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Intentional and Utopian Communities Meets Monday nights, 7 pm – 8:30 pm At Huzanity School, www.huzanity.org
There’s an
irrepressible need to envision and build better societies. The legacy
of recent attempts to create utopias, unfortunately, is not promising.
In the twentieth century 25 million people died as a result of Nazism,
and twice that in the service of Communist idealism. This doesn’t
mean that we should not aspire to what is best; but we must learn
from the experiments of those who came before us: their theory, their
literature, and especially from the innumerable real communities they
created—some dismal failures, and some vital and inspired examples
of what is possible.
Questions we will address What is the ideal society? What is utopia? Is there a tradeoff between community and freedom? How malleable is human nature? What is community? What is the difference between traditional
and intentional communities? What is the importance of intentional communities,
and what is their relation to society? How viable can intentional communities be? What is the effect of globalization on community?
Class meetings [Seven or eight of the following] Introduction What is community? What is utopia? Utopian socialists and anarchists Utopian literature Philosophy and contemporary essays about utopia and
community Economic structure, decision-making, freedom, and sex Early American intentional communities 19th century communities 20th century communities The sixties counter-cultural movement Contemporary communities |
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“If you can dream it, you can do it.” --Walt Disney “We have built us a dome On our beautiful plantation And we all have one home, And one family relation.” --Oneida song Plodding on their weary march of life, Association rises before them like
the mirage of the desert. They see in the vague distance magnificent
palaces, green fields, golden harvests, sparkling fountains, abundance
of rest and romance; in one word HOME—which is also HEAVEN.” --John
Humphrey Noyes |