October

This program will use the life of Obed Dickenson, pastor of the First Congregational Church in Salem, as a lens to study the history of race relations in 19^th century Oregon. We will look first at the story of Obed Dickenson, including his early life, his religious training, and his arrival in Oregon in 1853. From there, we will turn to the larger national context within which race relations in Oregon were developing. We will then return to a consideration of the work of Obed Dickenson, who defied powerful leaders in the church, the territorial government, and the local newspaper to advocate for the equality of blacks. He not only preached against slavery, seeing it as a sin, but called on whites to treat blacks on a footing of equality.

He invited blacks into his church, refusing to accede to white demands that he hold separate services for blacks. He baptized them and married them, all the while defying the hostility of many powerful whites in the city.

Dr. Jopp is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, where she teaches courses on American Law, Comparative Revolution, John Brown, and Colonial Latin America. Her current research focuses on 19^th century Oregon.

Your grandmother never painted, so of course, you can’t either.  It’s not in your DNA, or so they say.  Talent – whatever that is – has kept you and your friends from ever trying to draw or paint.  Donna, a painter and instructor - utilizing slides of her recent bold and colorful acrylic paintings - will convey why you can’t draw. Her talk will walk you through the process of discovering what could/should have been taught to you in fourth grade.

Donna has a Masters degree in Art and Art Education and has been teaching, painting and/or glassblowing since 1972.  She currently teaches adults in Philomath at her Shared Painting Studio, while she teaches fourth graders the basics of seeing and drawing at the Muddy Creek Charter School in Corvallis, OR.

Early in the Fall semester is a good time for member feedback.

So, how are we doing? and for new members, how are things going so far?

Executive Director Mark Kasoff will moderate the discussion.

When Japanese soldiers departed for the war, it was customary for their families and friends to give them a small Japanese flag inscribed with signatures and heartfelt wishes that they would return safely home.  Later, on the battlefield, the American soldiers and their allies searched the bodies of deceased Japanese soldiers and brought those Yosegaki Hinomaru flags back home as souvenirs. Now, 70 years after WWII ended, many American veterans and their families who are in possession of these personal items want them returned to the surviving wives, children, brothers and sisters of the missing soldiers in Japan so that the family can experience closure over their loss.

Searching for surviving relatives to soldiers who were killed seven decades ago is no easy task, however, Rex and Keiko Ziak (pronounced Zeek) have taken on this daunting challenge. Beginning in 2009 with little more than an idea, they organized a team of scholars in Japan and built trusting relationships with Shinto Priests, a veteran group and with government organization throughout Japan who all contribute in different ways in the search for family. Their NPO, OBON SOCIETY, has become an international humanitarian organization that receives items from across America as well as England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and beyond

By the time the ‘American souvenir’ arrives in Japan it has become a treasured family heirloom that spiritually represents the return of their missing relative. They greet the spirit of the returning lost relative and welcome them home to rejoin the family. With more than 1,140,000 young Japanese men who disappeared without a trace during the war this humanitarian effort potentially affects the lives of tens of millions of citizens.

The Ziaks will tell how they became involved in this work and then built an organization to carry out their goal. They will share the personal stories of Americans who returned flags and stories of closure from those who received them. Their talk will also describe what they have learned about the differences and similarities between different cultures around the world in how they regard family loss.

The Ziaks have met with the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, received awards from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and were featured on the CBS Sunday Morning program. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy stated that their efforts "continues President Kennedy’s spirit of reconciliation and friendship." The OBON SOCIETY has partnered with the Oregon Historical Society to plan and host a 75th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Remembrance this coming December and are deeply invested in planning a major reconciliation between the allies and Japan in the year 2020.

BIOGRAPHY:

Rex Ziak grew up in rural Oregon and Washington as the son of a logger, but as an adult he became much more interested in saving forests than logging. He has had several professions: freelance photographer  and documentary cinematographer, lived with indigenous peoples of South and Central America, and is the author of three books. He is also a scholar of Lewis and Clark history, and his research has uncovered new historic sites which will lead to the creation of a new National Park; this could be a reason for a return visit to ICL in the future!

Keiko Ziak is from Kyoto, Japan.  Her creativity and motivation led her to study in Canada and London from where she became employed as an officer aboard the most prestigious cruise company in the world. It was the tragic loss of Keiko’s grandfather and the miraculous return to the family of his only surviving possession that first inspired the Ziaks to create the OBON SOCIETY.

The OBON SOCIETY is headquartered in Astoria, Oregon. They are independent and completely unaffiliated with any religious, political or special interest groups. The OBON SOCIETY is a gift-dependent 501(c)(3).

The ICL Fall Hallie Ford visit will tour the Russell Childers: Oregon Outsider exhibit as well as the Strange and Wonderful: American Folk Art from the Willem and Diane Volkersz Collection exhibit with Willamette University collection curator Jonathan Bucci as host.  The icon shown to the left is from the Childers exhibit and is titled “The Wee Mother and Child, 1971”.  We will meet in the Museum Lobby for this session.

In 1919, the German Weimar Republic was established with high hopes, and on a carefully designed constitutional foundation.  It lasted just 14 years, and was replaced by the Nazi Third Reich.  Almost immediately, scholars began to diagnose this particular democratic failure.  Moreover, in subsequent decades, they sought to draw lessons that could inform more successful democratization elsewhere and to identify symptoms or deficits so as to forestall the decay of existing democracies.  In the context of contemporary US Presidential politics, some media commentators are invoking the Weimar experience.  Are they right to do so?  In this presentation, and drawing on my own ongoing research, I will discuss some of the factors involved in the demise of Weimar, and evaluate the presence of such factors today.

 WU Professor of Politics, Sammy Basu is the 2013 Oregon Professor of the Year.

Throughout his tenure at Willamette, Basu has impressed his students and colleagues by inventing a steady stream of new and innovative curricula. In “Death in America,” Basu blends public policy and ethics to probe such issues as health care coverage, capital punishment and occupational fatalities. In “Writing Political Humor,” he explores the possibilities and perils involved in writing political humor, and in “Democracy and Nazism,” Basu investigates Weimar Germany and Adolf Hitler’s rise to power — analyzing how everything from art to zoology was used in political and moral contestation about democracy and authoritarianism.

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) and his brother (two of a dozen siblings) lived an idyllic, privileged childhood in Ostego Lake (New York), a frontier settlement founded by his father, William Cooper. It was later named Cooperstown. James Fenimore Cooper obtained a good education but a school prank caused him to leave school under duress. He then pursued a career at sea until he married. When he finally decided on a career as a writer, he covered a wide array of subjects but it is his telling about the frontier, which by his adulthood had assumed the mystique of legend, which catapulted him to international fame.

His stories using the central figure of Natty (Nathaniel) Bumppo is the central theme of my talk. He personifies an era of pioneer independence, simple homespun values, fierce unbiased morals which the character felt was in danger of disappearing. Through the character Natty – also known as Deerslayer, Pathfinder, Leatherstocking, Hawkeye – the author expresses his justified unease of the disappearance of the natural environment to aggressive urbanization. Natty Bumppo was an environmentalist who felt it was best to live lightly on the earth and respect its natural laws: “Laws don't all come from the same quarter. God has given us his'n, and some come from the colony, and others come from the King and Parliament. When the colony's laws, or even the King's laws, run ag'in the laws of God, they get to be onlawful, and ought not to be obeyed.” He also possessed the soul of a poet: “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods; there is a rapture on the lonely shore.” And the idealist: “Every man must meet his own debts, and answer for his own sins.”

James Fenimore Cooper wrote books incorporating the fictional life of Natty Bumppo in a non-chronological order. Here is a list of the Natty Bumppo sequence of books in the natural chronological order: The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneers, The Prairie.

Russian concert music began with Mikhail Glinka, who was highly revered by the composers of a group known as the Russian Five. These 19th century composers were musical amateurs, yet they forged a characteristically national style of Russian music that employed Russian folk music and avoided the type of German-style thematic development that dominated western European music. Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture is a brilliant example of the best of Russian nationalist concert music in it seamless integration of old Russian hymn melodies, Western technique, and sonata form.

PLEASE NOTE CHANGES TO THE CUSTOMARY CLASS TIMES AND LOCATIONS TODAY!

Modeste Mussorgsky (1839-1881) was one of the "Russian Five", dilettante composers who banded together for the stated mission of glorifying the spirit and music of Mother Russia through their concert works. His 1874 opera Boris Gudunov is the pinnacle of Russian opera. We will hear short excerpts from this opera.

NOTE: THIS SESSION WILL BE SHORTENED TO GIVE MEMBERS TIME TO HAVE LUNCH BEFORE ATTENDING THE REHEARSAL OF THE WILLAMETTE SINGERS, WU'S VOCAL JAZZ GROUP.

ICL is invited to attend the dress rehearsal of the award-winning Willamette Singers as they prepare to perform for Parents and Family Weekend on campus. Rather than a stop-and-go session working on details, the Singers will present their upcoming performance; that means we'll hear more actual selections than when we attend a rehearsal early in the term. Please note that this session comprises their regular class time, so is 90 minutes in length. 

Downbeat Magazine has twice named the Willamette Singers the best Collegiate Vocal Jazz group in the nation.

Professor Wallace Long Jr., Director of Choral Activities since 1983 and Music Department Chair from 1994- 2001; B.M., M.M., A. Mus. D., University of Arizona; taught choral music in Tucson, Arizona, before coming to Willamette; performed professionally with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in France and Carnegie Hall and performs with Male Ensemble Northwest including compact disc recordings and an honorific performance at the American Choral Directors Association's National Conferences in Washington, D.C. and San Antonio, Texas; past president of the Oregon chapter of American Choral Directors Association; Guest Conductor, Kansas All-State Choir, Wyoming All-State Choir, Fairbanks Festival of the Arts, Northwest American Choral Directors Association Honor Chair.

For at least 4,000 years of recorded history, humans have engaged in the study of mathematics. Our progress in this field is a gripping narrative, a never-ending search for hidden patterns in numbers, a philosopher's quest for the ultimate meaning of mathematical relationships, a chronicle of amazing progress in practical fields like engineering and economics, a tale of astonishing scientific discoveries, a fantastic voyage into realms of abstract beauty, and a series of fascinating personal profiles of individuals such as ones covered in this lecture:

• Euclid, whose treatise Euclid’s Elements covers much of the mathematical knowledge of the time and is considered the most important book of mathematics ever written.
• Thales, who was know to have studied with Egyptian mathematicians and was credited with many developments in the calculation of distances by indirect methods.
• Pythagorus, who founded his own school based on the cult practices of Egyptian and Babylonian mathematicians.

During the 1790s, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton held sharply conflicting views on foreign and domestic policies and on constitutional interpretation. Today, many label Hamilton's views as conservative and Jefferson's as liberal and see their conflict as a harbinger of contemporary battles. Yet the specific issues over which they argued are not relevant to modern Americans, and their views have little to do with current definitions of "conservative" and "liberal." Still, their conflicts are relevant to us, albeit not the ways we might think.

For the first time in human history, we can see the full splendor and mystery of the universe, thanks to instruments on scores of planetary probes and observatories that have been launched into space since the 1990s. 

In this session we will venture into a nearby spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, as imaged by the Spitzer Space telescope and discover active regions of star formation.

Lions and tigers and bears!  Oh my!  Physics and equations and math Oh my!  Well, physics yes, equations and math not so much.  Also, no lions tigers or bears but maybe dogs and ducks.  This talk, by ICL member Wayne Wallace, talk cover a variety of general physics principles without getting bogged down in the math and equations.  I will use canoeing to demonstrate these principles.  A canoe, with no moving parts and just a paddler or two, seems simple enough but involves much more physics than initially meets the eye, much of it counterintuitive.  I may even stretch the definition of canoeing to get to some of these principles.

The Wikipedia definition of physics is: “Physics is a natural science that involves the study of space and time, along with the related concepts such as energy and force.”  Another definition of Physics I’ve seen is: “The study of everything”, which I take to mean that I will always be on topic no matter where my mind wanders.

This presentation will be heavy on videos and diagrams to demonstrate various principles starting with few forces acting upon the canoe up to the multiple forces found in whitewater.  Water in rivers do not simply flow downstream but moves upstream, vertically, diagonally and can move upstream at the surface and downstream near the river bed.  Whitewater canoeist have learned to exploit these forces to perform surprising maneuvers. 

Hopefully, this presentation will help in your understanding of some basic physics and give you an appreciation of the skill, daring and imagination of those eager to push the limits.

At one time I was a wilderness and whitewater paddler.  I would like to say I fully applied my high school and college physics to my paddling but learning was more of a trial and error sort of thing.  I purchased my first canoe while in high school and did well on the slow flowing rivers of Ohio.  I moved to Michigan where there were faster flowing rivers but still easy enough.   An early spring canoe trip to Ontario demonstrated to me that I, and my supposedly experience new friends, were sorely lacking in skills and judgement.  I convinced three of the group to go with me to canoe classes at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in North Carolina.   That is where I learned to really apply physics to my paddling.  Our future trips became much safer and enjoyable after that.

The Nation continues to be reliant on fossil energy resources, including: oil, gas, and coal to fuel nearly all aspects of the US economy.  This talk will introduce the basics of fossil resource occurrence and detail the consequences of their extraction.  In the context of the expected climate change due to fossil fuel use, we will also explore the National strategies to reduce fossil fuel use and to mitigate climate change via geological carbon sequestration and a shift toward lower carbon intensity fuels such as natural gas.  We will discuss the important consequences of these strategies, which includes the increased demand for natural gas from shale rocks driving the fracking boom.   

Dr. Burt Thomas earned his PhD from Penn State University in Biogeochemistry in 2008 and immediately began a Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship at the USGS in Menlo Park where he studied the geochemistry behind carbon dioxide sequestration.  He then led a small team of researchers at the USGS for 5 years that studied the risks and consequences of hydrocarbon development on the nation's groundwater resources.  (Click here to see an interview with Burt regarding some of his work via KQED -starting around 3m:35s)  Burt currently works at the US Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory in Albany, OR on issues related to the consequences of geological carbon dioxide storage and enhanced oil recovery.        

Kurdistan, a mountainous area made up of parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, is home to one of the largest ethnic groups in the region:  the Kurds.  Most in the west know them for their small, oil-rich autonomous region in northern Iraq called Iraqi Kurdistan - one of the U.S.' closer allies in the Middle East and a bulwark against the expansion of the so-called Islamic State.  What does the success of Iraqi Kurdistan man for Kurds in the surrounding region?  What are the challenges of an ethnic group spread over several countries without a country of their own?

Pete Byeman, Bea Epperson and Jeanette Flaming will be our presenters.

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Reading Assignment:  Great Decisions 2016 Briefing Book Topic 3.  If you don’t have a copy another ICL member will share.  In any case additional information on this topic is available online from the Foreign Policy Association. 

ICL Member Joan Robinson will make a brief about the Supreme Court: its history and place in the structure of the U.S. government and what it is and is not authorized to do. She will also discuss a few cases decided in 2015-2016 term and a few cases that will be argued (and probably decided) in the 2016-2017 term.

Joan worked as a lawyer for the Oregon Legislative Assemby for more than 30 years, primarily in the Office of Legislative Counsel. The office is the non-partisan legal office for the legislature, responsible for drafting bills, issuing legal opinions to legislators and legislative committees and editing, compiling and publishing the Oregon Revised Statutes.

She holds a JD from Rutgers University School of Law, an MA (Philosophy) from Columbia University and a BA (Philosophy) from Wellesley College.

In the past few years, the American public has become more aware of the damage wrought by climate change. From droughts in the west to extreme weather globally, a rapidly changing climate has already made its footprint in the United States as well as the rest of the world. What are the most pressing issues? What can we do and what are we doing? Where have effective efforts been made? Who is addressing this? What is the role of the UN or other global bodies?

It is expected that the presidential election in 2016 will be one of the first ever to place an emphasis on these environmental changes. What can the next president do to stymie the environmental crisis? And is it too late for these efforts to be effective?

Bob Muir and Jeanette Flaming will be the facilitators of this session.

Reading Assignment: Great Decisions 2016 Briefing Book Topic 7. If you don’t have a copy another ICL member will share. In any case additional information on this topic is available online from the Foreign Policy Association.

Rebecca will tell the story of her own calligraphic and art journey from a full time scribe in Washington DC to an artist and teacher in the Pacific NW. She will also relate how a relationship with letters and calligraphy has changed the lives of some of her students. 

Rebecca Wild is a Pacific NW artist and calligrapher from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Her work pairs a love of letter forms with the luminous characteristics of drawing materials and paint. She uses text as a tool for both conveying message and creating abstraction. Raised in West Virginia, she has a B.A. in studio art from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. She was an art instructor for 25 years in Portland, Oregon and teaches workshops and classes throughout the Northwest.

To view her work visit www.rwildart.com

Just the word “fundraising” usually sends people running in the opposite direction. Come hear how one person found how to fulfill her passion when she stumbled into the wonderful world of development. While she’ll cover a number of things that she does for several local non-profits, she will focus primarily on grant writing for social good and how she uses the pen (well OK, her laptop) to make a difference.

Cesie Delve Scheuermann is a grant writer and development consultant to numerous non-profit organizations in and around Salem. Over the years she has raised well over $2.5 million working part time and as a volunteer. She is the author of a popular weekly blog, “Inspiring Generosity.” Previously, she was the Director of Student Activities at Willamette University and was the Director of the Volunteer and Public Service Center at Georgetown University. She is a Board member of the Mid-Valley Development Professionals. Ms. Scheuermann earned a BA in English at Westmont College, and an MA in Counseling and Personnel Services at the University of Maryland.  

This lecture will be a multi-media presentation of the Troisième Année, describing its historical genesis and examining the extra-musical associations of each composition.  This cycle exhibits profound emotional depth and sophistication, clearly demonstrating Liszt’s ability to transcend the shallow virtuosity ascribed to the majority of his compositions. Troisième Année presents beautiful emotional scenery expressed through subtle and sophisticated writing for the piano.

The purpose of the lecture is to illuminate the musical masterpieces in this third year of travel.  The Troisième Année has been most noticeably neglected.  Though there are seven inspiring compositions in this third cycle, only one is well known and performed often, Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este.  The most popular cycles are his first two: the Première Année: Suisse published in 1855, and the Deuxième Année: Italie, published in 1858, but even these are rarely performed as a unified cycle.  Perhaps the reason this set is rarely performed is that the threnodies that precede and follow Jeux d'eaux and the religiously based outer movements can seem overly esoteric to listeners. 

Throughout the lecture I will employ digital images.  This is especially important with this topic, as this entire compilation of pieces, from the Première Année until the Troisième Année, was inspired by the travels of Liszt.  Inspirations for the compositions arose from the variety of experiences he was exposed to, not only in his travels to Italy and Switzerland, but throughout his life.   In these three cycles, Liszt transforms art, poetry, landscape, spirituality, nationality, and religion into musical manifestations.  The lecture will visually display images and texts that were the inspirations for each composition in the Troisième Année.  I will draw particular emphasis to topical considerations concerning religion and death, as these are topics not commonly associated with Liszt and present a unifying element throughout this cycle.  Examining the historical genesis, contextualizing the compositions, and describing the life of Franz Liszt during this time will aid in understanding.  It is my hope to introduce audiences to these later masterpieces of Franz Liszt. 

Crystal is currently professor of piano at Willamette University where she teaches class piano and individual piano lessons as well as courses in music technology. At Willamette, she is also staff accompanist and the coordinator of the accompanying program. She maintains an active performance schedule, frequently performing in collaborative, chamber music, and solo recitals. Zimmerman is in demand as a lecturer, regularly providing pre-concert lectures for the Oregon Symphony and lectures for Oregon Music Teachers Association. She maintains a private piano studio in Salem and regularly adjudicates festivals and compositions in Oregon. Her articles have been featured in American Music Teacher magazine and she is currently working on a progressive six book series with FJH Music Company, entitled Succeeding with Sonatinas.