50 Years After, Voices from a Diaspora: Thuy Tran
Thuy Tran talks about her experiences as an optometrist, member of the Oregon Air National Guard, and Oregon State Representative in this video by Kevin Truong.
Conversation Project: 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?
Conversation Project: 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?
Borrowed Kitchens and Conference Rooms
Diana Marcela Cuartas writes about the challenges of finding cultural space in the Portland metro area's rapidly changing east side.
Channeling the Stories of the Local Watershed
Taking inspiration from an unlikely source, a new production by Sarah Fox spotlights the interconnected narratives of the Columbia River Gorge.
This Is the Moment
Andrew DeVigal on how civic dialogue helps build healthier communities.
The People and the Public: 2024–25 Consider This Series
In 2024 and 2025, join us for a series of onstage conversations about all things public.
Fields Artist Fellowship
The Fields Artist Fellowship is a partnership between Oregon Humanities (OH) and the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF), aimed at investing in individual artists, culture bearers, and their communities.
Broken Glass, Broken Trust
A sermon by Robert Leo Heilman first read at the Umpqua Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Roseburg in spring 2022
So Much Together: As Often as the Bold
Fear is central to our human experience, a powerful force that extends beyond our individual lives into political and cultural realms. In an uncertain world, the opportunities for fear to take root and spread are infinite. In this So Much Together workshop, we take a non-judgmental approach to fear, viewing it not as our enemy—but as a catalyst for self-discovery and transformation.
Portrait of My Mother in Mint Green
She lived most of her life in the United States. Why didn’t she become a citizen?
Making Pre-K Possible
This comic by Sarah Mirk explores how universal preschool went from an idea to the ballot to law in 2020.
“Let’s Give Oregonians a Chance to Shape the Future of the State”
Hanna Merzbach interviews Kevin Frazier, founder of the website The Oregon Way
Getting to the Roots of Climate Change
Bob Devine on why the market alone can't solve the problems of a warming planet
The Bottom of the Toolbox
Leaders and activists in Eugene hope a bureaucratic negotiation can help the city meet its climate goals.
They Belong to Themself
We do not possess the intellect, identity, or sexuality of our children, Chelsea King writes in this essay. We are only witnesses to their journeys.
Putting in the Work
This comic by Jonathan Hill explores how people can stay engaged in politics and advocate for the changes they want to see outside of major election cycles.
Putting in the Work
This comic by Jonathan Hill explores how people can stay engaged in politics and advocate for the changes they want to see outside of major election cycles.
Charter Review
This comic by Beka Feathers and Aki Ruiz explains Portland's charter review process.
Who's Being Left Out?
Lucy Bellwood illustrates the history of voting rights in Oregon and efforts to expand who gets a say in our democracy.
“We Know Who’s Got Our Six Now”
Bruce Poinsette considers the Father's Group, an intergenerational community group in Central Oregon, as an example for the future of Black-led organizing in Oregon.
Stepping Up in Southern Oregon
In Ashland, a network of volunteer organizations provide meals for those who need them. Amy Stewart writes about how that network has adapted to the pandemic.
Mama Will Feed You
A mother’s journey through cultural reclamation, changing food systems, and the new wave of mutual aid
Clicking
After moving back to Portland, Marbla Reed looks for connection in online event organizing, but finds creating community without the context of preexisting relationships more challenging than anticipated.
In These Uncertain Times
During the pandemic, Oregonians have been urged to “stay home, save lives.” But for many, staying home is not an option.
Virtual Think & Drink with Senator Ron Wyden and Clive Thompson
Think & Drink goes online for a special conversation with US Senator Ron Wyden and journalist Clive Thompson on democracy and the internet, May 13 at 4:30 p.m.
Mask Makers
Photojournalist Katharine Kimball documents DIY efforts in Hood River to manufacture personal protective equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Think & Drink with Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Eddy Morales, and Ana del Rocío
Join former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Gresham City Councilor Eddy Morales, and Ana del Rocío, executive director of Oregon Futures Lab, for a conversation about running for and holding public office.
Think & Drink with Desmond Meade
The 2019–20 Think & Drink series, Making Democracy, kicks off with the executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Think & Drink Portland 2019–20: Making Democracy
Four onstage conversations with activists, writers and civic leaders about how we make decisions together in our communities
Process and Privilege
Cynthia Carmina Gómez writes about how efforts to rename a Portland street for César Chávez faced intense opposition, despite following a process that other petitions were allowed to circumvent.
Reflections on an Icon
George Estreich writes about finding personal connection in a universal icon.
Returned
Caitlyn May covers the complicated story behind the closure of Douglas County's libraries and their difficult paths to reopening sustainably.
Listening over Litigation
The High Desert Partnership provides a collaborative vision for Harney County.
Engagement and Environment
OPAL seeks to bring more voices into conversations about environmental justice.
Exchange and Change
Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities, on people listening to one another in Lake County, Oregon
Albina Rising
Deonna Anderson writes about how a group in Portland is working to undo the harm of urban renewal and heal the wounds of a community.
Posts
Readers write about Owe
From the Director: Guns, Tools, and Talk
Adam Davis on the difficulty of talking about guns
Field Work: Bridging Divides over Dinner
In Bend, residents come together to share meals and conversation.
On Bearing Bad News
Robert Leo Heilman writes about trying and failing to save library services in Douglas County.
Invite in the Stranger
Adam Davis on radical hospitality
You Are Being Watched
The United States’ long history of turning citizens against one another. An excerpt from Joshua Reeves' Citizen Spies: The Long Rise of America’s Surveillance Society, reprinted with permission from New York University Press.
The Numbers
As Portland's urban core has gentrified, thousands of residents have been displaced to neighborhoods east of 82nd Avenue, an area that locals call "The Numbers." In this video, young people living in The Numbers talk about their hopes for their community.
King Tide
An excerpt from Micah White's book, The End of Protest: A New Playbook for the Revolution
The Longest of Long Shots
A Sanders delegate's brush with national party politics. An essay by Valdez Bravo
Feeling It All
Oregon Humanities magazine editor Kathleen Holt on the complicated and blurry lines between private rights and public good
Stolen Land and Borrowed Dollars
Creative resistance bloomed in the lead up to the Vancouver Olympics. An excerpt from Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics by Jules Boykoff
My North Star
How Mumia Abu-Jamal Led Me to Activism. An essay by Walidah Imarisha
Plague Fears
Eula Biss writes about how a threat becomes a plague in this excerpt from her book On Immunity.
Future: Portland
Civic leaders describe the loss of Portland's strong black communities and the hope of restoring them in the future in a video by Ifanyi Bell.
Posts
Readers Write about Quandary
Origin Stories
The surprising beginnings of six of Oregons claims to fame
Who's Minding Your Business?
A conversation with writer William T. Vollmann on privacy, surveillance, and hope
Into the Welter
Editor Kathleen Holt on cities as more than just places
This Land Planned for You and Me
J. David Santen Jr. on what Oregon's communities look like forty years after the passage of Senate Bill 100
Imaginary Metropolis
What do the cities of science fiction books and films say about the way we perceive the cities we live in? An essay by Dan DeWeese
Design for a Crowded Planet
Cynthia E. Smith, the curator of socially responsible design at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewett design museum, talks about innovative solutions by and for city dwellers.
A Hidden History
Walidah Imarisha on revealing the stories and struggles of Oregon’s African American communities.
One America?
A conversation between Gregory Rodriguez and Tomas Jimenez about American identity, race, immigration, and ideology.
A Century of War
Writer and historian Andrew Bacevich on changing the way Americans think about war
Against Custom
The first peace advocates imagined a new story for the United States. An essay by Margot Minardi
The Good Fight
Can letting our children roughhouse lead to a better democracy? An essay by Sarah Gilbert
Water Wars
Journalist J. David Santen Jr. on how battles, compromises, and resolutions abound in a state flush with water.
Firing a Friend
It's hard to be a good citizen during an election year. An essay by Jennifer Ruth
That Public Thing
What jazz can teach us about being a community. An essay by Tim DuRoche
Love Thy Neighbor (Sometimes)
A close-knit neighborhood can make us happy, but it can also add to the busy-ness of daily life. An essay by Jamie Passaro
The Working Class
Bette Lynch Husted argues that hard times are good times to rethink our attitudes about the fungibility of workers.