Programs
The Spring Creek Project offers a diversity of programs, some of which are ongoing or annual. Please click on the links below to find out more.
The Trillium Project
The Fourth Annual Trillium Project
April 18-May 16, 2010
The Trillium Project is a residency program that takes place during the spring wildflower season and focuses on the Cabin and the Shotpouch land. We welcome proposals from people of a variety of backgrounds--artists, writers, philosophers, scientists, composers, etc-- to visit for a day or a few nights and engage thoughtfully with the land by writing, studying, listening, and creating. For more information and directions on how to apply, read the Call for Proposals.
See some of the offerings that visitors have contributed to the Trillium Project in previous years. They range from drawings and poems to sculptures, journals, and songs that reflect the individual's unique perspective and experience of springtime on Shotpouch Creek.
Long-Term Ecological Reflections: 2003 - 2203
In a program that will continue for two hundred years, writers visit sites in the forest to create an ongoing record of their reflections on the relation of people and forests changing together over time.
Long-Term Ecological Reflections is a collaboration between the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature and the Written Word, a program in the Department of Philosophy, Oregon State University and the Andrews Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Program; and the Pacific Northwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service.
In all of our programs, writers are encouraged to visit designated study sites for reflecting on and writing about the forest and their relation to it. These writings, which will form a collection spanning hundreds of years, will be gathered in permanent archives at Oregon State University, and are accessible via the web-based Forest Log.
LTEReflections is based on these fundamental beliefs:
- That humanist writers should pay close attention to a particular place-to the mountains, rivers, people and the forests of the Andrews and its environs-because a close study of place will reveal broader truths that go beyond that place.
- That we should study that place for generations and learn to perceive the temporal dimension-the presence of pasts and futures-through informed observation.
- That storytelling and poetry, observation and experiment, myth and mathematics are all authentic windows on the world.
- That there is an unusual richness and joy in the community of art and science, in the coming together of insights from many different perspectives and disciplines.
- That there is wisdom to be gained; that the more we know about the natural world and the place of humans in the world, the greater our insight into how we ought to live our lives.
Residency Programs
The LTEReflections project hosts writers' residencies and other programs at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Oregon Cascades, where participants can interact with research scientists as they go about their work.
- Blue River Fellowships for Writers
- Andrews Forest Writers' Residencies: guidelines and application (pdf)
- Public Events: LTEReflections sponsors occasional public symposia that bring together writers, scientists and humanists to explore the relationship of humans to the rest of nature. Topics include: New Metaphors of Restoration; Nature and the Sacred; Healing Landscapes; Cataclysms and Renewal: Lessons from Mount St. Helens
The Mason Prize for Integrity and Moral Courage
The purpose of the Mason Prize is to honor, encourage, and empower people at Oregon State University whose work demonstrates academic virtues. These include:
- Truth-telling, which involves both honesty, describing the world as you know it to be, and courage, telling truths not popular or convenient.
- Integrity, the consistency of belief and action.
- Open-mindedness, which is fairness in considering other points of view.
- Moral imagination, the ability to see the world through another's eyes, which is the root of compassion and tolerance.
- Independence of mind.
Professional pressures sometimes present moral dilemmas that ask us to take risks in defense these ideals. The Mason Prize recognizes that knowledge bestows not only power, but also responsibilities.
The Mason Prize of $1000 will be awarded once each year, provided there are deserving candidates. Nominations are accepted each winter term, with the award to be made in the following spring term. Anyone may submit a nomination. University faculty, staff, students, and groups are all eligible for the prize. The award is administered by the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word.
The Mason Prize is established by gifts from Robert and Sue Mason, and their daughters, Laurie and Nancy. Robert Mason is emeritus professor of statistics at Oregon State University.
Nomination procedure
Eligibility: Anyone may submit a nomination for the Mason Prize for Integrity and Moral Courage. Current or former Oregon State University faculty, staff, students, and groups are eligible for the award.
Deadline for nominations: March 20, 2009
Nomination procedure:
Please provide the following information.
1. The name of the nominee.
2. A written account of what the nominee has done (or endured, or refused to do) that demonstrates the integrity and moral courage the award honors. (< 200 words)
3. The names and contact information of two people who can provide further information about the nominee and the actions that merit the award.
4. The name and contact information of the person making the nomination.
ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED WILL BE TREATED CONFIDENTIALLY.
Email or mail the nomination to The Spring Creek Project, Philosophy Department, 101 Hovland Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331
Decision procedure: The selection committee will be made up of one member of the Mason family; a member of the staff of the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word; and a previous winner of the prize. In the first year, the third member of the committee will be chosen by Spring Creek staff.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible? Any current or former Oregon State University faculty, staff, students, or groups.
Who may nominate a candidate? Anyone, including the candidate.
What is the deadline for nominations? March 20, 2009.
What happens then? Spring Creek staff will contact the people listed to verify the information provided, get further perspectives on the nominee’s qualifications, and obtain any other information needed. Then they will convene the award committee which will make the selection based on the nomination and the information gathered.
What are the criteria for selection?
1. Is the person eligible?
2. Has the person demonstrated exceptional integrity and/or moral courage, resisting the pressures of institutional or economic power to shape ideas and actions toward short-term, self-serving, unjust, or narrow goals?
3. Of those nominated, has the person demonstrated a higher degree of integrity and/or moral courage, under more difficult conditions?
When is the award made? At a public reception to be held during the spring term. A press release will be issued at that time.
Contact
For more information, contact the Spring Creek Project, spring.creek@oregonstate.edu, 541-737-6198. Kathleen Dean Moore, Director; Charles Goodrich, Program Director.
Past Winners of the Mason Prize
The 2008 recipients of Oregon State University’s Mason Prize for Integrity and Moral Courage were Cristina Eisenberg and Daniel Donato, graduate students in the OSU College of Forestry. read more>>