Events & Opportunities

February 6, 2025

Reflective Conversation Training (in-person)

During this in-person facilitation training, participants will:

  • learn about facilitation and reflective conversation
  • have an opportunity to practice new skills and techniques
  • reflect on and share your own beliefs and assumptions and listen to beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences different than your own
  • design and participate in reflective conversations and debriefs that analyze facilitation tools and choices.

This training will take place in the Oregon Humanities office in Portland (610 SW Alder St., Suite 1111) over the following days:

  • Day 1: Thursday, February 6, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Day 2: Friday, February 7, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

To register for the February in-person training, click here.

In-person trainings are limited to the first twelve to sixteen people to sign up. Over the course of two days, we’ll spend our time together talking in large and small groups, in small to mid-sized rooms. We’ll provide a light breakfast and lunch on both days.

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Oregon Humanities, Portland

February 7, 2025

Conversation Project: Are You Safer Outside?

Outdoor spaces took on new significance during the recent pandemic. While some of us rediscovered parks and trails that we once took for granted, others may still feel the stressors of unwelcoming or inaccessible outdoor areas. Join facilitator Mareshah “MJ” Jackson to discuss what makes an outdoor space a “safe” space. How does one’s identity intersect with security in a park, on a trail, or on a patio? In what ways have our perceptions of these spaces changed, and how may they change in years to come? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the role open spaces play in our lives and how our perceptions may differ from each other’s. 

Register for this event.

6:30 p.m., Holman Auditorium, Portland

Photo of Consider This: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century with Danielle Allen

May 7, 2025

Consider This: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century with Danielle Allen

A conversation about the failings and challenges of democracy in the United States and what we can do about them with Danielle Allen, director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center. How can we find common purpose to build a stronger democratic society amid today’s complex political climate?

7:00 p.m., Tomorrow Theater, Portland

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.

Register for this free event.

6:00 p.m., Cedar Mill Community Library, Portland