Events & Opportunities
May 8, 2025
Softening Sharp Teeth: Getting Curious About Conflict
Interpersonal conflict and disagreement are part of being in relationship with others, but many of us fear conflict. Motivated by many factors, including cultural norms, concern for social consequences, and personal safety, many of us avoid it. What might we learn and how might we grow by making more room for conflict? What skills do we need to responsibly engage in conflict? How can shifting our relationship to conflict offer us new perspectives about ourselves and the groups we belong to? This community conversation is an opportunity to reflect on our relationships to interpersonal conflict outside of where we might most often encounter it, like the heated context of an argument at the dinner table or online. Facilitator Emily Squires will lead a judgement- and jargon-free discussion of what we mean when we say conflict, considering how interpersonal conflict shapes our lives and tools to use when experiencing it.
6:00 p.m., Cedar Mill Community Library, Portland
May 11, 2025
Softening Sharp Teeth: Getting Curious About Conflict
Interpersonal conflict and disagreement are part of being in relationship with others, but many of us fear conflict. Motivated by many factors, including cultural norms, concern for social consequences, and personal safety, many of us avoid it. What might we learn and how might we grow by making more room for conflict? What skills do we need to responsibly engage in conflict? How can shifting our relationship to conflict offer us new perspectives about ourselves and the groups we belong to? This community conversation is an opportunity to reflect on our relationships to interpersonal conflict outside of where we might most often encounter it, like the heated context of an argument at the dinner table or online. Facilitator Emily Squires will lead a judgement- and jargon-free discussion of what we mean when we say conflict, considering how interpersonal conflict shapes our lives and tools to use when experiencing it.
3:00 p.m., Ledding Library of Milwaukie, Milwaukie
May 15, 2025
Softening Sharp Teeth: Getting Curious About Conflict
Interpersonal conflict and disagreement are part of being in relationship with others, but many of us fear conflict. Motivated by many factors, including cultural norms, concern for social consequences, and personal safety, many of us avoid it. What might we learn and how might we grow by making more room for conflict? What skills do we need to responsibly engage in conflict? How can shifting our relationship to conflict offer us new perspectives about ourselves and the groups we belong to? This community conversation is an opportunity to reflect on our relationships to interpersonal conflict outside of where we might most often encounter it, like the heated context of an argument at the dinner table or online. Facilitator Emily Squires will lead a judgement- and jargon-free discussion of what we mean when we say conflict, considering how interpersonal conflict shapes our lives and tools to use when experiencing it.
4:00 p.m., Tillamook Library, Tillamook
May 17, 2025
Structures of Belonging: Land, Culture, Memory, and the Future with Caldera and Oregon Humanities
Caldera’s senior director of impact Karena Salmond and So Much Together program creator Rozzell Medina will lead this group exploration of belonging related to land, culture, memory, and the future. We will examine intersections of Indigeneity, culture, and colonial impact relevant to the tipis, laying the groundwork for a rich engagement informed by multiple perspectives. Participants will spend time on the land, learning about the Structures of Belonging project and exploring belonging in connective and creative ways.
Optional community-building and snacks: 12:00–12:30 p.m. & 3:30-4:00 p.m. | Workshop: 12:30-3:30 p.m., Caldera Arts Center, Sisters
May 17, 2025
What Matters at Life’s End? Exploring Your End-of-life Wishes
Many of us know we should talk about what matters at the end of our lives, but we don’t always know where or how to start these conversations. Once people start exploring death and dying, they often realize it’s not so scary to talk about after all. It can be comforting and empowering to know more about your options and consider what would be helpful for those who may be making decisions on your behalf. Who do you want with you when you are dying? What environments feel most comfortable? Do you have a preference for what happens to your body and your possessions after you die? How do you want to be remembered? This conversation provides a space and dedicated time for reflecting and exploring your end-of-life wishes.
2:00 p.m., Ledding Library of Milwaukie, Milwaukie
May 19, 2025
Softening Sharp Teeth: Getting Curious about Conflict
Interpersonal conflict and disagreement are part of being in relationship with others, but many of us fear conflict. Motivated by many factors, including cultural norms, concern for social consequences, and personal safety, many of us avoid it. What might we learn and how might we grow by making more room for conflict? What skills do we need to responsibly engage in conflict? How can shifting our relationship to conflict offer us new perspectives about ourselves and the groups we belong to? This community conversation is an opportunity to reflect on our relationships to interpersonal conflict outside of where we might most often encounter it, like the heated context of an argument at the dinner table or online. Facilitator Emily Squires will lead a judgement- and jargon-free discussion of what we mean when we say conflict, considering how interpersonal conflict shapes our lives and tools to use when experiencing it.
6:00 p.m., Sherwood Public Library, Sherwood
May 24, 2025
CANCELED: A Thousand Hands: Art and Spiritual Healing with Crystal Meneses
Due to the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, this workshop has been postponed indefinitely. Read about what these cuts mean for Oregon Humanities—and how you can help.
Join interdisciplinary artist, death doula, and hospice chaplain Crystal Meneses in a transformative So Much Together workshop that explores art as a tool for healing. Through storytelling, conversation, mindfulness activities, and art making, participants will learn to access insights using the practice of art divination.
Optional community-building and snacks: 12:00–12:30 p.m. & 3:30-4:00 p.m. | Workshop: 12:30-3:30 p.m., Newport Visual Arts Center, Newport
May 31, 2025
Rhythm, Rhyme, and Revolution: Crafting Transformative Messages
Join cultural activist, emcee, poet, and writer Mic Crenshaw for an interactive workshop exploring the power of rhythm, rhyme, and storytelling as tools for self-expression and social change. Through rap, poetry, spoken word, and call-and-response, participants will discover how to craft meaningful, original, and transformative messages that reflect their perspectives and purpose.
Optional community-building and snacks: 12:00–12:30 p.m. & 3:30-4:00 p.m. | Workshop: 12:30-3:30 p.m., Leaven Community Center, Portland
June 7, 2025
POSTPONED Peace, Dreams, and Love Supreme: Embodying Turtle Wisdom with Betty LaDuke
Due to the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, this event is postponed indefinitely. Read about what these cuts mean for Oregon Humanities—and how you can help.
Join Betty LaDuke for a So Much Together workshop that will expand possibilities for how we experience and imagine the personal, playful, and political in our own lives and communities.
Optional community-building and snacks: 12:00–12:30 p.m. & 3:30-4:00 p.m. | Workshop: 12:30-3:30 p.m., Leaven Community Center, Portland
June 17, 2025
Poetry Reading with Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston
Join Rogue River Library for a poetry reading with Oregon Poet Laureate Ellen Waterston. There will be time at the end of the program for a brief Q&A. Ellen Waterston began her term as the eleventh Oregon Poet Laureate in August 2024. The Oregon Poet Laureate fosters the art of poetry, encourages literacy and learning, addresses central issues relating to humanities and heritage, and reflects on public life in Oregon.
1:00 p.m., Medford Library, Medford