Communal Studies: Dedicated to the Understanding and Study of Intentional, Contemporary and "Utopian" Communities
Call for Papers
Estero/Fort Myers, Florida
OCTOBER 2-4, 2008
to be held at
The Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida
Conference Theme: “Transformations in Community”
Deadline for Submission of Paper & Session Proposals:
May 1, 2008
Please send your proposals for papers and sessions with your presentation title, a 150-word maximum abstract, a 100-word biography (for each presenter), and your contact information to:
Dr. Lynn Rainard
Tidewater Community College
1428 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, VA 23322-1708
Email:
lrainard@cox.net
Please send your information as email attachments if possible. However, proposals by regular mail will also be considered. Please see our CSA website at www.communalstudies.org .
We welcome submissions on a broad range of topics concerning intentional community, including those on the conference theme. We invite proposals from members of intentional communities, directors of historic sites dedicated to intentional communities, and from scholars who do research on intentional community from across all disciplines and around the world.
Cyrus R. Teed launched his communal society, The Koreshan Unity, in the Burned-Over-District of New York during the 1870s. The Koreshans embraced a curious belief that we live inside a hollow earth. Amazingly, this charismatic leader convinced New Yorkers, San Franciscans, and members of his core community in Chicago to abandon “civilized” life for the humid wilderness of southwest Florida. Dr. Teed, or Koresh as he preferred to be called, was injured in a Fort Myers street fight in 1906, according to his disciples, and passed away from his injuries in 1908. His much anticipated resurrection and descent from heaven as “the New Jerusalem” eventually led to schism within the community. Today their community remains a beautifully preserved site on the banks of a sub-tropical river.
Approaching the hundredth anniversary of Teed’s “passing,” the conference theme focuses upon how communities face dramatic change: the death or departure of a leader, internal schisms, or any other event that forces believers to confront the meaning and direction of the communitarian experience. This topic is of special relevance to contemporary communities struggling to adjust to aging populations, internal struggles, and at times harassment from the larger society. We welcome papers on this topic and any other topic concerning the experience and history of living in intentional community.
Conference sessions will be held in various historic buildings at the Koreshan State Historic Site with evening banquets at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Fort Meyers. Conference details will be provided once the program has been finalized.
The Communal Studies Association (CSA) is an interdisciplinary professional organization for people living in intentional communities, historic site personnel, and scholars who do research in this area. We welcome and encourage proposals from community members (especially about their experiences in community), faculty members, graduate students, historic site directors, and anyone else who is interested in the phenomenon of intentional community.
