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Conversation Project
Bring people in your community together this spring to talk with each other about what matters to them, whether it’s food, reading, religion, identity, or marriage. Oregon Humanities is now accepting applications from Oregon nonprofits to host Conversation Project programs in March through June of 2014.
What's New
Looking to do some holiday shopping? We can help. Join Oregon Humanities and a dozen of Oregon’s best-known writers (including 2013 National Book Award–winner Mary Szybist) at our holiday party on Tuesday, December 17, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Cleaners, 403 SW Tenth Ave., Portland. You can chat with authors over cookies from Bakeshop and cider, purchase signed copies of their books, and support Oregon Humanities’ work throughout… Continue reading
Special Projects
Oregon Humanities is a proud cosponsor of Deschutes Public Library Foundation’s second Author! Author! literary series from November 2013 to June 2014. The series features writers Rebecca Skloot, Sherman Alexie, Cheryl Strayed, and Geraldine Brooks, who will discuss their work, literature, and the writing process.
Tickets for individual events cost $20 to $75, depending on seating. Ticket packages for the whole series are $70 to… Continue reading
Think & Drink
Did you miss one of our happy hour conversations? You can find the audio here.
What's New
Oregon Humanities gratefully acknowledges the supporters who made gifts in 2012. Their generosity allows Oregon Humanities to connect Oregonians to ideas that change lives and transform communities. To view our annual report, please use the embedded reader or download a PDF at the link below.
Idea Lab
On July 26, Governor John Kitzhaber and First Lady Cylvia Hayes delivered a challenge to an audience of Oregon teens and teachers at Oregon Humanities’ 2013 Idea Lab Summer Institute: Work toward a world where happiness is valued alongside financial gain.
“Economic growth and social well-being are not the same thing, necessarily. Economic growth should be a means to an end, not an end to itself,” Kitzhaber said.
In a shared… Continue reading
What's New
The board of directors of Oregon Humanities has named a new executive director of the organization: Adam Davis, who comes to OH from Chicago, where he is the director of the Center for Civic Reflection. He will officially assume his duties August 5.
Davis will be the fifth director of Oregon Humanities since the organization’s founding in 1971. He succeeds Cara Ungar, who left in February to pursue other interests.
As director of… Continue reading
Magazine
Virginia Lee Burton’s 1943 children’s classic Katy and the Big Snow is set in the fictional town of Geoppolis. On an illustrated map we see a grammar school and a library and a church. Geoppolis has an uptown and a downtown, bus and… Continue reading
Output
Oregon writers Brian Doyle and Sarah Mirk both say Ken Kesey’s novel Sometimes a Great Notion changed the way they see the state.
“I got stranded in Tillamook once while trying to hitchhike to a party on a farm and spent all day in a… Continue reading
Bring Your Own
Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis says conversation has the power to make us look afresh at who we are and what we do, and do the same for the people around us.
Magazine
I eyed the thirty chairs set up in small circles around the top-floor room of North Portland Library and frowned. That Sunday in February 2012, I would be leading my Conversation Project program “Why Aren’t There More Black People in… Continue reading
Magazine
I stand in the cosmetics aisle at the Rite-Aid on Coburg Road, in my hometown of Eugene, considering options for a tinted moisturizer. I’ve worn eye makeup and a slick of lipstick or gloss since high school, but in my thirties and… Continue reading
Current job openings
Share your passion for the humanities with teachers, teens, and Oregonians from all walks of life. We’re a small group of creative, inspired multitaskers looking for a kindred spirit to join our hard-working team. We have a covetable office culture that brings us into regular contact with provocative people and stimulating ideas. Working here will change the way you see the world.
We’re looking for a part-time, temporary (24… Continue reading
Donor Spotlight
“I love my job because it allows me to meet and photograph people from all walks of life,” says Kim Oanh Nguyen. A professional photographer based in Portland, Kim has a special interest in documenting the work of nonprofits.
Kim became familiar with Oregon Humanities on the job and recently decided to become a donor. “The programs that Oregon Humanities sponsors are amazing and invaluable,” she says. “I feel very fortunate to have… Continue reading
Current job openings
We are looking for old souls with raw talent, fresh insights, and an insatiable desire to connect Oregonians to new stories, ideas, and perspectives. As an intern, you will be joining a creative, dedicated, curious staff of can-doers. Your role: create, edit, and disseminate all sorts of content that will see the light of day in print and online. Duties may include the following:
• Write… Continue reading
Store
Originally published and 1991, The First Oregonians: Second Edition is revised and expanded for a new generation of Oregonians. It provides a comprehensive view of Oregon’s native peoples from the past to the present. In this remarkable volume, Oregon Indians tell their own stories, with more than half of the book’s chapters written by members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes. Using oral histories and personal… Continue reading
Volunteer
From stuffing envelopes to helping at events, we love our volunteers and appreciate their support.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering for Oregon Humanities. If you would like to take part in one of the opportunities listed on this page, indicate which one on your application. If we don’t have any volunteer opportunities listed, we’ll keep your application on file. If your qualifications and availability meet requirements to… Continue reading