Utopian
Visions of Work and CommunityUtopian
Visions of Work and CommunityThe Obermann Center, working in collaboration with Augustana College, Central College, Kirkwood Community College, Luther College, and Morningside College, presented a series of public programs on "Utopian Visions of Work and Community" throughout Iowa and western Illinois. Supported by a $120,000 NEH Public Programs Grant, the Obermann Center served as the administrative hub of the project. Directing the local programs were David K. Hill (Philosophy, Augustana), Philip E. Webber (German, Central College), Robert Sessions (Philosophy) and Hope Burwell (English) of Kirkwood Community College, Wilfred Bunge (Religion) and David Faldet (English) of Luther College, Rudy Daniels (History, formerly of Morningside College, now at Western Iowa Tech Community College).
Each college acted as host for the programs in its area, drawing on the resources of our academic consortium and on the strengths and interests of the local community. Program organizers credited their success with very close working relationships with the Putnam Museum, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Pella Historical Society, the Amana Colonies Convention and Visitors Center, the Kalona Heritage Museum and Kalona Mennonite Church, Rockwell International Corporation, IBEW Local 1643, The Vesterheim Museum, Gateway 2000 Inc., Main Street Sioux City, the Sioux City Public Library.
The most recent accomplishment of the project was the publication of a volume of essays, Utopian Visions of Work and Community, edited by Semel and Annie Wilcox. In the introduction, Semel explains the goal of the programs:
Our project grows out of our wish to change the way much of the public perceives the humanities. Humanities artifacts can and do strike powerful chords of personal meaning for many people, but too often the American public has regarded the humanities as bearing little relation to community concerns. Thus, our public presentations and the essays in this volume were designed to show the public the ways thinkers from various eras and cultures conceived ideal communities and sometimes even tried to live those ideals. Ultimately, we hope that we all can learn to use imaginative and scholarly works in thinking about the nature of our own work and community.
Contributors to the volume, which provided various perspectives on utopia, included:
Speakers at the presentations were scholars from the consortial colleges and scholars from other institutions in the Iowa region and nationwide. Always with a focus upon "great texts and important ideas and events in humankind's striving to imagine, reflect upon, and practice certain perfect forms of living and working together," the team made formal presentations involving 57 faculty and staff members from 15 colleges and universities at 15 different locations in Iowa and western Illinois. An estimated 3,311 persons participated in these primary presentations.
In addition to these presentations, secondary presentations were given in high school and college classrooms, radio interviews were conducted, and videotapes of various presentations were distributed or circulated to schools, libraries, groups and individuals. There was also a film series, reading groups, and at least one program was taped and re-broadcast over the radio. An estimated 13,641 persons participated in these secondary events.
image: Basel: Johann Froben, 1518