June 6, 2026

Talking About Values Across Political Divides

“How can I be me without making it difficult for you to be you?” This question gets at the fundamental challenge of being in society together. We live in a contentious political world, and it’s difficult to talk about our deepest values and beliefs in safe, civil, and respectful ways. In 2021, the Pew Research Center found that nearly six in ten Americans felt that political conversations with those you disagree with are generally stressful and frustrating, as opposed to being interesting and informative. If we avoid such conversations, we lose opportunities to form a community with others that reflects our best selves. How can we learn to share our values in ways that bring us together rather than push us further apart?

Facilitator Lowell Greathouse is a retired United Methodist minister who served congregations in rural, suburban, and urban settings in Oregon, Idaho, and England from 1986 to 2019. In addition, he worked with community-based programs at Catholic Social Services in San Francisco, Community Action in Washington County, and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. Lowell was born in Oregon and has family roots in the state that date back to the 1890s. He has been engaged in a variety of cross-cultural settings, including at the Cuernavaca Center for Intercultural Dialogue on Development (CCIDD) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and is the author of the book Rediscovering the Spirit: From Political Brokenness to Spiritual Wholeness (Wipf and Stock, 2020).

2:00 p.m., Ruch Library, Jacksonville

June 13, 2026

Who Are “We the People?”

Our stories about who we are—as a nation or as a community—often don’t match the reality of who is actually part of our community. When the Declaration of Independence was written, people living in what would become the United States didn’t all have the same rights. What does that mean for us 250 years later? This conversation is a chance to reflect on what the Declaration of Independence means today, what it means to be American, and what it takes to work together for the benefit of all.

Facilitator Eliot Feenstra is a community organizer, artist, gardener and facilitator. He currently works with Oregon's Kitchen Table, a statewide community engagement program that creates ways for Oregonians to participate in public decision-making. Prior to joining OKT, he worked on rural queer community organizing in southern Oregon, collaborative performance projects, and connecting people with place. He has worked with Oregon Humanities since 2015, leading trainings, facilitating conversations about power and place, and even once appearing on The Detour. After living in Josephine County for many years, he now lives in Portland and continues to work in solidarity with and advocate for rural communities.

1:00 p.m., Ruch Library, Jacksonville

June 18, 2026

Poetry for the People Reading and Consider This Livestream

The Jacksonville Library will stream an Oregon Humanities conversation with the poet and novelist Naomi Shihab Nye, preceded by a live poetry reading featuring members of the Southern Oregon Poetry for the People group. In the live reading, poets preview their new anthology Poetry for the Planet. Then, in a livestream from Portland’s Alberta Theater, Shihab Nye will focus on how communities become what we hope them to be. How should we strive to live together in community?

5:30 p.m., Jacksonville Branch Library, Jacksonville

June 27, 2026

What Does It Mean to Be American?

This conversation will explore when and how we define ourselves as an “American.” Does knowing the Constitution make us American? Does living on land controlled by the United States of America make us American? Through conversation and nonverbal exploration, we will share what “American” means to us individually and within the communities we belong to or came from, and what perspectives shaped our understanding of American identity and who is included in “We the People.”

2:00 p.m., Jacksonville Branch Library, Jacksonville