"We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time."

                                        --T. S. Eliot

Based in Ashland, Oregon, Horizon Institute is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural and educational organization. Contributions to Horizon are tax deductible. We take seriously our mission “to provide opportunities to explore.” In that spirit, Horizon seeks to:

• Stimulate discussion and enhance openness to diverse perspectives 

• Encourage research, study and dialogue

• Conduct public lectures and conferences with local, regional and international speakers

• Interact with other organizations engaged in studying the interface between science and spirituality

• Initiate and support community educational projects

• Provide informative links, reports and reviews on our website

• Publish newsletters and maintain a library of books, transcripts, and audio/video materials.

In facing the challenges of the third millennium, Horizon Institute has chosen to focus on the theme, "What does it mean to be a human being?" All our activities and sponsored events in the coming years will be designed to offer a dialogue on this theme in some form. Our goal is to explore, listen, and live ever deeper in the question, rather than rushing to an answer.

How Far We've Come...

In the five years of its existence, Horizon Institute has clearly established itself as a major voice and force for open-ended and often cutting-edge inquiry in Ashland and the southern Oregon region. We have held nearly 50 Brown Bag Luncheon Lectures and discussions, hosted over twenty guest speakers from out-of-state, co-hosted one conference, two workshops, two art exhibits, two poetry readings and four evenings of artistic presentation featuring over 150 of the area's most accomplished performers.

Our guest lecturers, some of the seminal thinkers of our time, visited classes at Southern Oregon University, appeared on Jeff Golden's and Colleen Pyke's call-in radio programs, and were featured on special Rogue Valley Television cable access interview shows. Lecturers have included:

• Mathematacal cosmologist Briane Swimme

• NASA astronomer Laurance Doyle

• Neurobiologists Dr. Joan King and Dr. Joyce Hawkes

• Physicist Peter Russell

• Economist Joe Kresse

• Physicist Amit Goswami

• Physics professor Victor Stenger

• Psychologist Jean Houston

• Biologist Elisabet Sahtouris

• University of Science and Philosophy CEO Yasuhiko Kimura

• Michael and Justine Toms, hosts of National Public Radio's New Dimensions radio program 

Other speakers have included university professors in the fields of philosophy and literature as well as authors, actors and directors, painters, physicians, spiritual teachers and members of the community.

In response to the events of September 11, 2001, and in anticipation of our upcoming symposium that year on what it means to be human, Horizon Institute presented "An Evening in Celebration of the Human Spirit" on November 4, 2001, in Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Angus Bowmer Theater. Nearly 600 people of all ages attended. Most of the major arts groups were represented: actors from several theaters, dancers and choreographers from four dance companies, poets, composers, singers, painters, photographers, and a sculptor. We had to turn away twenty-four performers who offered to participate.

That event helped establish a level of artistic integrity for Horizon Institute that people found impressive. It proved to us that the cultural and business community can come together creatively, that people want that to happen, and they look to Horizon Institute to make it happen. We are determined to do just that.

We have since produced three other highly successful evenings in celebration of the human spirit. The event last year filled the Bowmer theatre and many people were turned away at the door.

The next Evening in Celebration of the Human Spirit will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6, 2004.

We have made our programs available to the community largely as a free public service, charging only when needed to cover speaker expenses. We are pleased to have succeeded in tapping into the extraordinary wisdom of  "ordinary" people by providing a variety of such opportunities

Board of Directors:

Richard Moeschl, Executive Director, Founder

Helen Wallace, Board President;  EarthTeach Forest/Way Foundation; SOWAC Executive Director

Ernestine Griswold, Secretary

Elizabeth Austin, Athena Associates, President

Trish Broersma, Hope Equestrian Center, Executive Director

Paul Hwoschinsky, Corporate Director

Margaret Hollenbach, Anthropologist

Deborah Elliott, Panache Business Event Planners

David Wick, Publisher - Silver Light Publications

Advisors:

Prakash Chenjeri, Ph.D., Southern Oregon University, Philosophy/Honors

Jean Houston, Ph.D.

Stephen J. Reno, Ph.D., New Hampshire College Assn., Chancellor

Susan Powell, Pilaf/Global Pantry, Owner

Email explore@thehorizon.org 

© 2004, Horizon Institute              Post Office Box 537               Ashland, Oregon 97520