Faculty Colloquium: Rethinking the Oregon Story

Please join us this week, Friday, November 18th at 3 pm. in the foss_smHatfield Room for our ninth Faculty Colloquium of this semester.  Treats will be provided.

Christopher Foss
, Adjunct Professor, Tokyo International University of America
 

Title:  Rethinking the Oregon Story: The Importance of International Affairs to Oregon’s Political History Since World War II

Oregon’s political history has traditionally been summed up by a self-confident, even triumphal, phrase: “The Oregon Story”.  In the narrative expounded by proponents of The Oregon Story, visionary political leaders—particularly Governors Tom McCall and Robert Straub—and a variety of like-minded grassroots politicians and activists saved post-World War II Oregon from the urban decay and environmental degradation that plagued many other states.  My work argues, by contrast, that the real Oregon story had less to do with innovations within the state, and more to do with the state’s relationship to the world.  By refocusing Oregon’s political history on elected officials who were active in international affairs, and by analyzing patterns of defense spending, trade, and immigration, this project encourages us to reconceive the Oregon story beyond state—and even national—boundaries.  I contend that after World War II, Oregon became not only a more livable state thanks to McCall and Straub, but, perhaps surprisingly, a more economically and culturally diverse place, thanks to a new focus by its civic, business, and community leaders on the ways it is interconnected with the globe.

Please feel free to invite students to attend this talk.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Doreen Simonsen and Daniel Rouslin
Faculty Colloquium Coordinators