong to a caring community of some kind? This conversation is for elderly people and people who live near elders or have elderly people in their lives to explore questions, experiences, and obstacles to showing up for elderly people and to generate ideas for connection.
Loneliness and Aging: Making Space for Our Elders
Loneliness and isolation are common experiences for elderly people, especially for those who do not have nearby family members or who are not computer literate. What do you know about the elders in your life or in your neighborhood? Are they connected to their families in an enriching way? Do they belong to a caring community of some kind? This conversation is for elderly people and people who live near elders or have elderly people in their lives to explore questions, experiences, and obstacles to showing up for elderly people and to generate ideas for connection.
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Can We Get Along?
Rodney King’s iconic question still resonates today. Despite decades of social justice movements, police brutality and divisions persist in the United States. COVID-19 has only added more challenges. How can we connect to each other during these times? What holds us back from connecting with each other? How do our personal experiences contribute to barriers, or and have the potential to break them down? Join facilitator Chisao Hata as she holds space to examine individual questions on race, cultural values, and what brings us together and what separates us.
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Loneliness and Aging: Making Space for Our Elders
Loneliness and isolation are common experiences for elderly people, especially for those who do not have nearby family members or who are not computer literate. What do you know about the elders in your life or in your neighborhood? Are they connected to their families in an enriching way? Do they belong to a caring community of some kind? This conversation is for elderly people and people who live near elders or have elderly people in their lives to explore questions, experiences, and obstacles to showing up for elderly people and to generate ideas for connection.
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Music as a Tool for Justice
Liberty and justice for all? In this conversation, we’ll examine what the word “justice” means and examine how it’s applied in Oregon. With the aid of local and national hip hop music videos and lyrics, we will examine the history of our state, legal anti-Blackness, and resistance movements. We will also examine a critical question: Are we closer to or further from justice for all since 2020? Join writer, artist, speaker, and producer Donovan Scribes for an exploration of Oregon as he lets music guide these critical questions and more about the place we live in.
Conversation Project: Are You Safer Outside?
Outdoor spaces took on new significance during the recent pandemic. While some of us rediscovered parks and trails that we once took for granted, others may still feel the stressors of unwelcoming or inaccessible outdoor areas. Join facilitator Mareshah “MJ” Jackson to discuss what makes an outdoor space a “safe” space. How does one’s identity intersect with security in a park, on a trail, or on a patio? In what ways have our perceptions of these spaces changed, and how may they change in years to come? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the role open spaces play in our lives and how our perceptions may differ from each other’s.
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians.
Housing and Belonging
Bringing Oregonians together to talk about home and housing in our communities
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Loneliness and Aging: Making Space for Our Elders
Loneliness and isolation are common experiences for elderly people, especially for those who do not have nearby family members or who are not computer literate. What do you know about the elders in your life or in your neighborhood? Are they connected to their families in an enriching way? Do they belong to a caring community of some kind? This conversation is for elderly people and people who live near elders or have elderly people in their lives to explore questions, experiences, and obstacles to showing up for elderly people and to generate ideas for connection.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
Death is a universal event that transcends many of the differences between us. While we focus most on the quality of our lives and well-being, we rarely talk about the quality of our dying and deaths. Now in its sixth year, Oregon Humanities’ Talking about Dying program offers an opportunity to reflect on the stories and cultural influences that shape our thinking about this theme and to share perspectives and ideas with fellow community members. During the program, participants explore such questions as, How might our family, traditions, rituals, religion, and beliefs shape how we think about death? What would a “good death” look like for us? What do we want—and not want—at the end of our life? What are the essential considerations?
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
Death is a universal event that transcends many of the differences between us. While we focus most on the quality of our lives and well-being, we rarely talk about the quality of our dying and deaths. Now in its sixth year, Oregon Humanities’ Talking about Dying program offers an opportunity to reflect on the stories and cultural influences that shape our thinking about this theme and to share perspectives and ideas with fellow community members. During the program, participants explore such questions as, How might our family, traditions, rituals, religion, and beliefs shape how we think about death? What would a “good death” look like for us? What do we want—and not want—at the end of our life? What are the essential considerations?
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians.
Conversation Project: Music as a Tool for Justice
Music is instrumental in shaping a place. It’s one of the most explicitly human things we can experience. COVID-19 has further revealed how key it is in our lives, with every major music festival closing or moving online. In the conversation, we will look at the history of Black musicians in shaping the story of Oregon through the lens of a short documentary and music from a Portland hip hop artist.
Conversation Project: Working on Our Whiteness
Amid today’s social uprisings, many white people have become acutely aware that racism shapes our communities in Oregon and beyond. Many of us have also begun realizing how poorly our experiences have equipped us to make sense of these times, and we have many questions. Join Emily Drew in a conversation that asks, How can we who are white show up as more effective and less damaging participants in struggles to interrupt racism in our community? How can white people engage in efforts to dismantle racism in ways that do not reproduce or place unfair burdens upon people of color to be our teachers? This conversation is for white people to reflect together on what it means to “do our work” as white people, which includes taking responsibility for one another, educating ourselves, and coming to view other white people as our partners—not competition—in developing antiracist identity.
Conversation Project: Relationships for Resilience
In a time of intensifying social and ecological crises, in a cultural context of individualism, the pressure to practice "self-care," build "personal resilience," and "transform oneself" is pervasive. While "doing your own work" is important, we overemphasize the individual to the detriment of our human communities and the rest of the living world. The deep transformations we need will be cocreated, and the deep resilience we must develop will be relational. In this conversation, we will explore the dynamics of our strongest relationships, seeking to name the qualities and practices that underpin resilience. How can we bring our insights more intentionally and broadly to bear in our human relationships and in our relationships with our home—lands, waters, and ecosystems?
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians.
Conversation Project: Working on our Whiteness
Amid today’s social uprisings, many white people have become acutely aware that racism shapes our communities in Oregon and beyond. Many of us have also begun realizing how poorly our experiences have equipped us to make sense of these times, and we have many questions. Join Emily Drew in a conversation that asks, How can we who are white show up as more effective and less damaging participants in struggles to interrupt racism in our community? How can white people engage in efforts to dismantle racism in ways that do not reproduce or place unfair burdens upon people of color to be our teachers? This conversation is for white people to reflect together on what it means to “do our work” as white people, which includes taking responsibility for one another, educating ourselves, and coming to view other white people as our partners—not competition—in developing antiracist identity.
Conversation Project: Conspiracy Theories: Truths, Facts, and Tinfoil Hats
The Flat Earth Society. The Illuminati. QAnon. Sometimes it seems like conspiracy theories have been multiplying exponentially, especially in this time of global pandemic. Why do we gravitate toward conspiracy theories to make sense of the world? What human need do these stories fill? In this program, we’ll explore some conspiracy theories old and new, famous and obscure. What common themes do they share? How do they operate as stories and how do they evolve? What’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and myth, folklore, and “fake news”? We’ll talk about the mechanics of conspiracy theories as we explore how to determine what’s true, what’s false, and whom to trust.
This is an in-person event. Proof of vaccination is required to attend. Learn more and RSVP here.
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians.
Conversation Project: Conspiracy Theories: Truth, Facts, and Tinfoil Hats
The Flat Earth Society. The Illuminati. QAnon. Sometimes it seems like conspiracy theories have been multiplying exponentially, especially in this time of global pandemic. Why do we gravitate toward conspiracy theories to make sense of the world? What human need do these stories fill? In this program, we’ll explore some conspiracy theories old and new, famous and obscure. What common themes do they share? How do they operate as stories and how do they evolve? What’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and myth, folklore, and “fake news”? We’ll talk about the mechanics of conspiracy theories as we explore how to determine what’s true, what’s false, and whom to trust.
Conversation Project: Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Conversation Project: Violencia sexual y el significado de la justicia
Las acusaciones de violencia sexual se han vuelto cada vez más públicas en los últimos años, especialmente con el advenimiento del poderoso movimiento #MeToo. La manera en que tratamos las repercusiones de la violencia sexual es muy compleja y continúa siendo debatida acaloradamente. En esta conversación exploraremos los potenciales significados de la justicia, específicamente en instancias de violencia sexual. ¿Quién la define, cómo se logra y cuándo sabemos que la hemos conseguido? Esta conversación se llevará a cabo en español.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
Death is a universal event that transcends many of the differences between us. While we focus most on the quality of our lives and well-being, we rarely talk about the quality of our dying and deaths. Now in its sixth year, Oregon Humanities’ Talking about Dying program offers an opportunity to reflect on the stories and cultural influences that shape our thinking about this theme and to share perspectives and ideas with fellow community members. During the program, participants explore such questions as, How might our family, traditions, rituals, religion, and beliefs shape how we think about death? What would a “good death” look like for us? What do we want—and not want—at the end of our life? What are the essential considerations?
Conversation Project: Relationships for Resilience
In a time of intensifying social and ecological crises, in a cultural context of individualism, the pressure to practice "self-care," build "personal resilience," and "transform oneself" is pervasive. While "doing your own work" is important, we overemphasize the individual to the detriment of our human communities and the rest of the living world. The deep transformations we need will be cocreated, and the deep resilience we must develop will be relational. In this conversation, we will explore the dynamics of our strongest relationships, seeking to name the qualities and practices that underpin resilience. How can we bring our insights more intentionally and broadly to bear in our human relationships and in our relationships with our home—lands, waters, and ecosystems?
Conversation Project: Conspiracy Theories
The Flat Earth Society. The Illuminati. QAnon. Sometimes it seems like conspiracy theories have been multiplying exponentially, especially in this time of global pandemic. Why do we gravitate toward conspiracy theories to make sense of the world? What human need do these stories fill? In this program, we’ll explore some conspiracy theories old and new, famous and obscure. What common themes do they share? How do they operate as stories and how do they evolve? What’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and myth, folklore, and “fake news”? We’ll talk about the mechanics of conspiracy theories as we explore how to determine what’s true, what’s false, and whom to trust.
This program will be held in a hybrid format, both live in person and online via Zoom. Click here to join online.
Conversation Project: Violencia sexual y el significado de la justicia
Las acusaciones de violencia sexual se han vuelto cada vez más públicas en los últimos años, especialmente con el advenimiento del poderoso movimiento #MeToo. La manera en que tratamos las repercusiones de la violencia sexual es muy compleja y continúa siendo debatida acaloradamente. En esta conversación exploraremos los potenciales significados de la justicia, específicamente en instancias de violencia sexual. ¿Quién la define, cómo se logra y cuándo sabemos que la hemos conseguido?
Loneliness & Aging During COVID-19: Making Space for Our Elders
Most people are finding ways to remain connected to their loved ones during COVID-19. Some are even reaching new levels of intimacy in relationships. But for isolated elderly people who are not computer literate, loneliness has only become more intense over the past year. What beliefs do we hold about loneliness and aging? If we have elderly neighbors and loved ones, what might they need at this time? This conversation, led by Pamela Slaughter, is for people who live near elders or have elderly people in their lives to explore questions, experiences, and obstacles to showing up for elderly people and to generate ideas for connection during this time of heightened isolation.
Conversation Project: Relationships for Resilience
In a time of intensifying social and ecological crises, in a cultural context of individualism, the pressure to practice "self-care," build "personal resilience," and "transform oneself" is pervasive. While "doing your own work" is important, we overemphasize the individual to the detriment of our human communities and the rest of the living world. The deep transformations we need will be cocreated, and the deep resilience we must develop will be relational. In this conversation, we will explore the dynamics of our strongest relationships, seeking to name the qualities and practices that underpin resilience. How can we bring our insights more intentionally and broadly to bear in our human relationships and in our relationships with our home—lands, waters, and ecosystems?
Learn more about this event at crooklib.org.
Beyond Fake News
On both national and local levels, Oregonians have seen how the news can both represent and misrepresent the facts at hand. From debate over local opinions on pandemic response or the protests in Portland to the discourse around “alternative facts,” it can seem difficult to find current and accurate information to use as we make decisions in our communities. This conversation, led by librarian Kelly McElroy, gives Oregonians a chance to consider their own practices and values around news consumption and find new ways to get the information they need.
Conspiracy Theories
Why do we gravitate toward conspiracy theories to make sense of the world? What human need do these stories fill? In this program, we’ll explore some conspiracy theories old and new, famous and obscure. What common themes do they share? How do they operate as stories and how do they evolve? What’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and myth, folklore, and “fake news”? We’ll talk about the mechanics of conspiracy theories as we explore how to determine what’s true, what’s false, and whom to trust.
Conspiracy Theories
In this program, we’ll explore some conspiracy theories old and new, famous and obscure. What common themes do they share? How do they operate as stories and how do they evolve? What’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and myth, folklore, and “fake news”? We’ll talk about the mechanics of conspiracy theories as we explore how to determine what’s true, what’s false, and whom to trust.
Loneliness and Aging During COVID-19
Most people are finding ways to remain connected to their loved ones during COVID-19. Some are even reaching new levels of intimacy in relationships. But for isolated elderly people who are not computer literate, loneliness has only become more intense over the past year. What beliefs do we hold about loneliness and aging? If we have elderly neighbors and loved ones, what might they need at this time?
Loneliness and Aging During COVID-19
Most people are finding ways to remain connected to their loved ones during COVID-19. Some are even reaching new levels of intimacy in relationships. But for isolated elderly people who are not computer literate, loneliness has only become more intense over the past year. What beliefs do we hold about loneliness and aging? If we have elderly neighbors and loved ones, what might they need at this time?
Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Resources for Conversation Project Hosts
Tips, timelines, and materials for organizations hosting Conversation Project events
The Conversation Project
The Conversation Project is an opportunity for organizations to partner with Oregon Humanities and host a conversation for your community.
Community Conversations
Oregon Humanities' community conversation programs provide opportunities for participants to reflect on their own experiences and beliefs, learn about the experiences and beliefs of others, and cultivate a stronger sense of agency in their communities.
Connect in Place
Each Tuesday evening, we’re hosting virtual conversations with communities around the state. Our aim is to create spaces, in this physically separated moment, for Oregonians to gather, connect, reflect, and talk with one another.
Why DIY? Self-sufficiency and American Life
Are we as self-sufficient as we can be? As we should be? What are the pleasures and pitfalls of doing it yourself? This conversation investigates why we strive to be makers and doers in a world that provides more conveniences than ever before.
Conversation Project: Ecology of Creative Space
Gathering Inspiration from the Natural World
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees:
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Does Higher Education Matter?
Join educator and activist Paul Susi in a discussion that will examine our assumptions and values around education and its impact on our lives.
Conversation Project: What's the Purpose of Public Education?
Join facilitator Aimee Craig for a conversation that explores the extent to which our various—and sometimes conflicting—ideals about the purpose of public education align with what is happening in our schools.
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era.
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era.
Conversation Project: Race and Adoption
In this conversation, facilitator Astrid Castro will ask participants to explore questions such as, What role do race and racism play in your family? What are the personal experiences that inform how you talk to adopted children in your life about where they are from? Where do you need to grow to be the best resource you can be for children who are adopted?
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: How Do Our Values Influence Environmental Policy?
Given competing interests and visions of the public good, how do we protect our common resources such as land, water, and air? Join philosopher Monica Mueller to explore our environmental values and question how those values are reflected—or not reflected—in current local, national, and global environmental policies.
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Who Are the Deserving Poor?
Join facilitator Erica Tucker for a conversation that explores our beliefs about poverty and asks us to consider our assumptions about who should—and shouldn’t—be eligible for support.
Conversation Project: Why DIY? Self-sufficiency and American Life
Are we as self-sufficient as we can be? As we should be? What are the pleasures and pitfalls of doing it yourself? This conversation investigates why we strive to be makers and doers in a world that provides more conveniences than ever before.
Engaging as Fellow Humans
Tyler White creates conversations for social change.
Conversation Project: Showing Up
What Does It Mean to Belong to a Community?
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: Everyday Leaders
Recognizing Leadership Beyond Power and Authority
Conversation Project: What Makes Life Meaningful?
This conversation with philosophy professor Prakash Chenjeri and chaplain Fred Grewe aims to engage participants in a thoughtful and meaningful discussion about this very human question.
Conversation Project: Faith and Politics in Oregon and Beyond
This conversation explores how our religious ideas and political identities mix and what it means for our common life together.
Conversation Project: How Do Our Values Influence Environmental Policy?
This conversation explores our environmental values and questions how those values are reflected—or not reflected—in current local, national, and global environmental policies.
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: Is Technology Outpacing Our Humanity?
Facilitator Manuel Padilla will lead this conversation to explore how technology shapes our moral reasoning and our perceptions of, and relationships with, one another.
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Drawing on the diverse histories and backgrounds of participants, Kerani Mitchell leads a conversation that asks what makes us Oregonian and how can we create inclusive communities.
Conversation Project: Showing Up
Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Facilitators Anita Yap and Traci Price will lead participants in a conversation that looks at how Oregon’s history of racism influences our present and asks, How can understanding historic and current impacts of racism in Oregon contribute to our sense of place and vision of the future?
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
In this conversation, Manuel Padilla, who has worked with refugees in Haiti, Chad, and Washington, DC, asks participants to consider questions of uprootedness, hospitality, identity, perception, and integration and how we might build more informed, responsive, resilient, and vibrant communities.
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Join artist and educator Jason Graham, a slam poetry champion and speaker who performs hip hop as MOsley WOtta, for a conversation exploring the relationship between self-expression and vulnerability.
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: Ritual and Ceremony in Modern Life
Holly Pruett leads a conversation about the role of ritual and ceremony in participants’ family and cultural histories, the impact of life events that have passed unobserved, and the new ceremonies that people are creating to mark these milestones.
Conversation Project: Showing Up
Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: How Do Our Values Influence Environmental Policy?
This conversation explores our environmental values and question how those values are reflected—or not reflected—in current policies.
Conversation Project: What Makes a Job Good?
This conversation engages participants in exploring the quality and meanings of work in their own lives and in the lives of others.
Conversation Project: Crime and Punishment in Oregon
This conversation explores why and how we punish and asks, are there other ways that are more effective, reasonable, or desireable?
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: In Science We Trust?
The Role of Science in a Democracy
Conversation Project: Is Technology Outpacing Our Humanity?
This conversation will explore how technology shapes our moral reasoning and our perceptions of, and relationships with, one another.
Conversation Project: In Science We Trust?
The Role of Science in a Democracy
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: Everyday Leaders
Recognizing Leadership Beyond Power and Authority
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: Does Higher Education Matter?
Join educator and activist Paul Susi in a discussion that will examine our assumptions and values around education and its impact on our lives.
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores some of the causes of this continued isolation and the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races.
Conversation Project: What We Owe
Living With Debt
Conversation Project: Does Higher Education Matter?
Join educator and activist Paul Susi in a discussion that will examine our assumptions and values around education and its impact on our lives.
Conversation Project: What Makes Life Meaningful?
The question of what makes life meaningful has occupied human thinking for thousands of years. This conversation with philosophy professor Prakash Chenjeri and chaplain Fred Grewe aims to engage participants in a thoughtful and meaningful discussion about this very human question.
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Everyday Leaders
Recognizing Leadership Beyond Power and Authority
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Democracy from the Inside Out
Listening to Our Consciences and Our Neighbors
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races, such as institutional racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias.
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: After Obama *POSTPONED*
Talking Race in America Today
Conversation Project: Is Technology Outpacing Our Humanity?
Facilitator Manuel Padilla will lead this conversation to explore how technology shapes our moral reasoning and our perceptions of, and relationships with, one another.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: The Middle Class and Other Stories about Wealth, Status, and Power
Join Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis for a conversation that explores what we think and how we talk about class in Oregon and the nation. What exactly, for example, is the middle class, who does it include and exclude, and why does it get so much attention?
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: What We Risk *RESCHEDULED*
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores some of the causes of this continued isolation and the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races—such as institutional racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores some of the causes of this continued isolation and the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races—such as institutional racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Is Technology Outpacing Our Humanity?
Facilitator Manuel Padilla will lead this conversation to explore how technology shapes our moral reasoning and our perceptions of, and relationships with, one another.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: What Makes a Job Good?
This conversation, led by historian Nikki Mandell, will engage participants in thinking about and discussing work more deeply. Participants will explore the quality and meanings of work in their own lives and those of people different from themselves and the connections between work as a personal endeavor and jobs as part of local and national economies.
Conversation Project: Ritual and Ceremony in Modern Life
Holly Pruett, a life-cycle celebrant who works with individuals, families, and communities to commemorate such occasions, leads a conversation about the role of ritual and ceremony in participants’ family and cultural histories and the new ceremonies that people are creating to mark these milestones.
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: After Obama *POSTPONED*
Talking Race in America Today
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project Leader Webinar
Learn about being an Oregon Humanities Conversation Project leader
Conversation Project Leader Application Deadline
Oregon Humanities is looking for people who want to get people talking, listening, and connecting to one another.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores some of the causes of this continued isolation and the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races—such as institutional racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: What Makes Life Meaningful?
This conversation with philosophy professor Prakash Chenjeri and chaplain Fred Grewe aims to engage participants in a thoughtful and meaningful discussion about this very human question.
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Faith and Politics in Oregon and Beyond
Join writer, educator, and former minister Russ Pierson in a conversation about how our religious ideas and political identities mix and what it means for our common life together.
Read. Talk. Think.
Things that make you say O. Hm.
Conversation Project: The World to Come
How Our Fear about the Future Affects Our Actions
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: Ritual and Ceremony in Modern Life
Holly Pruett, a life-cycle celebrant who works with individuals, families, and communities to commemorate such occasions, leads a conversation about the role of ritual and ceremony in participants’ family and cultural histories.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Facilitator Surabhi Mahajan will lead us in a conversation to explore cultural appropriation beyond who’s “allowed” to wear certain clothing or cook particular foods.
Conversation Project: The Middle Class and Other Stories about Wealth, Status, and Power
Join Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis for a conversation that explores what we think and how we talk about class in Oregon and the nation. What exactly, for example, is the middle class, who does it include and exclude, and why does it get so much attention?
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: After Obama
Talking Race in America Today
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: In Science We Trust?
The Role of Science in a Democracy
Conversation Project: In Science We Trust?
The Role of Science in a Democracy
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: How Do Our Values Influence Environmental Policy?
Given competing interests and visions of the public good, how do we protect our common resources such as land, water, and air? Join philosopher Monica Mueller to explore our environmental values and question how those values are reflected—or not reflected—in current local, national, and global environmental policies.
Conversation Project: Is Technology Outpacing Our Humanity?
Whether it be automation, the iPhone, or gene editing, some say our technical capacities have outstripped our moral knowledge. Others believe they have provided us immense creativity in dealing with our biggest ethical questions. Are these mutually exclusive? Facilitator Manuel Padilla will lead this conversation to explore how technology shapes our moral reasoning and our perceptions of, and relationships with, one another.
Conversation Project: Democracy from the Inside Out
Listening to Our Consciences and Our Neighbors
Conversation Project: Is Technology Outpacing Our Humanity?
Whether it be automation, the iPhone, or gene editing, some say our technical capacities have outstripped our moral knowledge. Others believe they have provided us immense creativity in dealing with our biggest ethical questions. Are these mutually exclusive? Facilitator Manuel Padilla will lead this conversation to explore how technology shapes our moral reasoning and our perceptions of, and relationships with, one another.
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: How Do We Create Equitable Spaces Within Our Public Lands?
Educator Gabe Sheoships leads a discussion about what a relationship with nature means, how we can provide inclusive and equitable spaces within our public lands and natural areas, and how we can begin to work toward healing relationships with our land.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: What Makes a Job Good? *POSTPONED*
Most adults spend most of their waking hours working. Yet, we rarely have the time to consider why certain work brings us satisfaction and other work does not. This conversation, led by historian Nikki Mandell, will engage participants in thinking about and discussing work more deeply.
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: After Obama
Talking Race in America Today
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Talking about Dying (POSTPONED)
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: After Obama
Talking Race in America Today
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: From Saving to Serving
On Intervening in the Lives of Others
Conversation Project: Does Higher Education Matter?
This conversation will examine our assumptions and values around education and its impact on our lives.
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
Given the differences of race, ethnicity, place, religion, wealth, language, education, and ideology that exist in the US, what are the things that unite us a nation?
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: From Saving to Serving
On Intervening in the Lives of Others
Conversation Project: Talking About Dying
This conversation provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on what stories and influences shape their thinking about death and dying and to hear perspectives and ideas from fellow community members.
Conversation Project: The World to Come
How Our Fear about the Future Affects Our Actions
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Democracy from the Inside Out
Listening to Our Consciences and Our Neighbors
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
What systems are in place to prevent the racial integration and equity many of us strive for? Knowing what we do, how do we act—as individuals and communities—to embrace the opportunity presented by a more diverse Oregon?
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: After Obama *CANCELLED*
Talking Race in America Today
Conversation Project: The Middle Class and Other Stories about Wealth, Status, and Power
What exactly is the middle class, who does it include and exclude, and why does it get so much attention? Join Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis for a conversation that explores what we think and how we talk about class in Oregon and the nation.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
Given the differences of race, ethnicity, place, religion, wealth, language, education, and ideology that exist in the US, what are the things that unite us a nation?
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Is Technology Outpacing Our Humanity?
Whether it be automation, the iPhone, or gene editing, some say our technical capacities have outstripped our moral knowledge. Others believe they have provided us immense creativity in dealing with our biggest ethical questions. Are these mutually exclusive?
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: What Makes Life Meaningful?
The question of what makes life meaningful has occupied human thinking for thousands of years. This conversation with philosophy professor Prakash Chenjeri and chaplain Fred Grewe aims to engage participants in a thoughtful and meaningful discussion about this very human question.
Conversation Project: The World to Come
How Our Fear about the Future Affects Our Actions
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: The Middle Class and Other Stories about Wealth, Status, and Power
What exactly is the middle class, who does it include and exclude, and why does it get so much attention? Join Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis for a conversation that explores what we think and how we talk about class in Oregon and the nation.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: In Good Faith
Exploring Religious Difference in Oregon
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: How Do Our Values Influence Environmental Policy?
Join philosopher Monica Mueller to explore our environmental values and question how those values are reflected—or not reflected—in current local, national, and global environmental policies.
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: What Are You?
Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon’s Past and Future
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Crime and Punishment in Oregon
From prisons and youth correctional facilities to schools and county jails, we’re surrounded by institutions that punish. But why do we punish? Why is punishment sometimes sanctioned by the state? Are there other ways to punish—such as restorative justice—that may be more effective, reasonable, or desirable?
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: What Is Cultural Appropriation?
Issues of cultural appropriation and identity are complicated. Power dynamics influence who benefits from certain cultural experience, and—given the global nature of our world—parts of our individual and cultural identities are shaped by cultures other than our own. How do we make sense of this and what effect does it have on us as individuals and as Oregonians?
Conversation Project: After Obama
Talking Race in America Today
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
Given the differences of race, ethnicity, place, religion, wealth, language, education, and ideology that exist in the US, what are the things that unite us a nation? How do we understand what it means to be American and what we hold valuable?
Conversation Project: Ritual and Ceremony in Modern Life
How do we make meaning out of the big milestones in our personal and community lives?
Conversation Project: Beyond Fake News
How We Find Accurate Information about the World
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere?
Conversation Project: From Saving to Serving
On Intervening in the Lives of Others
Conversation Project: What Are You?
Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon’s Past and Future
Conversation Project: In Science We Trust?
The Role of Science in a Democracy
Making Woodburn History
Gustavo Gutierrez-Gomez makes it his mission to get people together.
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Conversation Project: Too Busy to Rest
Boundaries and Balance in a Nonstop World
Conversation Project: What Are You?
Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes Our Lives
Conversation Project: Life after War
Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home
Conversation Project: Too Busy to Rest
Boundaries and Balance in a Nonstop World
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: Understanding Disability
Family and Community Stories
Conversation Project: Looking for Leadership *CANCELED*
What Do We Want from Leaders? This event has been canceled and will be rescheduled to a later date.
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: Life after War
Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores some of the causes of this continued isolation and the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races—such as institutional racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias.
POSTPONED Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores some of the causes of this continued isolation and the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races—such as institutional racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias.
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: From Saving to Serving
On Intervening in the Lives of Others
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: What We Want from the Wild
In this conversation, Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis will help participants step back from policy decisions and consider more basic questions about our relationship to the mountains, air, trees, animals, and streams around us. What do we want from nature? What do we understand nature to be, and how do we see ourselves fitting in?
Conversation Project: Life after War
Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: In Good Faith
Exploring Religious Difference in Oregon
Conversation Project: Are International Trade Agreements Good for Oregon?
Oregonians have been active and vocal participants in global debates over trade since the creation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Lawyer and researcher Michael Fakhri will lead participants in a conversation about how we assess the value of international trade agreements.
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: Just a Number
Aging and Intergenerational Friendship
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: What We Want from the Wild
Oregonians across the political spectrum place a high value on the diverse natural resources of our state, but we are divided about how these resources should be used and talked about. In this conversation, Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis will help participants step back from policy decisions and consider more basic questions about our relationship to the mountains, air, trees, animals, and streams around us.
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation that explores some of the causes of this continued isolation and the differences of experience between Oregonians of different races—such as institutional racism, white privilege, and unconscious bias.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: A World without Secrets
Privacy and Expectations in the US
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes Our Lives
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Conversation Project: You're In or You're Out
Exploring Belonging
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: In Science We Trust?
The Role of Science in a Democracy
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: In Science We Trust?
The Role of Science in a Democracy
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: Understanding Disability
Family and Community Stories
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: What Makes Life Meaningful?
Are we sparks of divine creation, or simply meaning-making creatures, or genes replicating themselves for no other purpose than adapting to our natural environment? This conversation with philosophy professor Prakash Chenjeri and chaplain Fred Grewe aims to engage participants in a thoughtful and meaningful discussion about this very human question.
Conversation Project: What We Want from the Wild
Oregonians across the political spectrum place a high value on the diverse natural resources of our state, but we are divided about how these resources should be used and talked about. In this conversation, Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis will help participants step back from policy decisions and consider more basic questions about our relationship to the mountains, air, trees, animals, and streams around us.
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Good Food, Bad Food
Agriculture, Ethics, and Personal Choice
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Looking for Leadership
What Do We Want from Leaders?
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Stone Soup
How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community
Conversation Project: In Good Faith
Exploring Religious Difference in Oregon
Conversation Project: What We Risk
Creativity, Vulnerability, and Art
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: The Purpose of Prison
What is Punishment for?
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: What's in a Label?
Thinking about Diversity and Racial Categories
Conversation Project: In Good Faith
Exploring Religious Difference in Oregon
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Life after War
Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home
Conversation Project: You're In or You're Out
Exploring Belonging
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: The Space Between Us
Immigrants, Refugees, and Oregon
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Life after War
Photography and Oral Histories of Coming Home
Conversation Project: Keeping Tabs on America
Surveillance and You