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Intentional communities, political and philosophical ideologies, economics, religious belief and gender are but a few of the scaffoldings recently used to create assorted visions of a new paradise on earth. The duality inherent in the search for total perfection results in paradoxes and cognitive dissonance. It is said that one person’s utopian heaven is another’s dystopian hell.
Attempts and attitudes about forming the perfect society have shifted and morphed as old standards and rules are dismantled while others are simultaneously erected. How have utopias been represented and described throughout history? 20th century retro-futurism promoted a post-war western-based utopia rooted in rapid technological advancement and abundance, but how has this been born out in reality and how did this tech- and abundance-based utopian vision fuel American’s collective understanding of themselves and their future?
What are the connections–good or bad–with nostalgia, memory, family or community that fuel this ongoing need for Utopia? What does utopia look like in an increasingly resource-scarce yet globally connected world? What is the value of Utopian thought and action in these cynical times of 2022? What are the lines of communication and cultural exchange for true utopian progress to be made? Is utopia even/ever possible? In the end, is it all just a fantasy?
Nancy Knowles, English and Writing
In Fall 2022, ENGL 371 British before 1800 focused on utopia, situating literary texts that address idealized values and social structures in their historical contexts, as well as practicing the literary analysis common to scholars…
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James Benton, English and Writing
This term, I had my students working in small committees to create a utopian manifesto in which they enumerated a set of values, then created a set of rules and systems to support those values. They had to first consider…
Assorted Faculty
In keeping with the spirit of the Utopia theme, faculty members in CAHSS read the book Envisioning Real Utopias by Erik Olin Wright. Through a political-economic lens (ie, who gets what, when, and how), Wright critiques our current system…
Susan Murrell, Associate Professor of Art
I created an assignment for my screen printing and painting classes this fall term with help from senior art major Corrina Stadler, with the goal that she curate a thematic show for our annual paintings and prints exhibition at the downtown …
Jeannette Benton, English/Writing
I used the Utopia Theme in my Writing 121 class in Fall 2022. The first assignment was to create an individual Utopian world (creative writing). The second assignment was to select three ideas that they wanted to implement in their world.