OCH Programs > Youth Programs
The Oregon Council for the Humanities has offered programs and resources for learning and enjoyment to communities, schools, and individuals throughout Oregon for more than twenty-five years. Thanks to support from public and private sources, OCH programs are offered free of charge to nonprofit organizations, schools, and individuals.
Youth Programs
Summer Honors Symposium: The Pursuit of Happiness
The Summer Honors Symposium was launched in 2006 in partnership with Portland-area public and private schools, and provides bright Portland-area teens with the opportunity to explore, along with a group of ambitious and curious peers, rich humanities topics such as The Pursuit of Happiness (2006) and How We Define a Generation (2007).
This unprecedented opportunity is a cooperative effort of the public school districts of Beaverton, Sherwood, Riverdale, Tigard-Tualatin, and Hillsboro; and the private schools Oregon Episcopal School, Valley Catholic, Jesuit High School, St. Mary's, and Catlin Gabel School. Please note: at this time, only students from participating schools/districts are eligible to participate in the symposium.
The Beaverton School District will host the summer 2008 OCH Summer Honors Symposium, and will again focus on exploring the diverse historical, spiritual, philosophical, and economic approaches to happiness. Workshops and reading discussions will be lead by outstanding Oregon teachers. Themes for consideration will include the history of happiness as a concept; economic, social, and psychological indicators in the field of "happiness research"; comparative definitions of happiness across world cultures; and imagining new ways of thinking about happiness.
Young Scholars
For the past six years, OCH has offered Young Scholar grants to a dozen teens around the state to conduct summer humanities research projects of their own design. The 2007 grantees and their final projects are listed below and available for download. Please note: OCH will not be offering Young Scholar grants for summer 2008 in order to explore how we might expand our youth programming to serve more young Oregonians beginning in 2009.
2007 Young Scholars
Program Details
For More Information
If you are a student, teacher, or school administrator interested in starting a Summer Honors Symposium in your community, please contact Director of Programs Jennifer Allen at (503) 241-0543; (800)735-0543; or by e-mail.