Welcome to the sultry, languid month of August. If you have designs on activities beyond your shady backyard, take a look at this list of goings-on in and around the University of Oregon.
Celebrations
Party with the neighbors at UO Portland Aug. 7. The Concordia Neighborhood Association will celebrate its 50th at the amphitheater in the heart of campus with music, food and activities for the entire family.
Theater
Take a seat at the critically acclaimed play “Them.” It is a powerful drama about war, hope and survival in the Middle East. The production is directed by theatre arts professor Malek Najjar. Catch it in Eugene playing at the Lane Community College Blue Door Theatre July 24-26, 31, and Aug. 1-2 at 7:30 p.m. The show moves to Portland in mid-August.
Learning in the outdoors
The final Oregon Culture Night of the summer features Palestinian embroidery with Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim July 31 in the courtyard of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
Also in the same location, “Family Fun in the Sun” brings the energy every Friday and Saturday in August. Topics include bugs, archaeology and saving planet Earth.
Exhibitions
Join the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art’s First Saturday Tour led by an experienced exhibition interpreter at 1 p.m., Aug. 2.
August is American Artist Appreciation Month and a great time to view two new exhibitions opening at the art museum. “Gathering: A Photographer’s Collection” from Portland-based photographer and curator Christopher Rauschenberg runs until Nov. 23. Works by painter and printmaker “James Lavadour: Land of Origin” celebrate his deep connection to the Eastern Oregon landscape, particularly the Umatilla Indian Reservation and surrounding Blue Mountains region. It runs Aug. 9-Jan. 11.
Live music
Idit Shner, professor of saxophone and jazz studies at the School of Music and Dance hosts Jazz at the Ciderhouse on Sunday evenings.
The Paul Krueger Quintet jams at the Jazz Station Aug 9. Krueger is an assistant professor and director of jazz studies. His band is comprised of UO jazz instructors and alums.
Other instructors and students of the music school share their talents riverside on the patio of Roaring Rapids Pizza Company on select weekdays.
Summer at the library
The Museum of Natural and Cultural History has partnered with local libraries with a program for the entire family called Power Play for the Planet. Imagine a bright future Aug. 20 at the Springfield Public Library, Aug. 8 at the Sheldon Community Center and Aug. 9 at the Bethel Branch Library.
Streaming resources
In a recent UO Today podcast, Oregon Humanities Center Director Leah Middlebrook interviewed William Hatungimana, assistant professor of global studies, on immigration and African-China relations, and Kemi Balogun, associate professor of women's, gender and sexuality studies, on her new book about Nigerian beauty contests.
—Jennifer Archer, University Communications