Why should you care?

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The question “why should anyone care about my research?” is perfectly fair. It’s not like I’ve learned or uncovered anything groundbreaking that will redefine the way we understand the world and humanity. However, that’s not to say that my research is completely worthless either. First of all, it is always interesting to know the motives and causes behind any decision or event. Understanding what residents of Brook Farm wanted from community life can shine light on what those people were missing in their lives within American society. What was lacking or wrong with ordinary American life that they felt the need to move to Brook Farm? Secondly, the search for utopia is actually quite contemporary and will remain to be so until humanity finally reaches a perfect place (so forever). Knowing what people in the 1800s wanted from a Utopian community can help us to think about what people in the 21st century are looking for in a better life. Also, identifying the areas where the goals of community members were not met can help us to see in advance how to approach our quest for a better life. If you don’t care about point one or two, maybe you will care about my research simply because you find it interesting for what it is: a new way of understanding a very interesting story in American history.

My research findings are really a continuation of a significant theme in the course, Utopian thinking. We’ve studied the Utopian ideas of Sir Thomas More, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and others. Now I am studying the Utopian ideas and hopes and dreams of the residents of Brook Farm and why they changed. These people weren’t amazing Utopian thinkers like More and Rousseau, but in a way that makes what they say and think even more interesting. The residents of Brook Farm were (at least in comparison to More et al.) regular people like you and me, so their ideas are much easier to relate to. Their simple wish for a place of equality and close knit community are ones that we can easily understand and sympathize with. My research is not only relevant to the course, but to our lives in general.