Lecture videos

Archive of Oregon Humanities Center lectures in streaming video.

2023–24 “Humanities Matter(s)”

Laura Pulido: “White Nationalism and GOP Climate Obstruction” on April 4, 2024. The 2023–24 Clark Lecture

Faculty Panel: “AI and the Humanities” on March 1, 2024.

OHC’s 40th Anniversary Directors’ Roundtable Discussion with John Stuhr, Steven Shankman, Barbara K. Altmann, and Paul Peppis on November 3, 2023.

2022–23 “Belonging”

Britney Wilson: “Down for the Cause: Grace, Space, and Belonging in Social Movements” on May 16, 2023. The 2022–23 Tzedek Lecture

Britt Wray: “How to Cope with Climate Anxiety: Saving the Earth and Saving Ourselves” on March 8, 2023. The 2022–23 Kritikos Lecture

Keith Knight: “The Intersection of Art and Social Justice” on February 7, 2023. The 2022–23 O’Fallon Lecture

Charlotte Coté: “c̓uumaʕas. The River that Runs through Us” on October 6, 2022. The 2022–23 Clark Lecture

2021-22 “Imagining Futures”

Charles Chavis, Jr.: “Hidden in Full View: A Story of Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation” on May 17, 2022. The 2021-22 Tzedek Lecture.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson: “Rehearsal for Living: My First Letter” on April 5, 2022. The 2021-22 Clark Lecture.

Kimberly Nicholas: “Facing Climate Change with Facts, Feelings, and Action” on January 12, 2022. The 2021-22 Cressman Lecture.

Daniel Martinez HoSang: “A Wider Type of Freedom: How Struggles for Racial Justice Liberate Everyone” on December 1, 2021. The 2021-22 Lorwin Lecture.

Christina Rosan: “Reimagining Cities to be Sustainable, Healthy, Resilient, Green, and Equitable” on October 27, 2021. The 2021-22 Kritikos Lecture.

2020–21 “Climate Justice”

Bathsheba Demuth: “The Reindeer at the End of the World: Apocalypse, Climate, and Soviet Dreams” on May 5, 2021. The 2020-21 Robert D. Clark Lecture.

Special event: Stephon Alexander: “What a Scientist Learned from Jazz about Innovation” on April 22, 2021. Sponsored by the OHC’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities.

Naomi Oreskes: “Can Science Be Saved?” on March 12, 2021. The 2020-21 Cressman Lecture.

Robin Morris Collin: “The Geography of Injustice and the Ecology of Reparations” on December 8, 2020. The 2020-21 O’Fallon Memorial Lecture.

Anthony Leiserowitz: “Climate Change in the American Mind” on November 19, 2020. The 2020-21 Kritikos Lecture.

2019–20 “Convergence: intersections between the sciences and humanities”

Leonard Mlodinow: “Elastic: Flexible Thinking for our Time of Change” on May 21, 2020. The 2019-20 Kritikos Lecture.

Paul Root Wolpe: “Ethical Challenges of the COVID Pandemic” on May 14, 2020. The 2019-20 Tzedek Lecture.

Elizabeth Rush: “On Rising Together: Creative and Collective Responses to the Climate Crisis” on March 5, 2020. The 2019-20 Clark Lecture.

Ruha Benjamin: “Beyond Buzzwords: Reimagining the Default Settings of Technology and Society” on February 4, 2020. The 2019-20 Cressman Lecture.

2018–19 “The Common Good”

Danielle Allen: “The Ethics of Public Participation in a Digital Age” on May 21, 2019. The 2018-19 Kritikos Lecture.

Chuck Collins: “Reversing Wealth Inequality: The Case for Progressive Taxation and Bringing Wealth Home” on April 17, 2019. The 2018-19 Tzedek Lecture

Alisa Roth: “America’s Hidden Mental Health Crisis” on March 12, 2019. The 2018-19 Lorwin Lecture.

Nalini Nadkarni: “Tapestry Thinking: Weaving the Threads of Humans and Nature” on January 30, 2019. The 2018-19 Clark Lecture.

Dianna Cohen: “Plastic Pollution: Art to Action” on October 17, 2018. The 2018-19 O’Fallon Lecture.

2017–18 “We the People”

Margo Jefferson: “From ‘I’ to ‘We’: The Role of the Citizen-Critic on May 30, 2018. The 2017-18 Kritikos Lecture.

Robin Wall Kimmerer: “We the People”: Expanding the Circle of Citizenship on March 13, 2018. The 2017-18 Clark Lecture.

George Packer: “American Identity in the Age of Trump” on January 24, 2018. The 2017-18 Kritikos Lecture.

Maria Hinojosa: “From the Frontlines: A Conversation with Maria Hinojosa” on October 5, 2017. The 2017-18 Cressman Lecture.

2016–17 “Humanities”

Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf: “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs” Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination on April 21, 2017. The 2016-17 O’Fallon Lecture.

Lucy Jones: “The Fault Lies Not in Our Stars: Why Natural Disasters Become Human Catastrophes” on March 9, 2017. the 2016-17 Clark Lecture.

Vijay Gupta: “The Citizen-Artist as Healer” on February 9, 2017. The 2016-17 Tzedek Lecture.

Deborah Willis: “Visualizing the Black Body in Photography and Popular Culture” on January 12, 2017. The 2016-17 O’Fallon Lecture.

Reza Aslan: “An Evening with Reza Aslaon: Religion, Identity, and the Future of America” on October 18, 2016. The 2016-17 Cressman Lecture.

2015–16 “Justice”

Ben Fountain: “An Evening with Ben Fountain” on May 10, 2016 in Eugene. The 2015-16 Kritikos Lecture.

Hendrik Hartog: “Justice and Dilemmas of Gradual Emancipation: A Case of Arson in 1815” on April 21, 2016. The 2015-16 O’Fallon Lecture.

Lori Gruen: “Justice and Empathy Beyond the Human” on March 10, 2016. The 2015-16 Clark Lecture.

Naomi Klein: “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate” on February 16, 2016. the 2015-16 Cressman Lecture.

Curt Tofteland: “The Villainy You Teach Me: Mercy Seasoned with Justice or Mercy Seasoned with Revenge?” on January 20, 2016 in Portland. The 2015-16 Tzedek Lecture.

Curt Tofteland: “We Know Who We Are But Not Who We May Be” on January 19, 2016 in Eugene. The 2015-16 Tzedek Lecture.

Shakespeare Behind Bars documentary panel discussion with Lara Bovilsky, English; Steve Shankman, English; and Shaul Cohen, Geography. January 10, 2016

2014-15 “connection”

William Deresiewicz: “Education in a Neoliberal Age” on May 14, 2015 in Portland. The 2014-15 Kritikos Lecture.

William Deresiewicz: “What is College For? A Defense of the Liberal Arts” on May 13, 2015 in Eugene. The 2014-15 Kritikos Lecture.

Frans de Waal: “The Evolution of Connectivity: Empathy, Altruism, and Primate Social Skills” on March 10, 2015. (podcast only) The 2014-15 Clark Lecture.

Susannah Heschel: “Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: The Life and Legacy of Abraham Joshua Heschel” on January 29, 2015 in Portland. The 2014-15 Tzedek Lecture.

Susannah Heschel: “Ethical Challenges of Scholarship” on January 28, 2015 in Eugene. The 2014-15 Tzedek Lecture.

Maya Lin on November 20, 2014. The 2014-15 O’Fallon Lecture.

2013-14 “vulnerable”

Bruce Schneier: “Internet, Security, and Power” on May 28, 2014. The 2013-14 Kritikos Lecture.

Victoria Sweet: “God”s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine” on March 5, 2014. The 2013-14 Tzedek Lecture.

Craig Childs: “Apocalyptic Planet: A Field Guide to the Future of the Earth” on January 28, 2014. The 2013-14 Clark Lecture.

Jeff Duncan-Andrade: “Note to Educators: Hope Required When Growing Roses in Concrete” on November 25, 2013. The 2013-14 Cressman Lecture.

2012-13 “being human | human being”

Jonathan Haidt: “What on Earth is Happening to Us? Polarization, Demonization and Paralysis in American Politics” on May 30, 2013 in Portland. The 2012-13 Kritikos Lecture.

Jonathan Haidt: “How Human Beings Got Morality, Religion, Civilization, and Humanity” on May 29, 2013 in Eugene. The 2012-13 Kritikos Lecture.

Wade Davis: “The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in a Modern World” on February 12, 2013. The 2012-13 Cressman Lecture.

Ira Byock, M.D.: “Mortality, Morality, and the Meaning of Life” on January 24, 2013 in Eugene. The 2012-13 Tzedek Lecture.

Ira Byock, M.D: “The Best Care Possible Through the End of Life: What It Is and How to Get It” on January 25, 2013 in Portland. The 2012-13 Tzedek Lecture.

Michelle Alexander: “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” on November 13, 2012. The 2012-13 Lorwin Lecture.

2011-12 “Conflict”

Andrew Bacevich: “A Decade of War” on May 15, 2012. The 2011-12 Kritikos Lecture.

Doug Peacock: “The Greatest Adventure: A Survivor’s Guide to a Melting Century” on March 6, 2012. The 2011-12 Clark Lecture.

Paul Gilding: “The Mother of All Conflicts: Infinite Economic Growth vs. a Finite Planet” on November 15, 2011. The 2011-12 Cressman Lecture.

Stacy Bannerman: “The War at Home: What America’s Longest War Has Shown Us About Who We Are, and Who We Can Become” on October 18, 2011. The 2011-12 Tzedek Lecture.

2010-11 “Sustenance”

Kathleen Dean Moore: “Ethics and Climate Change: What Do We Owe the Future?” on May 9, 2011.

James E. McWilliams: “Beyond the Food Movement: Four Big Ideas About Food and Sustainability” on April 26, 2011. The 2010-11 Kritikos Lecture.

William Forbath: “Human Rights: The Socialism of the 21st Century?” on April 7, 2011. The 2010-11 O’Fallon Lecture.

Richard Louv: “Beyond Nature-Deficit Disorder: The Restorative Power of the Natural World” on March 7, 2011. The 2010-11 Clark Lecture.

Van Jones: “Beyond Green Jobs: The Next American Economy” on January 24, 2011 in Eugene, OR. The 2010-11 Tzedek Lecture.

2009-10 “Year of the Book”

Kwame Anthony Appiah: “A Life of Honor” on May 27, 2010 in Portland, OR. The 2009-10 Tzedek Lecture.

Kwame Anthony Appiah: “Defending Freedom of Expression in the Written Word” on May 26, 2010 in Eugene, OR. The 2009-10 Tzedek Lecture.

Peter Kornbluh: “Information is Power: Access to Archives and Human Rights in Latin America” on May 5, 2010.

Donald Etherington: “A Sixty-Year Odyssey in Bookbinding and Conservation” on April 13, 2010.

Frances Moore Lappé: “Getting a Grip—Gaining Clarity, Creativity and Courage for the World We Really Want” on April 5, 2010. The 2009-10 Cressman Lecture.

Denis Hayes: “Is Prosperity Incompatible With Posterity?” on February 24, 2010. The 2009-10 Clark Lecture.

Suzanne Moore: “Manuscript: The Historical Roots of the Modern Manuscript Book” on Thursday, February 4, 2010. The 2009-10 O’Fallon Lecture.

Temple Grandin: “My Experiences with Animals and Autism” on Tuesday, February 9, 2010.

Paul Courant: “The Book—Not Just Another Gadget” on Thursday, January 21, 2010.

Robert Darnton: “Digitize, Democratize: Google, Libraries, and the Future of Books” on November 12, 2009. The 2009-10 Kritikos Lecture.

2008-09

Kenneth Miller: “Time to Abandon Darwin? Evolution and the Battle for America’s Soul” on May 27, 2009. The 2008-09 Kritikos Lecture.

Kenneth Miller: “Darwin, God, and Design: America’s Continuing Problem with Evolution” on May 28, 2009. (Portland). The 2008-09 Kritikos Lecture.

Mary Evelyn Tucker: “The Emerging Alliance of Religion and Ecology” on May 9, 2009. The 2008-09 Cressman Lecture.

Sean B. Carroll: “Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species” on May 4, 2009. The 2008-09 Clark Lecture.

Lawrence Joseph: “Being in the Language of Poetry, Being in the Language of Law” on April 16, 2009. The 2008-09 O’Fallon Lecture.

Frances White: “Make Love, Not War: What Chimpanzees Can Tell Us About the Evolution of Human Behavior” on April 14, 2009.

Joe Thornton: “The Evolution of Complexity: Inside Darwin’s Black Box” on March, 10, 2009.

Dr. Edward Tick: “War and the Soul: Healing our Veterans, Families, and Communities from the Wounds of War” on February 18, 2009. The 2008-09 Tzedek Lecture.

Warren Holmes: “The Evolution of Cooperation and the Paradox of Altruism” on February 10, 2009.

Peter Galison: “The Assassin of Relativity” on January 21, 2009.

Henry Jenkins: “Talking Snowmen, Moose Stew, and the 3 a.m. Girl: New Media, Popular Culture, and American Politics 2008” on November 3, 2008. The 2008-09 O’Fallon Lecture.

2007-08

Richard Taruskin: “Did Somebody Say Censorship?” on May 13, 2008. The 2007-08 Kritikos Lecture.

George Lakoff, linguistics, UC Berkeley and co-founder/senior fellow, Rockridge Institute, spoke on “The Brain and Its Politics” on April 25, 2008.

Stephen Schneider, biology, Stanford Univesity, spoke on “Global Warming: How Do We Manage the Risks?” on March 4, 2008 as the 2007-08 Robert D. Clark Lecturer in the Humanities.

2007

Witnessing Genocide Symposium: Samantha Power, James Young, April 28-30, 2007.

2006

Bishop John Shelby Spong, the 2005-06 Kritikos Professor in the Humanities, spoke on “Who is the Popular God in Public Life in the 21st Century?” on May 24, 2006. The 2005-06 Kritikos Lecture.

Richard Thompson Ford, the George Osborne Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, discussed his book Racial Culture: A Critique as the 2005-06 Colin Ruagh Thomas O’Fallon Lecturer in Law and American Culture on April 11, 2006.

2004-05

Loretta Napoleoni, economist and journalist, spoke on her book Terror Inc.: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Network on May 16, 2005.

Louis Menand, critic and author of The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America, spoke about Andy Warhol’s 1962 exhibit of paintings of Campbell’s soup cans and the role it played the intellectual history of the Cold War era on May 12, 2005. The 2004-05 Kritikos Lecture.

Gary Moulton, the 2004-05 Luther S. and Dorothy Cecilia Cressman Lecturer in the Humanities and Thomas C. Sorenson Professor of American History Emeritus at the University of Nebraska and editor of The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, spoke on “Lewis and Clark’s New Look” on November 4, 2004.