The University of Southern Indiana Center for Communal Studies will host a lecture, “Seeing Like a Commons,” presented by Dr. Joshua Lockyer, Professor of Anthropology at Arkansas Tech University, at 3 p.m. Thursday, October 20 in Kleymeyer Hall in the Liberal Arts Center.

In “Seeing Like a Commons,” Lockyer will demonstrate how a growing group of people have, over the last 80 years, deliberately built Celo Community, a communal settlement on 1,200 acres of commonly owned land in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Through the story of the oldest existing non-sectarian intentional community in the United States, Lockyer shows how community members have cultivated the cultural practices and worldviews to become better stewards and citizens of both local landscapes and global commons. Using Elinor Ostrom’s “commons design principles” as a heuristic framework, and acknowledging the hard work and long-term commitment required, he suggests Celo may offer a rough framework for other groups who wish to be good commons stewards.

“Dr. Joshua Lockyer’s research on the Cello Community in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina offers concrete solutions and hope for improving human relationships with nature and peaceful coexistence,” says Dr. Silvia Rode, Director of the Center for Communal Studies at USI.

The University of Southern Indiana Gender Studies Department, Center for Social Justice Education and the College of Liberal Arts are hosting the second of a two-part virtual series, “Your Reproductive Rights After Dobbs,” at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 19 via Zoom. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. This event is free and open to the public at no charge. 

Dr. Grace Howard, Assistant Professor of Justice Studies at San José State University, is an expert on the criminalization of pregnancy. Her talk, titled “The Pregnancy Police: Conceiving Crime, Arresting Personhood,” will discuss the legal ramifications of policing pregnancy.  

According to Howard, a wave of state legislation restricting the right to abortion has drawn attention to the contingency of rights of pregnant people. However, the regulation and criminalization of pregnant bodies in the United States began many years before. Drawing from original research in criminal cases, as well as from notable family court hearings, lawsuits and news reports, Howard explores some of the ways in which pregnant people have become subject to surveillance, regulation and control. 

For more information, contact Denise Lynn, Professor of History and Director of Gender Studies, at 812-465-1095 or dmlynn1@usi.edu.