Tuesday, November 28, 2006
What can communal societies teach us about peace?
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Dr. Donald Pitzer, professor of history and director of the Center for Communal Studies, will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 13, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in New Harmony about what lessons we can learn from communal societies about how to live together in peace. The event, including a reception to follow, is free and open to the public. The lecture and reception are part of the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church religious education program for 2006-2007. St. Stephen’s invited Pitzer to speak from his vast knowledge and experience about how members of communal societies (also known as intentional communities) have dealt with conflict. The title of his lecture is "Community, Conflict, and Control: What Intentional Communities Teach about Peace." Pitzer will draw examples from the Harmonists, Owenites, and Shakers as well as other historic and contemporary groups. He will set all this in the larger context of human nature, the threat or use of violence as a means of social control, and the resort to war. Pitzer earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from The Ohio State University. He joined the faculty of USI in 1967. Since that time, Pitzer has traveled extensively, visiting communal societies around the world. He is the author of numerous articles and texts about the Harmonists, Robert Owen, William Maclure and other Utopian leaders. Pitzer was instrumental in establishing the Center for Communal Studies at USI. The Center for Communal Studies has an international reputation as a clearinghouse for information, a research facility, and a sponsor of activities related to historic and contemporary intentional communities. The center archives contain primary and secondary materials on more than 100 historic communes and several hundred collective, cooperative, and co-housing communities founded since 1965. Noted communal scholars have donated their private collections and their extensive research notes and papers to the Center archives. Newspapers and publishers consult the center and its collections when preparing stories and books. Center photographs and information have been used for films and documentaries. St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is located at the corner of Main and Granary Streets. The public is invited. A reception in the church’s Parish Hall will follow the lecture. For more information call the church office at 812/682-4604. |
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