Presentation by Dani Dennenberg. What is the local organization HEART (Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers) bringing to Portland schools and organizations? This is about HEART’s role in encouraging young people to help solve community and world problems. Dani Dennenberg is the Director of HEART. She is a graduate of the Master’s Program of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE). She graduated with honors from U.C. San Diego with a B.A. in Sociology and with a minor in Environmental Studies.
Presentation by Mark Eifler. At the beginning of the Civil War, William Peck surprised his family by enlisting in the Union Army as a surgeon. His unpublished letters are an invitation to investigate the life and times of doctors and medical practice during a critical period in American history. We look at a world that, in many ways, sought to move into a modern era, but was still firmly rooted in a somewhat confused and contentious past. Mark Eifler received his Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley. He teaches at the University of Portland.
Presentation by Dave Collamer. How was it that the seminal documents of our nation, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution, were composed with the intent to set up a secular government? What were the religious sensibilities of the Founders? Why did they consistently vote down proposals to proclaim the U.S. a Christian nation? What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he spoke of a "wall of separation between church and state?"
In 2011, HGP observed Women’s History Month with a program dedicated to “Women Who Have Touched our Lives.” Speakers informed us about a variety of women, including their own mothers, grandmothers, and friends, living women who are influencing society today, as well as historical women who had significant impact on the world in their times. This has become a March tradition at HGP. We’re breaking up the storytelling this year with music interspersed with stories.