PROGRAM

OWEN-MACLURE 200TH

ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

INNOVATIVE COMMUNITIES:

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12 – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Dear Conference Participants,

Welcome to the Innovative Communities: Past, Present, and Future Conference in New Harmony, Indiana! The conference planning committee welcomes you and is excited that you have joined us for this once-in-a-lifetime conference experience.

Our conference theme centers on imagining innovative communities from the past, present, and future. Innovation has been part of New Harmony's identity and DNA since its founding 212 years ago. The conference falls within New Harmony's 200-year celebration of Robert Owen and William Maclure's "Community of Equality" (1825–1827), which brought scientists, educators, artists, and reformers to Indiana to transform utopian ideas into reality.

In the same spirit, the conference seeks to highlight the importance of utopian thought and its practical application for the betterment of humankind. Visitors from around the world and the community will engage in dialogue to gain a better understanding of past utopian communities, current intentional communities, and future models.

The keynote speakers include Dr. Gregory Claeys, Professor Emeritus of the History of Political Thought at Royal Holloway, University of London and author of Searching for Utopia: The History of an Idea; and Ross Chapin, author, architect, and community planner based in Whidbey Island, Washington, who has pioneered the innovative concept of Pocket Neighborhoods.

We thank the staff of Historic New Harmony and the Owen-Maclure 200th Committee, the Center for Communal Studies, the Working Men's Institute, and the University of Southern Indiana for their support. Generous funding came from the Lilly Endowment Inc. through a Religious Liberty Grant to Historic New Harmony's Religious Liberty Initiative, a comprehensive project aimed at exploring and celebrating the role of freedom of belief, both religious and secular, in shaping visionary communities and inspiring new ways of living.

There are 35 scheduled presentations, along with three panels, and a poster session. Acclaimed flautist, Robert Cart, will perform; Beverly Seckinger, filmmaker and Distinguished Professor at Arizona State, will host a screening of Hippie Family Values: Three Generations of Life at a Communal Ranch in New Mexico; and an interfaith service is planned for Sunday morning.

Please let us know if you have any questions throughout the conference, and we will be happy to help. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

The Innovative Communities: Past, Present, and Future Conference Planning Committee

Program

New Harmony, Indiana is in the Central Time Zone. All times listed are Central Standard Time (CST).

Held in conjunction with the Owen-Maclure 200th bicentennial, the Innovative Communities: Past, Present, and Future Conference will explore how communities are formed, how they evolve, and what lessons can be drawn from New Harmony's historic Community of Equality.

Keynote Speakers

Gregory Claeys is Professor of the History of Political Thought at Royal Holloway, University of London, an elected member of the prestigious Academy of Europe, and chairs the Utopian Studies Society in Europe. His pioneering research on the history of political thought, early socialism, and the concepts of utopian and dystopia is widely recognized as seminal on how human societies imagine ideal futures—and how those ideals can end in totalitarianism.

Claeys wrote the first comprehensive academic monograph Dystopia: A Natural History, which traces the psychological and historical roots of modern dystopias. He has also written leading works on radical movements, early socialism, and community structures. His introductory text, Searching for Utopia: The History of an Idea, makes complex political theory accessible to the public. In recent years, Claeys has gained widespread attention for applying historical utopian theory to modern climate change. In his book Utopianism for a Dying Planet: Life After Consumerism and a popular TED Talk, he argues that humanity cannot survive environmental destruction without adopting a "utopian" mindset.

Ross Chapin is a renowned architect, author, and community planner famous for pioneering the concept of pocket neighborhoods. Chapin creates human-scale environments that foster spontaneous social connection while preserving individual privacy. In 1996, he partnered with developer Jim Soules to build the Third Street Cottages in Langley, Washington. It features eight small cottages clustered around a central, shared garden courtyard with parking intentionally tucked to the side which he calls a "pocket neighborhood."

Chapin also helped pioneer a new "Cottage Housing" zoning ordinance. This became a template for municipal housing codes across North America, to legalize housing in areas typically restricted to large single-family homes. In his book Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World, he provides the essential small-scale building blueprint for architects, city planners, and housing advocates globally. In 2012, Pocket Neighborhoods won a Nautilus Book Award which honors works that promote conscious living, social and environmental justice, wellness, spiritual growth, and positive global change.

Chapin has designed more than 150 communities across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. His work has been widely featured in major publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Architectural Record. For his paradigm-shifting contributions to architecture and society, Chapin was inducted into the AIA College of Fellows (FAIA).

Special Presenters

Robert Cart is an internationally acclaimed flautist whose performances have captivated audiences throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. A Powell Flutes Artist and National Finalist for the American Prize in Instrumental Performance (Professional Division), he has appeared at many of the world's leading venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, the Lincoln Center, the Kimmel Center, the American Cathedral in Paris, and at the Tanglewood, Ravello, Wolf Trap, and Aldeburgh festivals. Cart has performed under the direction of legendary conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Raymond Leppard, and David Zinman.

Beverly Seckinger is a filmmaker based in Tucson, Arizona and Distinguished Outreach Professor Emeritus in the School of Theatre, Film & Television at the University of Arizona, where she has taught courses in film production, documentary studies, and LGBT Studies since 1991. Seckinger continues to teach in the online graduate program in Human Rights Practice and to direct the DocScapes Film Series. She is a founding member of the university's LGBTQ+ Institute, and since 1993 has served as director of the Lesbian Looks Film Series. Her film Hippie Family Values: Three Generations of Life at a Communal Ranch in New Mexico won the Communal Studies Association's Outstanding Project Award for 2019.

Program Committee

Dr. Matthew Hanka, Chair, University of Southern Indiana

Mr. David Angel, Historic New Harmony

Dr. Greg Brown, University of Southern Indiana

Dr. Andrew Buck, University of Southern Indiana

Ms. Jennifer Greene, University of Southern Indiana

Dr. Silvia Rode, University of Southern Indiana

Mr. Ryan Rokicki, Working Men's Institute

Mrs. Diane Sanders, Historic New Harmony

Thursday, November 12, 2026

4:00 p.m.

Room check-in begins
New Harmony Inn and Conference Center

5:00–5:30 p.m.

Conference Registration
Atheneum Visitors Center

5:30–6:30 p.m.

Opening reception with Newtown, Wales, Distinguished Guests
Atheneum Visitors Center

Friday, November 13, 2026

7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Conference Registration

Atheneum Visitors Center

8:00–9:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast*

Atheneum Visitors Center

*Note: Meals are provided for paid conference registrants only.

9:00–11:00 a.m.

Keynote Address Featuring Dr. Gregory Claeys, Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London

Moderator: Matthew Hanka.

Atheneum Visitors Center

11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Lunch*

New Harmony Conference Center

*Note: Meals are provided for paid conference registrants only.

1:00–2:30 p.m.

Concurrent Session 1

Atheneum Visitors Center, New Harmony Conference Center, and Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Session 1A

Atheneum Visitors Center
Moderator: TBA

Anya Kirsch, University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Vernacular Utopia: New Harmony and the Study of Blueprints in Practice
Kate Powers and Richard McCoy, Landmark Columbus Foundation, Columbus, Indiana
10 Years of Exhibit Columbus
Silvia Rode, University of Southern Indiana
In Search for Perfection: Utopian Communities Then and Now

Session 1B

Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Moderator: TBA

Ashley Rattner, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama
Robert Dale Owen's Little Treatise
David Angel, Historic New Harmony
Conflict Resolution Through Storytelling: The Owen-Maclure Utopian Experiment
Andrew Buck, University of Southern Indiana
Towards a Realistic Assessment of Universal Basic Income: Evidence from Past Experiments

Session 1C

New Harmony Conference Center

Moderator: TBA

Casey Harison, University of Southern Indiana
Marie Fretageot's Last Year: Reflections on Intentional Community—New Harmony, Paris, Mexico
Diane Sanders, Historic New Harmony
Reimagining Utopia: New Harmony as a 21st-Century Cultural Destination
Docey Lewis, Historic New Harmony
Beyond Testopia: Enhancing Village Life in the Age of AI

2:30–3:00 p.m.

Break

3:00–4:30 p.m.

Concurrent Session 2

Atheneum Visitors Center, New Harmony Conference Center, and Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Session 2A

Atheneum Visitors Center

Moderator: TBA

Dawn Bakken, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
An Owenite Experiment in Monroe County, Indiana: The Brief Life of the Blue Spring Community
Greg Brown, University of Southern Indiana
200 Years of Robert Owen's New Moral World
Francis Romano, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Long-held Values, New Ideas: Articulating Personalism in the Contemporary Context

Session 2B

Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Moderator: TBA

Dirk Johannsen, University of Oslo, Norway
Composing the Kingdom: The Transformation of Harmonist Belief in the Indiana Years
Elizabeth Ray, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
The Role of Hope in Communal and Collective Well-being
Hugh Farrell, Renae Lesser, and Gabriel Piser, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Place-Based Visions of the Future: "Composition" as a Solidarity Method in the Wabash Valley and Beyond

Session 2C

New Harmony Conference Center

Moderator: TBA

Heidi Taylor-Caudill, Historic New Harmony
Rule, Community, Memory: How Women Religious Orders Built Intentional Communities That Lasted
Matthew Hanka, University of Southern Indiana
What is Happening in Your Community? Why Community Development Matters
Philip Aka, Ashesi University, Ghana
Quality Education for All by 2030: Extending the Contours of the Owen-Maclure Worldview to Higher Education in West Africa

5:00 p.m.

Dinner and Cash Bar*

Ribeyre Center
*Note: Meals are provided for paid conference registrants only.

7:00 p.m.

Film screening of Hippie Family Values: Three Generations of Life at a Communal Ranch in New Mexico. Open discussion with film director Beverly Seckinger.

Ribeyre Center

Saturday, November 14, 2026

7:30–9:00 a.m.

Breakfast Buffet*

New Harmony Conference Center

*Note: Meals are provided for paid conference registrants only.

7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Conference Registration

Atheneum Visitors Center

9:00–10:00 a.m.

Keynote Address Featuring Ross Chapin, Architect, Communal Planner, and Author from Seattle, Washington

Moderator: Silvia Rode

Atheneum Visitors Center

10:00–10:30 a.m.

Break

10:30–11:30 a.m.

Innovation Panel and Open Forum with Ross Chapin and New Harmony community members

Atheneum Visitors Center

11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Lunch*

New Harmony Conference Center

*Note: Meals are provided for paid conference registrants only.

1:00–2:30 p.m.

Concurrent Session 3

Atheneum Visitors Center, New Harmony Conference Center, and Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Session 3A

Atheneum Visitors Center

Moderator: TBA

Emmanuelle De Champs, CY Cergy Paris Université, France
One Great Family, Frances Wright's Philosophy of Emancipation from Nashoba to England, the Civilizer
James Taylor-Caudill, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Health is Membership: Wendell Berry and the Unfinished Experiment in New Harmony
Amanda Egan, Marian University, Indianapolis, Indiana
Future Shock at 55: Alvin Toffler's Innovative Communities and the Social Psychology of Adaptation to Rapid Change

Session 3B

Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Moderator: TBA

Mitchell K. Jones, University of Buffalo, New York
Footfalls on the Boundary: Owenism from Infidel Materialism to Spiritualist Enchantment, 1850–1871
Jenn Horn, University of Southern Indiana
From Utopia to Orientation: New Harmony as a Site of Created Tradition and First-Year Community Building
Srikanth Dandotkar, University of Southern Indiana
Maclure's Bet: Critical Thinking, Epistemic Posture, and the Future of Innovative Community

Session 3C

New Harmony Conference Center

Moderator: TBA

Magdalena Modrzejewska, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
The Promise of Two Hours' Workday? New Harmony and the Development of Warren's Labor for Labor Exchange
Leigh Anne Howard, Antonina Bambina, Missie Carrigan, and Anne Statham, University of Southern Indiana and Evansville Community Members
Communities in Conversation: Working Now for the Better Future
Robert Geroux, Independent Scholar
The Question of AI: Archiving Techno-Refusal in Communal Life

2:30–3:00 p.m.

Break

3:00–4:00 p.m.

Panel/Poster Session 4

Atheneum Visitors Center, New Harmony Conference Center, and Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Panel 4A

Atheneum Visitors Center

Moderator: TBA

Casey Pycior, et al., University of Southern Indiana

Book Prize in a Classroom: Establishing a National Book Prize with Undergraduates

Panel 4B

Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Moderator: TBA

Janell Pycior, Haley McKeown, and Lillian Keen, University of Southern Indiana

Experiencing Belonging, Creating Belonging: Preservice Teachers Reflect on Diverse Literature and Community

Panel 4C

New Harmony Conference Center

Moderator: TBA

Ronald V. Morris, et. al., Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana

Clothing, Education, Health, and Community: An Educational Service Center as a Parent, Student, and Teacher Intentional Network

Poster Session 4D

New Harmony Conference Center Lobby

Malory Friend, et al., University of Southern Indiana

SOC200 Communal Studies Course

4:30–6:00 p.m.

Concurrent Session 5

Atheneum Visitors Center, New Harmony Conference Center, and Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Session 5A

Atheneum Visitors Center

Moderator: TBA

Michael Strezewski, University of Southern Indiana
How to Irritate Your Neighbors: The Harmonist Dry Goods Store in New Harmony, 1815–1825
Yuri Kitov and Svetlana Gertner, Arctic State Institute of Culture, Russia and Moscow State Institute of Culture
AI and the Future of Culture in the Perception of Russian Students

Session 5B

Working Men's Institute Museum and Library

Moderator: TBA

Kieran Aarons and Hugh Farrell, University of Detroit Mercy, Indiana University and Indiana Cooperative Development Center
Between Territory and Utopia: Situated Planning and Struggles Between 1825 and Today
Grant DiDomizio, Historic New Harmony
The Legacy of Indiana's 19th and 20th Century Art Colonies
Phillip A. Stauffer Todd, University of Southern Indiana
A Utilitarian Utopian: Revisiting John Stuart Mill's Egalitarian, Communitarian Consequentialism on the Exasperating Edge of an Emerging Electronic Frontier

Session 5C

New Harmony Conference Center

Moderator: TBA

Mindy Youngs, University of Southern Indiana
Bringing Everyone Home: Addressing Homelessness in Veteran and Young Adult Communities
Tim Van Meter, Methodist Theological School in Ohio
Grounding Community in Resilient Place-making
Jennifer Greene, University of Southern Indiana
Signs of Community

6:30 p.m.

Dinner and Cash Bar*

Ribeyre Center
*Note: Meals are provided for paid conference registrants only.

8:00 p.m.

Echoes of Utopia, Solo Flute Concert by Robert Cart

Ribeyre Center

Sunday, November 15, 2026

8:30–9:00 a.m.

Evansville Philharmonic Eykamp String Quartet Performance

Atheneum Visitors Center

9:00–9:15 a.m.

Pre-Service and Music by the New Harmony Community Choir

Roofless Church

9:15–10:00 a.m.

Toward a Peaceable Future Interfaith Worship Service

Roofless Church

Contact Us

Please contact harmony@usi.edu if you require dietary or accessibility accommodations.