<p>Leslie Dunlap, an assistant professor of history at Willamette University, will lead a discussion on the state of marriage Sunday, March 30.</p>

ASTORIA The institution of marriage has undergone significant change, especially in the last decade. In Oregon, citizens remain in a contentious debate about how to define marriage generally.

What do the debates about marriage in this state and beyond reveal about the institution as a whole? Why is a private relationship so publicly significant and contested? And why, when so many people are avoiding or dissolving marriages, do so many others wish to marry?

This is the focus of Something Old, Something New: Exploring the State of Marriage, a free conversation with Leslie Dunlap at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 30 at the Judge Guy Boyington Building, 857 Commercial St., Astoria. This program is hosted by the Lower Columbia Diversity Project and sponsored by Oregon Humanities.

Dunlap is an assistant professor of history at Willamette University, where she teaches courses on the history of women, families, sexuality and social movements in the United States. She earned her doctorate in history from Northwestern University and is currently working on a book on womens efforts to reform men, marriage and the state in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Through the Conversation Project, Oregon Humanities offers free programs that engage community members in thoughtful, challenging conversations about ideas critical to our daily lives and our states future. For more information, contact the Lower Columbia Diversity Project at lcdiversityproject@gmail.com

Oregon Humanities connects Oregonians to ideas to change lives and transform communities. Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust.