campustheme

Next Campus Theme Event: "Difference and Identity"

Presentation by Dr. Justin L. Harmon on Thursday, March 2nd at 7pm in Room 323 of the Stevenson Union. 

Most Recent Campus Theme Events:

  • Fred Grewe, "Religion's Influence on our Identity." Wednesday, February 9th. Room 323 Stevenson Union.
  • Screening of "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" with Live Score Thursday, June 2, 2022, @ 7 pm. Meese Auditorium, Art Building, SOU Campus Southern Oregon University's Campus Theme Program is hosting a screening of the 1921 silent film, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," starring Rudolph Valentino. Widely considered the first anti-war picture, Rex Ingram directed this rich adaptation of Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's wildly popular novel of the same name. The film will be accompanied by a live improvised score of experimental music by Diaatom, an industrial noise and "anti-jazz" duo based in the Rogue Valley.
  • Jonathan Rauch: Staying Real: The War on Truth and How to Win It. Tuesday, May 3, 2022, @ 7 pm. Room 151 in the Science Building on SOU Campus Jonathan Rauch is one of the country's most versatile and original writers on government, public policy, and gay marriage, among other subjects. A senior fellow of the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., and contributing writer of the Atlantic, he is the author of eight books and many articles and has received the magazine industry's two highest prizes--The National Magazine Award (the industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize), and The National Headliner Award.

On SOU's Campus Theme:

We are celebrating the 15th year of the Campus Theme program. The goal of the program is to create opportunities for faculty, students, staff, and the community to engage in intellectually stimulating and healthy conversations about topics or issues that matter to us all. Through the Campus Theme, we ponder the big questions, promote deeper understanding, and broaden our intellectual horizons. This year’s theme: Identity.

Inspiration for the Campus Theme comes from SOU’s commitment to expanding dialogue across disciplines and building bridges between the campus and the broader community.

The Campus Theme activities include lectures, panel discussions, seminars, and conversations throughout the academic year to explore the theme from multiple perspectives. Each fall, a speaker of national renown kicks off the campus theme conversation through public lectures and classroom visits. Throughout the year, SOU faculty, as well as other prominent guest speakers, continue the conversation.

SOU campus themes have included the following:

  • Uncertainty
  • From Ignorance to Wisdom
  • Truth
  • Shapes of Curiosity
  • Tocqueville Imagining America: How have Tocqueville’s writings on American democracy shaped our understanding of America? How do Tocqueville’s writings help us imagine America in new ways?
  • On Being Human: What does it mean to be human? How has our understanding of what it means to be human changed over the centuries?
  • Civility: Is there something inherent about democracy that contributes to our contentious way of solving problems or debating issues? How have our private and public values contributed to incivility in society? What can we do to increase civility among groups and at all levels in our society?

All campus theme programs are open to the public. We invite the community to join us in our explorations.