September 10, 2026

Migration: Changes and Transformation—What Changes and What Stays

Change is a natural part of life, but changes brought about by migration are particularly deep and complex. People who leave behind their country, their people, and part of their history have their lives radically transformed. This conversation is for immigrants. We want to offer a space where we can share our experiences and reflect together about the changes we have made since we left our native homes, what brought us to the place we live now, and the transformation we went through over this process. We will reflect on what happens to our roots, customs, and culture once we migrate and share our thoughts and needs.

Cristina was born in Barcelona, Spain. Her parents migrated from the south to the northeast of the country. She grew up speaking two languages and learned how to love both cultures. She became an acupuncturist and Shiatsu specialist and taught Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine for ten years. She also joined many musical groups and performed in weddings and bars for twelve years. She met her husband during a sabbatical year in South America and moved to the US soon after. She worked as a Latino Family Liaison for three years, and she and her husband co-founded PIE (Purpose in Expenses), a new way to give back to our global community. Cristina founded BENDitas, a collective that promotes culture in Spanish in her beloved Bend community. She has had to change many things since she moved to the United States in 2011, but her pride in being Spanish has never changed.

5:30 p.m., Latino Community Association Bend Office, Bend

September 11, 2026

Echoes from the Past, Part 2: Leaving Tule Lake

Siblings Dave and Peggy Doi share how their parents ultimately left the Tule Lake incarceration camp. Learn how their father and three dozen other men from Tule Lake became the first to enlist in the US Army from their camp, attending a highly classified Military Intelligence Language School (MILS) near Minneapolis to prepare for vital service in the South Pacific. This presentation weaves together their father’s secret wartime contributions and their mother’s path to freedom through a marriage proposal, offering a unique perspective on courage and survival and inspiration for questions facing people of conscience today. No need to have attended the first presentation. 

Tickets, $5, available here.

This presentation is funded in part by a Public Programs Grant from Oregon Humanities.

4:00 p.m., Jacksonville Community Center, Jacksonville

September 17, 2026

Letitia Carson: Life and Legacy of Oregon’s Earliest Known Black Homesteader

This presentation highlights the challenges and contributions of Letitia Carson, a nineteenth-century pioneer, rancher, and midwife. We’ll share her remarkable journey to homesteading in Oregon and the ongoing efforts of the Letitia Carson Legacy Project (LCLP) to carry Letitia’s enduring spirit into our collective future. The LCLP is a collaborative effort between OSU’s Center for Resilient Agriculture, Oregon Black Pioneers, Mudbone Grown, Black Oregon Land Trust, and the Linn-Benton chapter of the NAACP. This event is part of the year-long JCC Community-In-Action Program.

Tickets, $5, available here.

This presentation is funded in part by a Public Programs Grant from Oregon Humanities.

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Jacksonville Community Center, Jacksonville

September 17, 2026

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 at the Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts in Astoria (588 16th St.) over the following days:

• Day 1: Thursday, September 17, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Day 2: Friday, September 18, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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

9:00 a.m. for 4:00 p.m., Charlene Larsen Center for the Performing Arts, Astoria

September 17, 2026

Past and Future Cultural Lifeways of Western Oregon Tribes

The Willamette Valley is rich with history that has been largely unrecorded—its riverbanks, forests, and mountains have been home to the tribes of Kalapuya, Chinook, Molalla, and more for thousands of years. Please join us for a presentation by OSU Professor and Indigenous scholar David Lewis, who will highlight Native perspectives on the history of the region and take us through a journey from then to now. Dr. Lewis is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and author of the book Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley.

7:00 p.m., Beaverton City Library, Beaverton

September 19, 2026

Civicus: What Does It Mean to Be a Citizen?

In the United States, most people would say they believe in democracy. But do we all understand the word in the same way? Where does the concept of democracy come from, and what makes “the rule of the people” work? This conversation will dig into the history, philosophy, and practical workings of democracy. We’ll look at the words of important political thinkers from the past, the US Constitution, and research on challenges to democracy in the present day. We’ll leave with a better sense of what we mean when we say democracy and how to participate in the democratic process locally and nationally.

11:00 a.m., Grants Pass Library, Grants Pass

September 22, 2026

Consider This with Stephanie Land Watch Party: La Grande

Join Oregon Humanities for a live watch party of our Consider This conversation about trust, work, and poverty with Stephanie Land, author of the books Maid and Class. In her two best-selling memoirs, Land writes about cleaning houses and struggling to get by as a single mom in the Northwest. During this time she found herself both trusted and distrusted: Her clients entrusted her with the intimate details of their lives, but she was forced to demonstrate over and over again that she was eligible for the meager public assistance she received.

This event kicks off our 2026–27 Consider This series, What Do We Trust?

7:00 p.m., HQ, La Grande

September 22, 2026

Grieving in Nature: Can connecting with nature help us heal?

Most of us know about the physical and emotional benefits of spending time outdoors. But did you know that getting outside can assist in grieving and processing loss? In this conversation, we’ll discuss how our connections to nature provide context and understanding around grieving. Can a deeper connection with nature and the outdoors provide additional value and perspective?

The conversation will take place on the Soapstone Lake Trail. RSVP for this free event.

10:00 a.m., Soapstone Lake Trail, Nehalem

September 22, 2026

Consider This with Stephanie Land

Join us for a conversation about trust, work, and poverty with Stephanie Land, author of the books Maid and Class. In her two best-selling memoirs, Land writes about cleaning houses and struggling to get by as a single mom in the Northwest. During this time she found herself both trusted and distrusted: Her clients entrusted her with the intimate details of their lives, but she was forced to demonstrate over and over again that she was eligible for the meager public assistance she received.

This event kicks off our 2025–26 Consider This series, What Do We Trust?

Tickets are $15 and are available through the venue website. 

7:00 p.m., Alberta Rose Theatre, Portland

September 23, 2026

To What Do We Pledge?

While the opening of the Declaration of Independence gets the fanfare and the fireworks—“When in the course of human events” and all that—the closing clause contains a quiet promise: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” When we talk about the founding, we often think of it as a severing from a distant power and a proclamation of individual rights. And yet, buried in that big individualistic origin story, there is a pledge of support, solidarity, and mutual aid. Today, as we witness political violence, hostility, and polarization, this conversation invites us to explore what it means for us to be bound to one another and to ask ourselves: Is there any idea, any value, any dream for the future that we care about enough to tie ourselves to one another to protect or pursue it? What would it mean to “mutually pledge” ourselves to one another today? What would it look like? Feel like? Is it even possible?

Facilitator Wendy Willis is the founding director of Oregon's Kitchen Table, a statewide community engagement program housed at Portland State University. She is also a poet, an essayist, a stitcher, and a self-proclaimed democracy geek. Wendy was raised in Springfield, but now lives with her family in Portland.

6:00 p.m., Eugene Public Library, Eugene