NCW Libraries is offering a series of virtual programs this fall in partnership with Oregon Humanities and the NCW Equity Alliance that centers on the core values of listening, learning and building community.
The Core Conversations series will kick off Sept. 10 with Migration: Changes and Transformations from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
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. It will offer a space for sharing experiences and reflecting on changes since we left our native homes, what brought us to the place we live now, and the transformation we went through over this process. Participants will reflect on what happens to our roots, customs, and culture once we migrate and share our thoughts and needs.
This is an interactive program, so please be prepared to participate.
The program will be facilitated by Cristina Morales, a native of Barcelona, Spain, who immigrated to the U.S. in 2011. She and her husband founded BENDitas, a collective that promotes Spanish culture in Bend, Ore.
Three more programs are also planned in the series:
Softening Sharp Teeth: Getting Curious About Conflict will be Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.
In this program, we will explore interpersonal conflict, which many people try to avoid. 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. 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.
Emily Squires is an artist, facilitator, and consultant who has spent over two decades working with various organizations. Emily works with groups across sectors, from small nonprofit organizations to government bureaucracies, to think and feel through the complexities of identity, conflict, and long-term culture transformation.
Can We Get Along? Examining Our Personal Experiences of Connection and Community will be Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.
Despite decades of social justice movements, police brutality and divisions persist in the United States. How can we connect with each other during these times? What holds us back from connecting with each other? How do our personal experiences contribute to barriers or have the potential to break them down?
Join facilitator Chisao Hata as she examines individual questions on race, cultural values, and what brings us together and what separates us.
Chisao Hata is a performing artist, educator, and arts integration specialist. She has been called a “community weaver” through facilitation, community engagement and creating artistic collaborations. She has been a protector of imagination and personal discovery and a champion for individual expression. Creating engaged learning is her life’s work.
Civic 101 is an interactive workshop series exploring how our government works and various ways to engage at different levels — federal, state, and local — facilitated by Michael Bowman with the Office of the Secretary of State’s Civic Engagement Program.
Nov. 10: Federal Government, 6-7:30 p.m. | REGISTER
Nov. 17: State Government, 6-7:30 p.m. | REGISTER
Nov. 24: Local Government, 6-7:30 p.m. | REGISTER
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