Events & Opportunities
August 9, 2025
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?
2:00 p.m., Jacksonville Branch Library, Jacksonville
August 9, 2025
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?
2:00 p.m., Jacksonville Branch Library, Jacksonville
October 18, 2025
Astoria Creative Writing Festival
Oregon Poet Laureate Ellent Waterston will appear alongside other writers at a weekend of readings, workshops, and literary happenings all centered in Oregon's oldest coastal town. Learn more about this event.
All day, Barbey Center, Astoria
October 19, 2025
Author Reading with Ellen Waterson, Oregon Poet Laureate
Join the Hoffman Center for the Arts for an afternoon of poetry by Ellen Waterston. Connect with community and poetry on the North Coast of Oregon.
3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Hoffman Center for the Arts, Manzanita
October 22, 2025
Facilitation Training for Libraries
Oregon Humanities will present three trainings in 2025 for staff, board members, volunteers, and program partners of Oregon libraries of all types (public, academic, school, and tribal). These trainings will help people involved with libraries strengthen their skills in leading conversations about vital issues and ideas across differences, beliefs, and backgrounds. With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence as a jumping off point, participants will learn about facilitation and reflective conversation, practice new skills and techniques, and learn to design and facilitate conversations that allow people and groups to learn more about themselves and each other.
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, Corvallis