Communal Studies Association Conferences

Communal Studies: Dedicated to the Understanding and Study of Intentional, Contemporary, Historic and "Utopian" Communities

	CSA Annual Conference Aurora, Oregon

Hosted by The Aurora Colony Historical Society Aurora, Oregon Conference Dates: October 1-3, 2009

Conference Theme: “From Eden to Ecotopia”
Deadline for Submission of Paper and Session Proposals:
May 1, 2009

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:

Jim Kopp
Watzek Library, Lewis & Clark College
0615 SW Palatine Hill Road
Portland, OR 97219-7899
kopp@lclark.edu

Please send your information as email attachments if possible. However, proposals by regular mail will also be considered. Please see our CSA website at Communal Studies Association .

Oregon has been home to nearly 300 communal societies in the 150+ years since the Aurora Colony was founded by Wilhelm Keil and since Oregon became a state in 1859. It is appropriate that the Communal Studies Association returns to Aurora during the sesquicentennial year of Oregon’s statehood to explore the range of communities that sought to rediscovery Eden, not just in Oregon but elsewhere, as well as those who continue to seek an ideal community based on ecological and sustainable lifestyles. Papers and panels on any aspect of communalism are welcome and the program committee particular encourages papers on such topics as:

Land usage, i.e. modern land trusts for community housing

Cohousing, cooperative housing, sustainability in community

New religious intentional communities

Germanic Pietist groups who used intentional community as a means to keep the faith

Other types of intentional or “non-intentional” communities, e,g, white supremacists, militias, pacifist groups, Japanese internment camps, war and peace living groups, conscientious objectors camps

Preserving the stories: manuscripts, oral histories, photographs, newspapers, and other aspects of documentation

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.

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