An interesting thing happened at Tacoma's Engine House #9 on Oct. 28, 2015. A packed room was assembled to discuss an important issue. No, the topic at hand wasn't a proposed mixed-use building or the hits and misses of a Seattle sports team: rather, this was a panel-led discussion about the death penalty.  Two individuals who had given the matter extensive thought were there to present their ideas: Dorothy Van Soest, author of the novel Just Mercy in addition to being professor emeritus and former dean at the University of Washington spoke with David E. Smith, philosopher at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Washington. 

It wasn't your standard dry-ish lecture series: this was a community conversation - with beer - moderated by KUOW's Ross Reynolds, an extension of the Think and Drink series, run statewide by Humanities Washington, and brought to E-9 through a collaboration between Humanities Washington, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, and Immanuel Presbyterian Church.

Zaki Barak Hamid, program director at Humanities Washington, explained the idea behind the project as "sparking conversation as a catalyst for critical thinking."  While Humanities Washington have served the state for 43 years with speakers in libraries and museums as well as programs promoting literacy, veterans, and the poet laureate, the Think and Drink series came to light four years ago, adapted from a similar program in Oregon by a sister nonprofit organization.

The idea behind the events is to address important topics through the viewpoints of experts who provoke thought and guide conversation in the relaxed atmosphere of local pubs, while a moderator keeps the conversation from both sides flowing like the beer that's sipped through the evening.  Hamid points out, "it's the essence of our society ... what our country was built on: hanging out in the pub having tough conversations.  We're trying to encourage dissenting thought."  

Hamid explains that the climate of the conversation is controlled in a way to emphasize respect for all voices and the creation of a safe place.  

An overarching goal of the Think and Drink series is to address issues of race, place and culture.  To that end, the conversation on the 28th, "Last Rights: The Ethics of the Death Penalty," looked at the philosophical and cultural foundations of capital punishment.  The conversation Nov. 19, which will be moderated by Hamid, "America Behind Bars: Mass Incarceration and Civil Rights," will showcase speakers Madeline Neighly, attorney on the Institutions Project at Columbia Legal Services; Merf Ehman, staff attorney with the Institutions Project at Columbia Legal Services; and Katherine Beckett, professor in the Department of Sociology and the Law, Societies, and Justice Program at the University of Washington.

Hamid suggested the event last week was successful - not because minds were changed.  "We want people to think and come to their own conclusions."  And the success of the event could be gauged by the general feeling that people left with more questions than answers.  One goal for the series is to uncover missing stories and recognize the issues aren't all black and white, to "delve into the grey," as Hamid explains.  And the interesting thing was, as newcomers to the conversation on the 28th began to clarify their own viewpoints, or question their preconceived notions, panelists were having similar experiences.  Hamid relates the story of philosopher Smith. In two prior conversations with Humanities Washington on the same topic held last spring, Smith and Van Soest divulged their positions on the subject matter. Van Soest was clearly against the death penalty.  But, as Hamid recounts, Smith explained that he hadn't struggled with a question as much as he had with this over the last five months.  And in that time, Hamid says, "(Smith) moved from being ‘for' to ‘I don't know.'"

The next conversation takes place Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m., in Tacoma at the Engine House #9 (611 N. Pine St., 253.272.3435) in the upstairs meeting space.  RSVP is encouraged through Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.