Calvin Seminars in Christian Scholarship - New Urbanism and Communities of Faith

Course Description:
"New Urbanism" as an antidote to suburban sprawl is a hotly debated topic among both academics and activists, and is becoming increasingly prominent in both local and national political discourse. The New Urbanists claim that traditional towns and urban neighborhoods are more conducive to "community" and provide more life choices than contemporary suburbs. Their critics claim that New Urbanist communities are artificial, characterized by class exclusivity, and out of synch with the "suburbia-as-the-American-Dream" ideal that vast numbers of Americans seem to share.

This seminar proposes generally to consider the physical forms of human settlement and their relationship to human well-being, and specifically the possible role of communities of faith in the revival of traditional towns and neighborhoods. It takes as a hypothesis that the best life for individual human beings is the life of moral and intellectual virtue lived in community, and asks the questions: Does the physical form of "community" matter? If so, what are the physical forms of community most conducive to human flourishing? Are some physical forms more conducive than others to the purposes of communities of faith? If so, how can communities of faith help promote such forms?

Among the goals of this seminar are an exploration of some of the social, anthropological, and philosophical assumptions of the New Urbanists and their critics, and an examination of how the assumptions of communities of faith might promote and/or challenge and/or be challenged by the objectives of both the New Urbanists and their critics. The seminar is open to academics, architects, developers, religious leaders, and others interested in urban life. Non-academics whose work schedule does not permit five-day a week participation are encouraged to apply and explain their personal situation. All participants will be expected to be in attendance at the seminar for some part of each week.

Tentative Reading List:
ARISTOTLE FOR EVERYBODY, Adler
ETHICS, POLITICS, Aristotle (excerpts)
DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, Tocqueville (excerpts)
TO EMPOWER PEOPLE: THE ROLE OF MEDIATING STRUCTURES IN PUBLIC POLICY, Berger and Neuhaus
AFTER VIRTUE, MacIntyre
THREE RIVAL VERSIONS OF MORAL INQUIRY, MacIntyre (excerpts)
THE AMERICAN VITRUVIUS: CIVIC ART, Hegemann and Peets
HOME FROM NOWHERE, Kunstler
SUBURBAN NATION, Duany, Plater-Zyberk, Speck
"Space and Anti-space," Peterson (essay from HARVARD ARCHITECHTURAL REVIEW, Spring 1980, v. 1, p. {88}-113)
"Virtuous Reality: Critical Realism and the Reconstruction of Architectural and Urban Theory," Bess (essay from THE CLASSICIST, Vol.3, 1996)
THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT
DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (excerpts)
COLLAGE CITY, Rowe and Koetter (excerpts)
A RUMOR OF ANGELS, Berger (excerpts)
"Design and Happiness," Bess (unpublished paper)
"Making Sacred: The Phenomenology of Matter and Spirit in Architecture and the City," Bess (essay from CIVITAS, Issue Number 3, 1996)

Additional thoughts on the subject matter of the seminar:
The subject matter of "New Urbanism and Communities of Faith" includes but is not limited to a consideration of the physical and spatial forms of religious communities. By "religious communities" I mean groups of persons with a shared life lived in reference to sacred order, whose activities include but are not limited to worship, service, empowerment, the pursuit of excellence, and play. The "physical and spatial forms" to which the seminar will be referring may include the formal ordering of religious communities somewhat independent unto themselves, and also the formal ordering of larger communities of which religious communities constitute a part. Among the questions / issues to be raised are:
--the possible role of religious communities as town founders / developers
--the role of religious communities in the creation of "affordable housing," and the relationship of such to larger neighborhood and regional "place" issues
--the religious community as "Benedictine" presence / the religious community as Tocquevillian "free association"

Program Description:
This seminar, one in a series of Christian Worldview Point-Counterpoint Seminars sponsored by a grant from Fieldstead and Company, is designed to provide a forum for Christian scholars and others to explore critical issues facing the Academy in our time. It will include conversations with noted scholars whose viewpoints are directly counter to historic Christian positions. The purpose of these seminars is to enlarge the thinking of all involved.

Participants in each seminar discuss common readings during a five-week residency and work on individual research projects with the director and fellow participants. They are expected to present their projects at a conference the following spring and publish them in appropriate venues. Participants are encouraged to bring their families for the duration.

Public Lecture

Follow-up Conference