Ross Island sits mid-Willamette just south of downtown Portland, and has a history of being built up and exploited by men, but today it is ruled primarily by nature. From Friendly House, Mike Houck, Director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute, will present his vision of how it can serve as one. Mr. Houck has been a leader in urban nature issues since 1980 when he founded the Urban Naturalist Program at the Audubon Society of Portland. He has co-founded Coalition for a Livable Future (CLF); The national Coalition to Restore Urban Waters (CRUW); The Intertwine Alliance; and The Nature of Cities forum.
Video of Programs (search and sort)
Alternative News
12/22/2013
Panel
Marsha Abelman, Ted Kozlowski, and Laurent Beauregard lead a discussion of mainstream and alternative coverage of news of current events. We consider questions of bias and of filtering.
Ethiopian Adventure
12/15/2013
Dave Collamer
Dave Collamer presents a program based on his experience in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. First, he plays some traditional music and show some dancing. Next, he performs a short skit in the Ethiopian language of Amharic. Finally, he shows slides of his three-year stay there, living in a small town and teaching high school.
Engaging Creationists: Should You?
12/08/2013
Jon Peters
Presentation by Dr. Jon Peters. It often happens that we hear or read something about scientific origins that is so erroneous that it takes us by surprise. Do we remain silent or do we speak up? If we decide to challenge a statement from a creationist, we should ask ourselves certain questions first. What are our goals? Are they different from the other side? How effective will we be? Are there any dangers? We will discuss motivated reasoning, confirmation bias, and how presenting evidence can backfire against you. Dr. Peters has been active promoting secular humanism and rational thought with the Center For Inquiry (Portland). In 2008 he founded Secular Humanists of East Portland.
World Peace Through Trade
11/24/2013
Gary Spanovich
Gary Alan Spanovich is Executive Director of the Wholistic Peace Institute (WPI). He discusses WPI’s work as a peacemaking, a research, and an educational organization which works directly with Nobel Peace Laureates to “end war and stop the killing”. Gary shares some personal stories about Nobel Peace Laureates and how they use the “values of reconciliation and forgiveness” to prevent war and to end conflict.