Center for 
Communal Studies

Announcements

Mansion and church at Old Economy Village, Ambridge, Pennsylvania

 

The Center for Communal Studies Co-sponsors Lecture and “Labyrinth Walk” to Mark the Opening of New USI Quad

October 3, 2007

The Center for Communal Studies is Co-sponsor of celebrations surrounding the opening of the new University of Southern Indiana Quadrangle, on October 3 at 6:30 beginning in Carter Hall on the USI campus. The events are planned around the quad’s most unique feature: a labyrinth. The lecture “From A to B: The Long Way ‘Round” by Ben Nicholson, an associate professor of architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a leading expert on the art and meaning of labyrinths and geometrical designs, will be following by a group “labyrinth walk” and a reception in the Liberal Arts building.

A geometrical design constructed in colored brick, the labyrinth lies directly in front of the Liberal Arts Center, which also houses the Center for Communal Studies. Labyrinths and mazes are both ancient and international, and they can reflect humankind’s quest for self-knowledge and understanding of the human condition. Greek myth tells of the labyrinth built by King Minos to house the half-man, half-bull Minotaur. The Hopi Indians in the American southwest used the symbol of a labyrinth to represent Mother Earth. And Christians in medieval Europe designed labyrinths as an aid to meditation, the most famous of which is in the Gothic cathedral at Chartres, France. In 1998, a replica of the Chartres labyrinth was constructed in New Harmony, Indiana, and when the plans for the new USI quad were drawn up, they included a labyrinth to emphasize the University of Southern Indiana’s stewardship of Historic New Harmony.

The event is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Center for Communal Studies. For more information, contact Dr. Tamara Hunt at 465-1202 or tlhunt@usi.edu.

Center Prize

The Center for Communal Studies Prize is awarded annually in March to recognize the best scholarly paper or thesis by an undergraduate or graduate student on a communal theme. The paper must be submitted to the Center by the previous December 15. The Center Prize includes a certificate and $250.

Please contact Dr. Tamara Hunt at tlhunt@usi.edu for more information.