Center for Civic Engagement Gains Notice for Its Role in Conversation Project

Pacific University's McCall Center for Civic Engagement, in conjunction with Oregon Humanities, has drawn attention for guiding public discussions on topics of common interest, such as last month's forum on "What does it mean to be an American?," which was featured in the Forest Grove News Times. About two dozen people, including university faculty and Forest Grove residents, took part.

From the article, by Pamplin Media's Mark Miller:

The McCall Center for Civic Engagement on campus is offering the discussions free of charge to anyone who wants to participate. Stephanie Stokamer, the center's director, said she is hoping each discussion draws a "cross-section" of people from all walks of life, including Pacific students, faculty and even people with no connection to the Forest Grove-based university. 

"My hope for this year is that we would do a couple that were really sort of broad, like this, 'What Does It Mean to Be an American?,' and then a couple that are more specific," Stokamer said before the first in a series of five Conversation Project events that are being scheduled throughout the 2019-20 school year. "Our April one is 'What Is the Meaning of Climate Change?' happening during Earth Week, and we have another one that's more focused around race and equity issues. But otherwise, they're pretty big topics that I'm hoping anybody can be contributing to." 

The next forum in the series, "Beyond Fake News: How can we find accurate information about the world?," is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. in Forest Grove Senior Community Center, 2037 Douglas St.