OWEN-MACLURE 200TH

ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

INNOVATIVE COMMUNITIES:

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12 – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15

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 urban 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

Michael K. Aakhus is Professor of Art at the University of Southern Indiana and is currently retired as the Dean Emeritus for the College of Liberal Arts. He was born in Minnesota on the Canadian border and attended Bemidji State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art and Art History. On completion of his undergraduate work, Aakhus moved to Edwardsville, Illinois, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking, painting, and drawing from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. In 1976–77, he was the recipient of a grant to continue his creative work with the Roswell Artist in Residence Program where he spent a year painting and making prints in New Mexico. Upon retirement, Aakhus returned to Roswell and currently resides at the Historic Studios at Berrendo Road where he continues to paint, make works on paper, and experiment with digital images. His work has been exhibited widely and is represented in many public and private collections throughout the United States as well as other countries.

Robert Cart is an internationally acclaimed flutist 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.

Thursday, November 12, 2026

5:30 p.m.

Reception at the Atheneum

Partner Cities Signing with Newtown, Powys, Wales and New Harmony, Indiana

Conference Exhibition by Michael K. Aakhus, Artist and Dean Emeritus, College of Liberal Arts, University of Southern Indiana

Photographs of historic New Harmony buildings for the 50th Anniversary of the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art

(Atheneum)

Friday, November 13, 2026

8:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast

(Atheneum)

9:00 a.m.

Keynote Lecture and Open Discussion

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

(Atheneum)

Moderator: Matthew Hanka

11:00 a.m.

Lunch

(New Harmony Conference Center)

1:00–2:30 p.m.

Session 1A

(Location: TBA)

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

1:00–2:30 p.m.

Session 1B

(Location: TBA)

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

1:00–2:30 p.m.

Session 1C

(Location: TBA)

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 p.m.

Light Refreshments

(New Harmony Conference Center)

3:00–4:30 p.m.

Session 2A

(Location: TBA)

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

3:00–4:30 p.m.

Session 2B

(Location: TBA)

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

3:00–4:30 p.m.

Session 2C

(Location: TBA)

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)

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 a.m.

Breakfast Buffet

(New Harmony Conference Center)

9:00–10:30 a.m.

Session 3A

(Location: TBA)

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

9:00–10:30 a.m.

Session 3B

(Location: TBA)

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

9:00–10:30 a.m.

Session 3C

(Location: TBA)

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

10:30 a.m.

Light Refreshments

(New Harmony Conference Center)

11:00 a.m.

Keynote Speaker

Ross Chapin, Architect, Communal Planner, and Author from Seattle, Washington

(Atheneum)

Moderator: Silvia Rode

12:00 p.m.

Lunch

(New Harmony Conference Center)

2:00–3:00 p.m.

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

(Atheneum)

3:00–4:00 p.m.

Panel 4A

(Location: TBA)

Moderator: TBA

Casey Pycior, et al., University of Southern Indiana

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

3:00–4:00 p.m.

Panel 4B

(Location: TBA)

Moderator: TBA

Janell Pycior, et al., University of Southern Indiana

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

3:00–4:00 p.m.

Panel 4C

(Location: TBA)

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

3:00–4:00 p.m.

Poster Session 4D

(New Harmony Conference Center Lobby)

Malory Friend, et al., University of Southern Indiana

SOC200 Communal Studies Course

4:00–5:30 p.m.

Session 5A

(New Harmony Conference Center Lobby)

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

4:00–5:30 p.m.

Session 5B

(Location: TBA)

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

4:00–5:30 p.m.

Session 5C

(Location: TBA)

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

6:00 p.m.

Dinner and cash bar

(Ribeyre Center)

8:00 p.m.

Echoes of Utopia, solo flutist concert by Robert Cart

(Ribeyre Center)

Sunday, November 15, 2026

8:15 a.m.

Pre-service Music followed by Interfaith Ceremony

(Roofless Church)

Contact Us

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