Does your area of expertise intersect with the city of Portland in interesting ways? Could it? If Portland is both a place we live and a set of stories we tell about that place, how could your disciplinary field or community experience offer new ways of representing the city, or questioning stereotypes about it? We are creating a new Core Exploration “Big Ideas” course for Spring 2025 titled “Portland and the Public Imagination” and are seeking faculty from across UP to contribute modules in their disciplines/areas of interest.
For the bulk of the semester, we’ll host guest faculty each week who will select readings, develop discussion questions, and craft a class plan (including a mini-lecture and an interactive, student-centered component) on a focused Portland topic, object, stereotype, or locale (consider: bridges, rain, “foodies,” the urban growth boundary, gentrification, bikes, etc.). Guest faculty earn a $500 stipend for their contributions.
If you’re interested, email the course conveners, Jen McDaneld (mcdaneld@up.edu) and Molly Hiro (hiro@up.edu), with a brief description of a proposed topic and how it’s relevant to telling a Portland story, by Monday, Sept. 30.