Oregon Humanities

TEDxPortland—an independent spin-off of big TED, “Ideas Worth Spreading” TED—happened on one of the first dry, sunny days of spring, so it would have been natural to see more than a few empty seats in the Gerding Theater at the Armory, especially as the day went on. That’s not what happened. Sure, there were a few more seats in the theater by day’s end, but only a few.

What was the pull to stay in a dark theater on a clear day listening to thirteen speakers talk... More

03 May 2011 | Posted in Events Community New Ideas | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

The pairing of women and war brings so many other words, other ideas, to my mind. Like most who share my age, class, and nationality, my knowledge of war comes mainly through language. Newspaper or magazine articles, novels, history books, lectures. It just is not a duo I have seen in real life, but it captures my attention nonetheless. I feel a responsibility to at least bear some brief witness to world’s more brutal realities. Shortly after it was published in 2008, I... More

23 November 2009 | Posted in Events Community New Ideas | Permalink | Comments? (1 so far)

My organization, Ecotrust, recently conducted a survey. We asked thousands of people, “Has the world entered a new era?” More than 80 percent of respondents said yes. When we asked people to describe the era, two related themes emerged: connectedness and interdependence.

The way people perceive the world is changing. Once, the world seemed to be divided into clear sectors: For-profit, nonprofit, local, national, global, sustainable, and so on. Now, all of those sectors... More

05 November 2009 | Posted in Events New Ideas Special Projects | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)