Oregon Humanities
@oregonhumanities.org
Oregon Humanities connects people and communities through conversation, storytelling, and participatory programs to inspire understanding and collaborative change.
Pinned
Late last night, we received notice that an NEH grant intended to support our work through 2027 has been terminated in its entirety, along with grants for all other state and jurisdictional humanities councils.
Here's how you can help:
oregonhumanities.org/who/advocacy
Here's how you can help:
oregonhumanities.org/who/advocacy
Traveling over the next few days?
Cue up a few episodes of This Place, our short podcast featuring audio postcards from around the state, spoken by the people who live there.
Here's where we've been so far this year:
oregonhumanities.org/rll/podcast/...
Cue up a few episodes of This Place, our short podcast featuring audio postcards from around the state, spoken by the people who live there.
Here's where we've been so far this year:
oregonhumanities.org/rll/podcast/...
November 26, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Traveling over the next few days?
Cue up a few episodes of This Place, our short podcast featuring audio postcards from around the state, spoken by the people who live there.
Here's where we've been so far this year:
oregonhumanities.org/rll/podcast/...
Cue up a few episodes of This Place, our short podcast featuring audio postcards from around the state, spoken by the people who live there.
Here's where we've been so far this year:
oregonhumanities.org/rll/podcast/...
We're mentioned in Jill Lepore's recent New Yorker story on how cultural + historical orgs are programming around the nation's 250th anniversary—amid sweeping funding cuts, censorship, and more.
The piece describes our Beyond250 series as "one of the better stories." tinyurl.com/y5byba9u
The piece describes our Beyond250 series as "one of the better stories." tinyurl.com/y5byba9u
What Was the American Revolution For?
Amid plans to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial, many are asking whether or not the people really do rule, and whether the law is still king.
www.newyorker.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:38 PM
We're mentioned in Jill Lepore's recent New Yorker story on how cultural + historical orgs are programming around the nation's 250th anniversary—amid sweeping funding cuts, censorship, and more.
The piece describes our Beyond250 series as "one of the better stories." tinyurl.com/y5byba9u
The piece describes our Beyond250 series as "one of the better stories." tinyurl.com/y5byba9u
We're accepting pitches and feature-length submissions from Oregon writers for our Spring issue, Labor.
Looking for: essays, journalism, and criticism between 1,500 and 4,000 words. Pay is $750–1,500, depending on length and complexity.
Read more: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Looking for: essays, journalism, and criticism between 1,500 and 4,000 words. Pay is $750–1,500, depending on length and complexity.
Read more: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
November 14, 2025 at 6:28 PM
We're accepting pitches and feature-length submissions from Oregon writers for our Spring issue, Labor.
Looking for: essays, journalism, and criticism between 1,500 and 4,000 words. Pay is $750–1,500, depending on length and complexity.
Read more: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Looking for: essays, journalism, and criticism between 1,500 and 4,000 words. Pay is $750–1,500, depending on length and complexity.
Read more: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Are you ready for test your knowledge of Portland's literary scene?
Hope to see you tomorrow at Dear Sandy!
Hope to see you tomorrow at Dear Sandy!
Attn book + trivia nerds 📚
We're teaming up with Buckman Publishing for a night of local literary trivia in Portland. Come celebrate our region's storied history and win bookish prizes!
Organized in partnership with Literary Arts' Cover to Cover series.
oregonhumanities.org/events/liter...
We're teaming up with Buckman Publishing for a night of local literary trivia in Portland. Come celebrate our region's storied history and win bookish prizes!
Organized in partnership with Literary Arts' Cover to Cover series.
oregonhumanities.org/events/liter...
Literary Trivia with Oregon Humanities and Buckman Publishing
<p> Oregon Humanities and Buckman Publishing are pairing up for a night of literary trivia at Dear Sandy! We’re highlighting the ways that Portland’s unique culture, geography, and history have shaped...
oregonhumanities.org
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Are you ready for test your knowledge of Portland's literary scene?
Hope to see you tomorrow at Dear Sandy!
Hope to see you tomorrow at Dear Sandy!
The energy was electric for our first Consider This of the season! You all really showed UP in Portland and at watch parties in La Grande, Salem, and Clatskanie. Thanks to everyone who joined and to Akhil for an in-depth, important conversation.
Catch it in full: www.youtube.com/live/BiX5PGR...
Catch it in full: www.youtube.com/live/BiX5PGR...
October 28, 2025 at 11:19 PM
The energy was electric for our first Consider This of the season! You all really showed UP in Portland and at watch parties in La Grande, Salem, and Clatskanie. Thanks to everyone who joined and to Akhil for an in-depth, important conversation.
Catch it in full: www.youtube.com/live/BiX5PGR...
Catch it in full: www.youtube.com/live/BiX5PGR...
Tonight!
We're looking forward to tonight's conversation with constitutional law scholar Akhil Reed Amar. The Portland event has sold out, but you can still join our free live stream—or one of our watch parties in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem.
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
We're looking forward to tonight's conversation with constitutional law scholar Akhil Reed Amar. The Portland event has sold out, but you can still join our free live stream—or one of our watch parties in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem.
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
Consider This: Equality and the Constitution with Akhil Reed Amar
Join us for a conversation with one of the country’s leading thinkers on constitutional law. October 27 at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland.
oregonhumanities.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Tonight!
We're looking forward to tonight's conversation with constitutional law scholar Akhil Reed Amar. The Portland event has sold out, but you can still join our free live stream—or one of our watch parties in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem.
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
We're looking forward to tonight's conversation with constitutional law scholar Akhil Reed Amar. The Portland event has sold out, but you can still join our free live stream—or one of our watch parties in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem.
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
Less than a week to go until our new #ConsiderThis series kicks off with Akhil Reed Amar! We'll explore what the notion of equality has meant for our laws, history, and national identity—and consider how we strive toward this ideal today.
Learn more:
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
Learn more:
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
Consider This: Equality and the Constitution with Akhil Reed Amar
Join us for a conversation with one of the country’s leading thinkers on constitutional law. October 27 at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland.
oregonhumanities.org
October 21, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Less than a week to go until our new #ConsiderThis series kicks off with Akhil Reed Amar! We'll explore what the notion of equality has meant for our laws, history, and national identity—and consider how we strive toward this ideal today.
Learn more:
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
Learn more:
oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
In a recent episode of his podcast ,"Amarica’s Constitution," @akhilreedamar.bsky.social dives into the question of whether major tariffs are constitutional—drawing on history, legal precedent, and the text of the Constitution itself.
akhilamar.com/podcast-2/
akhilamar.com/podcast-2/
Amarica's Constitution
In this new podcast, Professor Amar offers weekly in-depth discussions on the most urgent and fascinating constitutional issues of our day. He is joined by host Andy Lipka and frequent guests: other t...
akhilamar.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:02 PM
In a recent episode of his podcast ,"Amarica’s Constitution," @akhilreedamar.bsky.social dives into the question of whether major tariffs are constitutional—drawing on history, legal precedent, and the text of the Constitution itself.
akhilamar.com/podcast-2/
akhilamar.com/podcast-2/
Attn book + trivia nerds 📚
We're teaming up with Buckman Publishing for a night of local literary trivia in Portland. Come celebrate our region's storied history and win bookish prizes!
Organized in partnership with Literary Arts' Cover to Cover series.
oregonhumanities.org/events/liter...
We're teaming up with Buckman Publishing for a night of local literary trivia in Portland. Come celebrate our region's storied history and win bookish prizes!
Organized in partnership with Literary Arts' Cover to Cover series.
oregonhumanities.org/events/liter...
Literary Trivia with Oregon Humanities and Buckman Publishing
<p> Oregon Humanities and Buckman Publishing are pairing up for a night of literary trivia at Dear Sandy! We’re highlighting the ways that Portland’s unique culture, geography, and history have shaped...
oregonhumanities.org
October 14, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Attn book + trivia nerds 📚
We're teaming up with Buckman Publishing for a night of local literary trivia in Portland. Come celebrate our region's storied history and win bookish prizes!
Organized in partnership with Literary Arts' Cover to Cover series.
oregonhumanities.org/events/liter...
We're teaming up with Buckman Publishing for a night of local literary trivia in Portland. Come celebrate our region's storied history and win bookish prizes!
Organized in partnership with Literary Arts' Cover to Cover series.
oregonhumanities.org/events/liter...
Tomorrow in Corvallis, our executive director Adam Davis will host a panel discussion, The Future of Indigenous Food in the Kalapuya Ilihi, part of the Champinefu Lecture Series at OSU's PRAx.
Free and open to all: prax.oregonstate.edu/events/champ...
Free and open to all: prax.oregonstate.edu/events/champ...
October 7, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Tomorrow in Corvallis, our executive director Adam Davis will host a panel discussion, The Future of Indigenous Food in the Kalapuya Ilihi, part of the Champinefu Lecture Series at OSU's PRAx.
Free and open to all: prax.oregonstate.edu/events/champ...
Free and open to all: prax.oregonstate.edu/events/champ...
"Our written constitution, though far from perfect, remains the basis of our republic, but that terse text will not save us. Without a national narrative, our republic cannot long endure.”
A recent essay from author and constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar: www.thefp.com/p/the-consti...
A recent essay from author and constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar: www.thefp.com/p/the-consti...
The Constitution Can’t Save Us. Only We Can.
Newly minted democracies began to prevail across the globe after 1787, and they did so thanks largely to the political and cultural success of America’s Constitution, writes Akhil Reed Amar. “The mode...
www.thefp.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:16 PM
"Our written constitution, though far from perfect, remains the basis of our republic, but that terse text will not save us. Without a national narrative, our republic cannot long endure.”
A recent essay from author and constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar: www.thefp.com/p/the-consti...
A recent essay from author and constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar: www.thefp.com/p/the-consti...
We loved seeing our 2024 Community Storytelling Fellow Sarah Fox and her fellowship project—The Watershed Rock Opera—featured in a recent article for @sierraclub.org magazine!
www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2025-...
www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2025-...
SIERRA: The national magazine of the Sierra Club
Sierra
www.sierraclub.org
September 17, 2025 at 8:19 PM
We loved seeing our 2024 Community Storytelling Fellow Sarah Fox and her fellowship project—The Watershed Rock Opera—featured in a recent article for @sierraclub.org magazine!
www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2025-...
www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2025-...
We're excited to share several local watch parties for our first Consider This conversation of the season!
On October 27, join folks in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem for a live screening of our onstage conversation with Akhil Reed Amar: Details: oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
On October 27, join folks in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem for a live screening of our onstage conversation with Akhil Reed Amar: Details: oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
September 5, 2025 at 6:12 PM
We're excited to share several local watch parties for our first Consider This conversation of the season!
On October 27, join folks in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem for a live screening of our onstage conversation with Akhil Reed Amar: Details: oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
On October 27, join folks in La Grande, Clatskanie, and Salem for a live screening of our onstage conversation with Akhil Reed Amar: Details: oregonhumanities.org/programs/con...
Theater artist and educator Paul Susi spends his evenings and weekends helping people recover lost driver’s licenses and birth certificates.
In the "Real" issue, he writes about what it takes to navigate the bureaucratic maze of legal documentation.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In the "Real" issue, he writes about what it takes to navigate the bureaucratic maze of legal documentation.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Who We Really Are
Paul Susi writes about the challenges of recovering lost legal ID and what it takes to prove you are who you say you are.
oregonhumanities.org
September 5, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Theater artist and educator Paul Susi spends his evenings and weekends helping people recover lost driver’s licenses and birth certificates.
In the "Real" issue, he writes about what it takes to navigate the bureaucratic maze of legal documentation.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In the "Real" issue, he writes about what it takes to navigate the bureaucratic maze of legal documentation.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Now online: Natchee Barnd investigates how public art installations around Oregon are engaging in Indigenous Placekeeping.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Placekeeping in the Pacific Northwest
Natchee Barnd writes about how public art helps re-mark traditional territories, promote long-submerged traditional art forms, and enhance cultural and spatial practices for Indigenous people.
oregonhumanities.org
September 4, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Now online: Natchee Barnd investigates how public art installations around Oregon are engaging in Indigenous Placekeeping.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
"What does it mean to routinely move through the places we live in a machine designed to encourage escapism?"
In the "Real" issue, Meg Wade explains how car culture has led to the erasure of public transit in rural Oregon, disconnecting people in the process.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In the "Real" issue, Meg Wade explains how car culture has led to the erasure of public transit in rural Oregon, disconnecting people in the process.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Uncanny Cars
Meg Wade on seeing beyond the windshield in rural Oregon
oregonhumanities.org
September 3, 2025 at 9:57 PM
"What does it mean to routinely move through the places we live in a machine designed to encourage escapism?"
In the "Real" issue, Meg Wade explains how car culture has led to the erasure of public transit in rural Oregon, disconnecting people in the process.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In the "Real" issue, Meg Wade explains how car culture has led to the erasure of public transit in rural Oregon, disconnecting people in the process.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In 1978, the company-owned logging town of Kinzua closed for good. “It was like your family died,” says Marilyn Garcia, born there in 1939.
In our new issue, Bennett Hall shares how a volunteer-run golf course keeps the memory of this remote community alive. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In our new issue, Bennett Hall shares how a volunteer-run golf course keeps the memory of this remote community alive. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Links to the Past
Bennett Hall writes about how the Kinzua Hills Golf Club helps maintain human connections
with Wheeler County’s vanished timber town.
oregonhumanities.org
September 3, 2025 at 6:22 PM
In 1978, the company-owned logging town of Kinzua closed for good. “It was like your family died,” says Marilyn Garcia, born there in 1939.
In our new issue, Bennett Hall shares how a volunteer-run golf course keeps the memory of this remote community alive. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In our new issue, Bennett Hall shares how a volunteer-run golf course keeps the memory of this remote community alive. oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
In our latest issue, Jamila Osman examines how a 2010 FBI sting operation led to the imprisonment of 19-year-old Mohamed Mohamud and left behind a legacy of grief, suspicion, and fractured trust that still lingers in Oregon’s Somali community—her own—today.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
The Terror Plot
Fifteen years after a young man’s arrest, Portland’s Somali community continues to reckon with the impacts. By Jamila Osman
oregonhumanities.org
September 2, 2025 at 7:14 PM
In our latest issue, Jamila Osman examines how a 2010 FBI sting operation led to the imprisonment of 19-year-old Mohamed Mohamud and left behind a legacy of grief, suspicion, and fractured trust that still lingers in Oregon’s Somali community—her own—today.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
"Returning to Russia is impossible; only the past remains there, and it won’t forgive you for trading it in for the future."
In Beyond the Margins, Aleksandr Chernousov writes about identity and conflict in Oregon's Slavic community.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...
In Beyond the Margins, Aleksandr Chernousov writes about identity and conflict in Oregon's Slavic community.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...
One of Them
Aleksandr Chernousov on identity and conflict in Oregon’s Slavic community.
oregonhumanities.org
August 22, 2025 at 5:52 PM
"Returning to Russia is impossible; only the past remains there, and it won’t forgive you for trading it in for the future."
In Beyond the Margins, Aleksandr Chernousov writes about identity and conflict in Oregon's Slavic community.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...
In Beyond the Margins, Aleksandr Chernousov writes about identity and conflict in Oregon's Slavic community.
oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...
Our summer issue is out next week! Whether or not you subscribe, we hope you'll join us at this happy hour celebration in Portland!
#OregonHumanitiesMagazine
#OregonHumanitiesMagazine
August 22, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Our summer issue is out next week! Whether or not you subscribe, we hope you'll join us at this happy hour celebration in Portland!
#OregonHumanitiesMagazine
#OregonHumanitiesMagazine
Yesterday a federal district judge in Portland issued a preliminary injunction in our joint lawsuit with the Federation of State Humanities Councils @humfed), finding that NEH’s April termination of grants to humanities councils was unlawful.
August 7, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Yesterday a federal district judge in Portland issued a preliminary injunction in our joint lawsuit with the Federation of State Humanities Councils @humfed), finding that NEH’s April termination of grants to humanities councils was unlawful.
Today we're celebrating a win, while acknowledging it's only a first step in a long, continuing process.
Deep thanks to Anna Sortun and the team at Tonkon Torp for their representation and counsel, and to our partners at the Federation of State Humanities Councils.
Deep thanks to Anna Sortun and the team at Tonkon Torp for their representation and counsel, and to our partners at the Federation of State Humanities Councils.
The ruling deems the government's termination of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "unlawful" and allows a lawsuit brought by humanities groups to move forward.
Federal judge rules cuts to humanities grants were 'unlawful'
The ruling deems the government's termination of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities "unlawful" and allows a lawsuit brought by humanities groups to move forward.
n.pr
August 7, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Today we're celebrating a win, while acknowledging it's only a first step in a long, continuing process.
Deep thanks to Anna Sortun and the team at Tonkon Torp for their representation and counsel, and to our partners at the Federation of State Humanities Councils.
Deep thanks to Anna Sortun and the team at Tonkon Torp for their representation and counsel, and to our partners at the Federation of State Humanities Councils.
This week, Oregon Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Councils appeared in US District Court in Portland to argue for the restoration of congressionally approved funding for humanities work nationwide.
More about the case and Monday's hearing: www.orartswatch.org/oregon-human...
More about the case and Monday's hearing: www.orartswatch.org/oregon-human...
Oregon Humanities’ suit against Trump funding clawbacks has its first day in court • Oregon ArtsWatch
The lawsuit, arguing that the canceling of federal grants previously approved by Congress is illegal, is heard in a Portland U.S. court. A decision might come next week.
www.orartswatch.org
August 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
This week, Oregon Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Councils appeared in US District Court in Portland to argue for the restoration of congressionally approved funding for humanities work nationwide.
More about the case and Monday's hearing: www.orartswatch.org/oregon-human...
More about the case and Monday's hearing: www.orartswatch.org/oregon-human...
Our summer issue drops next month! We're excited to share this preview of the cover, featuring work by photographer Celeste Noche
Subscribe for free to get the print issue delivered to your door: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Subscribe for free to get the print issue delivered to your door: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
July 30, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Our summer issue drops next month! We're excited to share this preview of the cover, featuring work by photographer Celeste Noche
Subscribe for free to get the print issue delivered to your door: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Subscribe for free to get the print issue delivered to your door: oregonhumanities.org/rll/magazine...
Yesterday Governor Kotek announced a special session of the legislature to address transportation funding. In March, Meg Wade wrote about the fragile transit connections in rural Oregon that will disappear if the state doesn't take action.
www.oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...
www.oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...
Vanishing Lifelines
Meg Wade writes about how Oregonians rely on transit to stay connected to community.
www.oregonhumanities.org
July 23, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Yesterday Governor Kotek announced a special session of the legislature to address transportation funding. In March, Meg Wade wrote about the fragile transit connections in rural Oregon that will disappear if the state doesn't take action.
www.oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...
www.oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-t...