September

Come early to share summer stories and meet new members. Coffee and tea are provided by the ICL Social Committee.

**Please wear your name tag!**

We continue our opening morning with comments from our Executive Director, Sally Schriver, followed by introduction of our new members by the Co-Chairs of Membership Services, Barbara McReal and Vernelle Judy.

Sally Schriver has been a member of ICL since September, 2003. Vernelle Judy joined in 2015.

 The disproportionate Jewish role in the American Civil Rights Movement is well documented. The complex reasons for this will be discussed by Professor Eisenberg and include considerations of minority consciousness, strong collective memory and aspects of Jewish security and insecurity which may have shaped responses. She will use several examples from Oregon Jewish history.

Ellen Eisenberg has been a member of the History Department at Willamette University since 1990 and was appointed Dwight and Margaret Lear Professor of American History in 2003. She teaches courses on American history since Reconstruction, American social history, immigration history, Reconstruction, African American history and American Jewish history.

 Anthony McCarten tells the Munich audience four jokes in an attempt to conduct a (not so) scientific experiment into the role of laughter as facilitator of conversations and uniter of people.

Award winning filmmaker, television writer, novelist and playwright.

President Thorsett acquired his current position on July 1, 2011. He is an internationally recognized astrophysicist who brings to Willamette more than two decades of experience as a scholar, teacher and academic leader. His research focused on radio pulsars and stars in the later evolution: white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.

 Members will discuss some favorite books.

Karen Bender will present "The Girl With Seven Names: A north Korean Defector's Story" by Hyeonso Lee.

Jan Svingen will present "The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu and Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts" by Joshua Hammer.

Ed Bender will present "Amos: To Ride A dead Horse" by Stanley Gordon West.

Jeanette Flaming will present "The Book of Hope" by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Henrietta Griffitts will present "Devil in the Grove" by Gilbert King.

 Connections series "Volume 1: The Trigger Effect - The roots of our dependence on complex technological Networks" and "Volume 2: Death in the Morning - How testing gold's purity changed history".

James Burke (born 22 December 1936) is a British broadcaster, science historian, author, and television producer. He was one of the main presenters of the BBC1 science series "Tomorrow's World" from 1965 to 1971 and created and presented the popular television series "Connections" (1978), and its more philosophical sequel "The Day the Universe Changed" (1985), about the history of science and technology. The Washington Post has called him "one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world".

 We will be covering 2 chapters this morning.

"American foreign policy in 2019: a framework for analysis" will be presented by Bob Muir. The purpose of this framework is to offer a larger context for each issue. This introductory chapter is rather new to Great Decisions, but is very important for examining each topic.

"State of the State Department" will be presented by Eric Reif. "During the Trump administration, the usual ways of conducting diplomacy has been upended. Many positions in the State Department have never been filled, and meetings with foreign leaders such as Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin have been undertaken with little advanced planning. What effect are these changes having now, and how will they affect ongoing relationships between the United States and its allies and adversaries?"

Bob Muir has been a member since 2014 and is a former Assistant Attorney General with the Oregon Department of Justice. Eric Reif has been a member since 2018 and is a former trial attorney.

I am influenced by color, community and technology. This visual conversation will explore a timeline of my work as an artist in conjunction with the development of a modern paint system within the collective life. I draw authenticity to my work from several experiences: from the studio filled with pigments, mediums, gels and grounds to the traveled landscape of our emotional and physical world, entrenched with current events. My practice includes collaborating with my contemporaries, teaching, in depth trainings and the residencies that build my resilience. I continue to explore the intuitive nature of laying paint on a surface. The interaction of color in my recent paintings reference the world as I feel it.

Corrine Dietz is a studio artist. Her deep investigation of acrylic paint and process bring her recognition as a Painter, Colorist, and Material Specialist. She divides her energy between studio work, lecturing, and teaching in the area. Corrine has taught contemporary and traditional methods of painting and mixed media as Oregon's "GOLDEN Working Artist". As a longtime resident of Salem, Corrine has maintained strong community presence and has been involved with Artist Services, Mentor Programs, Studio Tours, Art Fair (as Exhibits and Juror), Englewood Forest Festival, and the Salem Youth Symphony. Corrine's work is held by private collectors as well the Hallie Ford Museum.

 In today's presentation, Lester will provide information on the earth's most remote and inhospitable continent, Antarctica. In spite of its frigid climate, this land, uninhabited by humans, is of vital importance to the world's weather and supports some of the globe's most unique creatures. Lester will provide a look at Antarctica's formation, history, and wildlife, as well as the human impact and the future of world's refrigerator.

Lester Reed has been an ICL member since 2015, had a 28 year military career and holds a PhD from the University of Texas Austin in Educational Management.  He had a second career as Senior Vice President of Midland Technical College in South Carolina.

 Combining dry wit with artistic depth, Billy Collins shares a project in which several of his poems were turned into delightful, animated films. Five of them are included in this wonderfully entertaining lecture---and don't miss the hilarious final poem!

Billy Collins is a two-time poet laureate of the United States, and has often been called America's most popular poet.

 This presentation is from the "Scientific Wonder of Birds" from The Great Courses.

"Wayne Wallace will present "Burning Bright: Avian Adaptations for Flight". GwenEllyn Anderson will be presenting "Bird Brains: Tool Wielders and Snack Stealers".

Wayne Wallace has been a member since 2015 and spent his career in Medical Technology. GwenEllyn Anderson has been a member since 2017 and spent her career in Higher Education.

The theater community is thriving in Salem and neighboring communities! Come and hear from representatives from the Salem Theater Network, an alliance of twelve theater organizations in the Mid-Willamette Valley, who will discuss their history, collaboration, and upcoming season's offerings.

 Presenters include:

Joan Robinson - "Downs Syndrome".

Janet Adkins - "Fish Tales".

Don Gallagher - "Attacks on Science".

Arthur Hill - "Post Apollo - where does human space flight go from here?" - Reading material: PDF

Joan Robinson has been a member since 2014, Janet Adkins since 2005, Don Gallagher since 2004, and Arthur Hill since 2010.

Light is used throughout world cultures and locales to celebrate, remember, purify, and enrich. This presentation will document many of these light-based festivals and highlight our own regional event, the Portland Winter Light Festival. We will explore how nighttime is transformed and humans are engaged by these temporary installations of fire and light.

Jeff Schnabel is the Director for the School of Architecture at Portland State University. His activities in and out of the classroom are focused on making the public realm successful after dark. Jeff is a co-founder of the Portland Winter Light Festival and a Board Member of the Willamette Light Brigade, a non-profit dedicated to lighting Portland's bridges. Jeff is also a member of the International Nighttime Design Initiative and the Media Architecture Institute.

The first of a series of lectures entitled: "Overtones - Symphony in a Single Note".

David Kung is Professor of Mathematics at St. Mary's College of Maryland. He studied Mathematics and Physics and holds a Ph.D from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Mathematics.

A NOVA documentary on the phenomenon known as Black Holes.

 This presentation is about the children of the Oregon Trail - who they were, their families, and the challenges and dangers they faced. Tom Marsh will provide excerpts from about a half a dozen Trail diaries. Tom's inspiration came from a mural at the Salem Capitol of a little blonde hair girl walking with the pioneers. This led to a published book and research paper.

Tom Marsh earned a BA and MA, University of Oregon, History and English. Member of the Oregon House of Representatives 1975-1979.Served on the Washington County Council on Aging. Author of "To the Promised Land: A History of Government and Politics in Oregon".

 After graduating from Willamette in 2009 with a BA in History and American Ethnic Studies, Emilo Solano was accepted into the Teach for America Corps and relocated to Los Angeles. He brings with him experience as a former teacher, and has served as assistant principal at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, dean of students at the Inglewood Middle Charter Academy, and as a corps member advisor and school director for Teach For America summer Institute.

Dr. Arabas will tell the story of how Willamette University acquired Zena Forest, a 300-acre windfall of oak-prairie habitat in the Eola Hills. She will describe how over more than a decade, hundreds of students, staff and faculty have collaborated in restoration ecology and sustainable forestry activities at the property. Few universities can boast of having an outdoor "laboratory" where students not only study hands-on what causes habitats to disappear but even more important are challenged to devise and implement actions to bring them back to life.

Karen Arabas, Professor of Environmental Science, earned degrees from Wesleyan University and Pennsylvania State University. Her research looks at the roles that human and natural disturbances play on forest ecosystems. Using the tools of tree-ring analysis plus historical ecology, her multi-year research in central Oregon forests have revealed the impact of forest fragmentation, climate change, fires, insect infestation and humans have had on forest destruction. She has secured a grant of $188,000 to support restoration that has resulted in hundreds of students, faculty and staff pitching in to bring Zena back to life. Her teaching mantra is clear: To foster hope for the future, students must understand and care about the consequences of human actions in the natural world.

 In this Session, Jim Moiso will tell about the reality of juvenile sex trafficking near us. Through video, presentation and discussion, we will explore why this is so present in our state, how children get involved, who traffickers are, the nature of buyers, and ways we can join with others both to assist victims and to help prevent others from being trafficked.

James Moiso is a retired Head of Staff from Westminster Presbyterian Church, Portland. He holds a Bachelor's Degree from Whitworth College and Master and Doctorate of Divinity Degrees from San Francisco Theological Seminary.