Scholars Gild
A gild of the Arden Club, the Scholars Gild explores topics of interest to members such as community, utopia, the Arts & Crafts Movement, and the Garden City Movement, all of which strongly influenced the creation of the Village of Arden, Delaware in 1900 and remain strong today. Each meeting we discuss interesting topics and welcome the participation of everyone who attends.
Is Arden A Utopian Community?
Tuesday, January 17, 7:30 p.m. in Upper Gild Hall
An Investigation into why Arden is (or is not) a Utopian Community
Over the past few years, Pamela Beth Monaco, professor in the Department of Intellectual Heritage at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, has been assigning groups of students to investigate why Arden is (or is not) a Utopian community. These students have attended many events in the Ardens and interviewed a number of people. Professor Pamela Monaco and a group of the students will share their findings, experienced, perceptions of our Utopian community.
This program is a video and slide presentation by Dr. Pamela Monaco, Temple University Professor, and her students with a public reception to follow.
This program is supported through the Hamburger Lecture on Community Series fund, and made possible by the efforts of the Arden Archives, Arden Craft Shop Museum, and the Georgist Gild and the Scholars Gild of the Arden Club. Thanks to Russ McKinney for his involvement in coordinating visits with the students and giving the students help on navigating Arden.
Contact Us
Call 302 475-3333.
Click here to send an email.
Click here to see our Google Group. You must first set up a Google account before you can join the Scholars Gild Google Group.
A New Gild
In February, 2010, the Arden Club Board unanimously approved the creation of the new Scholars Gild. Some people don’t see this as the creation of a new gild but the resurrection of an old one. The Club had a Scholars Gild in the 1940s and 1950s.
As a quick summary, the village of Arden was founded on three pillars: Arts & Crafts, planned community, and Henry George’s single tax. The Georgist Gild covers the latter; the Scholars Gild will (as currently conceived) explore the ideas, concepts, and thinking on arts, crafts, and community as they impact the Ardens and our broader community today. This concept represents our starting point. We expect the gild to evolve over time.
The creation of the new Scholars Gild was easy. Some 35 members in good standing signed a petition that was presented to the Arden Club Board of Directors at their January meeting. (Only 15 signatures were required.) The petitioners confirmed their support of the gild and their willingness to sustain it. Also presented was a statement of purpose, goals and objectives, and financial responsibilities.
- Purpose: The purpose of the New Scholars Gild is to promote scholarly dialog among members of the Gild, the Arden Club and the broader community, by bringing in learned people on subjects of interest and importance to the community.
- Goals and Objectives: The New Scholars Gild will produce and promote lectures open to the general public on subjects and by lecturers selected by Gild members. These lectures will increase participants’ knowledge and awareness of the selected topics and provide a basis for future dialog.
- Financial Responsibilities: The Scholars Gild accepts the responsibility to fulfill the Arden Club’s role as as described by the Hamburger Community Lecture grant jointly given to the Arden Club and the Village of Arden. Additional funding for programming sponsored by the Gild will be raised by soliciting grants, charging admission to programs, or by charging Gild members dues.
Interested in the new Scholars Gild? Click here to send us an email or call Steven Threefoot at 302 475-3333.
Recommended:
Larry Strange: Hans Rosling's 200 Countries over 200 Years in 4 minutes, a YouTube video from BBC.