‘Community Hubs’ Project Description & Inspirations

At the heart of the humanities is the human experience. It is here—from this universal disposition, from our individual and shared experiences—that philosophical inquiries emerge inviting us to think, reflect, imagine, explore, connect, and better understand ourselves and the world in which we live.

The increasing challenges and losses of recent years (isolation, social fragmentation, economic challenges, loss of resources, and more) remind us of this universal and ever-present disposition. Moreover, they reveal the dynamic value of humanistic inquiry. From an instrumental perspective, the humanities are valuable because they help us engage in/respond to the world effectively, with curiosity and intellectual rigor, and in ways that promote civil discourse. This alone makes the humanities worth pursuing. But there is more to it than that. The process of humanistic inquiry is a unique, intrinsic good worth pursuing in itself: it is a turn toward our humanity, and away from our (mere) instrumental utility, and a reminder and invitation to examine and embrace what it means to be, and to cultivate ourselves, not just as an agglomeration of individuals, but AS a community.

Our Community Hubs project taps into and honors all of this by addressing some of the “subtler” losses of our times (e.g., public connection, informal encounters, and face-to-face human interaction), while also doing the important work of setting the stage for a new (revitalized) vision of public humanities that centers around the very thing which gives humanistic inquiry its wings: community.
It offers space for a broad spectrum of people—from a network of non-local professional scholars, to a local hub of experts/professional scholars and local amateur scholars (i.e., individuals who are seriously engaged in the pursuit of wisdom and a philosophical life), to local hangers-on, casual attendees, and those who are simply just curious but not yet passionately “in love” with a life of learning—to engage, reflect, and tap into their humanity, together, as a community of thinking, feeling beings.

As a result, our project is not only a platform that facilitates enriched understanding and connections, a renewed sense of wonder and curiosity, and the acquisition of important skills for engaging in civil discourse, but also a platform by which to continue this cultivation of humanistic (and philosophical) inquiry and community-building with others.

While most philosophical content can be a vehicle for addressing these lessons and “subtler” losses, this project is special because it looks at these problems self-referentially, by making its specific content: (A) the philosophical life (the art of living philosophically); (B) a humanistic endeavor (the art of living humanely), and; (C) the intellectual life (the art of learning, for its own sake). As it turns out, across human history & cultures, all three of these (A, B & C) are done preeminently in the community.

Some precedents, models & inspirations for our project include:

• • • The 19th century American “lecture circuit”
    • The mutual improvement societies (esp. of the 18th-early 20th centuries)
    • Philosophical schools of the ancient Mediterranean: the Athenian Academy, the Alexandrian Platonic school, the Stoa, the Lyceum, etc. In all of these, a community of life is deeply interwoven in the lives of other such communities (as was witnessed, for example, by the constant interchange of members between the Athenian & Alexandrian Platonic schools)
    • Monasteries (e.g., Christian, Buddhist) as places of special focus. Whether these were temporary stations in life or longer, they were intended to serve as a platform for public good, providing a wide range of benefits for their neighbors, in perpetuity

Our project draws inspiration from these models of living/learning and the unique role of human connection and community as central to critical thinking. These ideas are captured in what we are calling “community hubs.”

Phase 1: Community Hubs – Pilot

With this in mind & from a birds-eye view, the first phase of our project entails:

• • • Intellectual/theoretical reflection on what living philosophically, humanistically & intellectually in a community means (how it’s done, why it’s done, how best it can be done)
    • Envisioning structures, platforms & places for it to happen (with Helena as one such center & as a model for others)
    • Enacting A, B & C (i) over the course of this project, (ii) such that the project will continue to bear its fruit for our local community, springing directly from this, in perpetuity, and (iii) in ways that open doors to future long-distance collaboration
    • Being itself a template/pilot for scholar-residencies/research fellowships

Phase 1 of our project is both a stand-alone project with immediate, local & far-reaching benefits AND a critical step in our larger vision for public humanities that will:

• • • Bring together humanities scholars currently researching/working in and/or interested in community-centered models of public philosophy education
    • Put “philosophical tools” (e.g., skills, methods, techniques) in the hands of community members that help answer the question: “What can I, situated as I am, do to develop myself philosophically, humanistically, intellectually?”
    • Make living philosophically a “live option,” both in the sense of articulating “Here’s something philosophical communities have done/are doing, and that you might also do” & in the sense of giving immediate guidance for doing so
    • Deliver concrete strategies & initial sketches toward plans for implementation of “community hub” models of learning at the group/institutional levels
    • Offer a “first run” of what a “scholar-in-residence” & research fellowship programs might look like both by doing it in the present (via the scholars’ participation the project), and by preparing the groundwork to do it in a more refined & deliberate way in the future

Phase 1: Project Structure & Beneficiaries

Phase 1 of the project will involve:

1. Scholar committee sessions
2. Public symposium & panel discussions
3. “Masterclass” workshops (w/ scholars as teachers)
4. Community-led activities (w/ scholars as students)
5. Place-based educational outings (w/ scholars & community members)
6. Informal local gatherings (w/ scholars and community members)
7. Strategies & sketches for “community-centered” learning implementation (at both the group and institutional levels)
8. Creation of a preliminary template for “scholar-in-residence”/research fellowship programs

Project scholars will participate in a series of intensive scholar committee sessions, first, on a remote rural campus on Merlin Nature Preserve. In tandem with the modest & interdependent communal living set-up presented by the rural campus, scholars will work to define the parameters & ends of living philosophically in a community: what does it take for us, here, now, to live philosophically together? Discussions will be informed by a blend of personal experience of the participants (both past and current), examination of historical precedents & formal sessions devoted to each.

With regard to ends, scholars will focus on the following questions:

• • • What purposes does philosophical community serve?
    • What space do we leave for inobvious purposes of such community to be revealed or disclosed later? (In other words, how does this develop organically? How does it leave room for discovery?)
    • Do we (& if so, in what manner) say that philosophical community is an end in itself?

With some sense of the big picture, ends, purpose & parameters, we can then consider the specific elements involved in realizing this: What physical/material, social, mental/intellectual, volitional, and spiritual conditions or circumstances are necessary, in order to realize such philosophical community? How can we successively approximate or enact these circumstances?

After living together on the rural campus, scholars will then move into their urban campus location together (at Carroll College), expanding the net of their focus questions to include observations about how such lessons might translate to urban settings (e.g., is the sense of community & interdependence experienced in rural settings the same as in urban? Are there additional variables to consider?). Observations drawn from both living experiences will be compiled as strategies and sketches for implementing “community-centered” learning hubs at both the group & institutional levels.

As it concerns (2) – (7), these will take place over the course of our intensive program and will be free to the public.

Finally, insofar as this project is a pilot/first manifestation of a scholar-in-residence/research fellowship program, every guest scholar will be a speaker or presenter for something to the wider public community: whether being part of the symposium panel, giving a masterclass, etc. Residencies/fellowships will combine a visiting scholar’s sharing of his or her own knowledge and expertise, with participation in the pre-existing, already-established, ongoing life (and learnings) of the local community. We see visiting scholars becoming (for a limited, but nonetheless extended, duration) part of our community, which makes for a different dynamic for the scholar & the community, and allows for people to develop together in unique ways over time in a place.

Beneficiaries include:

• • • Local communities & local amateur/professional scholars—by re-centering the community as a place of learning, by offering cutting-edge research/work and people that might otherwise be inaccessible behind the “ivory tower,” and by creating a place for a community of thinkers to cultivate their civic selves
    • Non-local communities & project scholars—by creating a uniquely local (yet deeply human and shared) experience for scholars who can then take their learnings and observations back to their respective communities and campuses
    • The discipline of philosophy—by re-envisioning and facilitating a connection between thinking as a community (and having places to do this together) & the ancient practice of philosophy as a way of life where ‘place’ & ‘community’ are not just means to an end, but part and parcel of the practice itself
    • The humanities more broadly—by expanding access to and providing a platform for engaging in humanistic inquiry & “doing” humanities together in a community

Phase 1: Invited Project Scholars

• Justin Whitaker (Independent Scholar & Senior Correspondent for Buddhistdoor Global; MA in Buddhist Studies, Bristol University, U.K.; PhD in Buddhist Ethics, Goldsmiths, University of London) – Missoula, MT
• Jane Drexler (Professor of Philosophy at Salt Lake Community College; PhD in Philosophy, Binghamton University, SUNY) – Salt Lake City, UT
• Rob Colter (Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at University of Wyoming; Founder & Director of Wyoming Stoic Camp; Co-Director of Wyoming Pathways from Prison; Podcast Co-Host of “Philosophy as a Way of Life”; PhD in Philosophy, Northwestern University) – Laramie, WY
• Ryan Johnson (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Elon University; PhD in Philosophy, DuQuesne University) – Elon, North Carolina
• Mark Ralkowski (Associate Professor of Honors & Philosophy and Philosophy Honor Society Advisor, George Washington University; Posse Mentor for the Posse Foundation; PhD in Philosophy, University of New Mexico) – Washington, D.C.
• Henry Kramer (Adjunct Assistant Professor of Religion, Hunter College; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Carroll College; Organizer/Community Educator of Eco-Spirituality Beacon; MA in Environmental Philosophy & Literature, University of Montana) – Beacon, NY
• Julia Jorati (Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Amherst; PhD in Philosophy, Yale University) – Amherst, MA
• Phillip Schoenberg (Assistant Professor of English & Philosophy, Western New Mexico University; PhD in Philosophy, University of New Mexico) – Silver City, New Mexico
• Allison Krile-Thornton (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of South Alabama; PhD in Philosophy, Baylor University) – Mobile, AL
• Jacob Stump (Assistant Teaching Professor in Philosophy, Northeastern University; PhD in Philosophy, University of Toronto) – Boston, MA
• Rebecca Chan (Assistant Professor of Philosophy & Director of University Pre-Law Advising, San Jose State University; PhD in Philosophy, Notre Dame University; JD, University of Colorado) – San Jose, CA
• Dan Fouts (AP Government, Philosophy & US History Instructor in Chicagoland Area; MS in Education & Social Policy, Northwestern University) – Chicago, IL