Call for proposals for the Owen-Maclure 200th Anniversary Conference

Commemorating 200 years of visionary community building, the Owen-Maclure 200th Anniversary Conference commemorates the bicentennial of the Community of Equality (1825-1827), the ambitious social experiment founded by Robert Owen and his partner, William Maclure, in New Harmony, Indiana. Owen envisioned a "New Moral World" where character was shaped by environment, and Maclure championed universal education as the foundation for social progress. Together, they sought to create a cooperative society grounded in education, equity and shared prosperity. 

The conference will be held from Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15 at the New Harmon Inn and Conference Center.

Call for proposals

The conference is calling for papers, panels, posters and workshops that engage with the theme of "Innovative Communities: Past, Present and Future" and use Robert Owsen's Community of Equity and other historical intentional community experiments as a point of departure. 

Organizers are interested in contributions discussing innovations that follow the tradition of intentional communities like Robert Owen's New Harmony, but also those taking alternative approaches to innovation. Current community innovations that address both present and future challenges also align with the theme of the conference. 

Potential topics include (but are not limited to): 

• Historical perspectives: Utopian movements, cooperative societies and reformist communities
• Contemporary innovations: Intentional communities, co-house, maker spaces and digital commons
• Future visions: Technological, ecological and social innovations shaping community life
• Interdisciplinary approaches: Art, architecture, education, communications, economics, governance and sustainability
• Global comparisons: How diverse cultures have imagined and implemented innovative communities

Please include in your proposal: 

1. Title of presentation
2. Name, affiliation and contact information of author(s) and/or presenter(s)
3. 250-word abstract
4. Preferred format (i.e. paper, panel, poster or workshop)

Deadline for proposals: Tuesday, June 30

For questions or submissions, please contact Dr. Silvia Rode, Director of the Center for Communal Studies, at sarode@usi.edu.

More information about the conference can be found at www.owenmaclure200.com.