Tuesday, November 8, 1:30–3:00 p.m.
University of Oregon in Portland 70 NW Couch Street

Hosted by the UO Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
and the UO Library and Learning Commons

Sponsored by Oregon Humanities Conversation Project

Recent efforts to remove the “N” word in literature—from the new edition of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in which the word is changed to “slave” to the attempt to halt a high school production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone because of its “offensive” language—raise questions about censorship. Is censorship ever a good thing? Should accommodations be made considering the difference between a character’s and author’s point of view?

“To Cut or Not to Cut: Censorship in Literature” is the focus of a free conversation with Reed College Professor Pancho Savery. The discussion takes place on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. at the University of Oregon in Portland White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street. The conversation, sponsored by Oregon Humanities, is hosted by the University of Oregon Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Portland and the University of Oregon Library and Learning Commons.

Savery is professor of English, humanities, and American studies at Reed College. He also teaches in Reed’s freshman humanities program on the Ancient Mediterranean World (focusing on Greece, Egypt, Persia, and Rome). For the last eleven years, he has worked with Oregon Humanities on the Humanity in Perspective program.

Through the Conversation Project, Oregon Humanities offers free programs that engage community members in thoughtful, challenging conversations about ideas critical to our daily lives and our state’s future.

Oregon Humanities (813 SW Alder St, #702; Portland, OR 97205) connects Oregonians to ideas to change lives and transform communities. More information about Oregon Humanities’ programs and publications, which include the Conversation Project, Think & Drink, Humanity in Perspective, Happy Camp, Public Program Grants, Responsive Program Grants, and Oregon Humanities magazine, can be found at oregonhumanities.org. Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust.

This event is free and open to the public. Invite your friends, family and neighbors to join you.

OLLI-UO in Portland

Find a group that fits your interests.

The following study and discussion groups meet weekly unless otherwise specified. All members are welcome to attend these sessions. Past participation is not required. For questions, study materials or more information on these groups, please call the OLLI-UO in Portland office at 503-412-3653.

Tuesdays

The Story of Human Language
10:30 a.m.–noon

“There are good reasons that language fascinates us so. It not only defines humans as a species, placing us head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators, but it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries.

“How did different languages come to be? Why isn’t there just a single language? How does a language change, and when it does, is that change indicative of decay or growth? How does a language become extinct?

“Dr. John McWhorter, one of America’s leading linguists, addresses these and other questions as he takes you on an in-depth tour of the development of human language.”  (http://bit.ly/liSHAW) [DVD discussion group]

Wednesdays

How to Listen to and Understand Great Music
10:30 a.m.–noon

“Music, the most abstract and sublime of all the arts, is capable of transmitting an unbelievable amount of expressive, historical, and even philosophical information to us, provided that our antennas are up and pointed in the right direction.

“In this Teaching Company DVD course “you will hear and understand an entire language of unmatched beauty, genius, and power [as] Professor Greenberg takes you inside magnificent compositions by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Verdi, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and more.” (http://bit.ly/mEQ6kk) [DVD discussion group]
Facilitator: Joanna Rood

Thursdays

Extra Innings
10:30 a.m.–noon

As “third agers,” we are experiencing, for the first time in human history, thirty additional years of healthy life. This experimental discussion course will utilize emerging findings from the science of gerontology as well as gerogogy, defined as self-directed learning using life experience as a platform. This discussion course is not a life-review course. Class discussion will not only allow participants to look back on past experiences, but will encourage participants to look ahead as they travel through their third age.
Facilitator: Ken Calvin

Literati
November 3 and 10, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

In November, Literati will read and discuss Voltaire’s French satire, Candide, ou l’Optimisme, or Candide: or, All for the Best, published in 1759.

“Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immedi­ately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it” (http://bit.ly/15fSrV).

Copies of this text are available online to read and download for free at Proj­ect Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org). For a hard copy of Candide, please call the OLLI-UO office at 503-412-3653. Literati will supplement discussion with the DVD Teaching Company series, History of World Literature, taught by Purdue University Professor Grant L. Voth.
Facilitator: George Davidson.

Leaving a Trace: Writing About Your Life
2:30–4:30 p.m.

This group provides a friendly, supportive, and intimate setting to explore and share memories and experiences.

In this course, we will explore moving from journal writing to finding the ‘line of thought.’ We will write, share, engage in writing exercises, and have a couple of guests who have moved from journal, to memoir, to a published book.

Through this experience, I hope to share with you how to leave a lasting piece of work about your lives. We will identify ten key patterns hidden in all journals and find the story underneath the surface of recorded fact. We will learn how to play detective to your days, find the ‘thought line’ or the arc of life’s meaning in your life, and frame these stories for journal, family chronicle or memoir.

Past questions the writing group has considered are:

• What is something that got left behind?
• What is something you cannot deny?
• What is something you wrote or did that you no longer understand?

Members may join this group at anytime.
Facilitator: Judi McGavin

Thanksgiving holiday closure

UO offices will be closed on Thursday, November 24, and Friday, November 25, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Study and discussion groups will not meet on Thursday, November 24.