The inhabitants of Brook Farm were a very special group of intellectuals and artists. Many Utopian communities included a sophisticated intellectual and cultural life in their community, but the individuals who lived in and visited Brook Farm, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson were of a different intellectual capacity. Such a concentration of talent in one community must have provided many truly fascinating dinnertime conversations. In fact, the community was formed precisely so that people with similar interests could live together and learn from each other and stimulate each other’s creativity.

The formation of Brook Farm, and then its transition to Fourierism is also very unique. Most Fourierist communities were founded as Fourierist communities, but Brook Farm only converted to Fourierism after already existing as a community. I believe that this unique feature was critical to the communities success, and also shows a possible path to success for other communities if one wanted to build a Fourierist community.

In order to think about this community in the context of utopia, I would have to know more about the laws of the community. What was the agreement between members? What ideals and rules did they live by? How exactly did they divide work, and what would an average day look like? What did their living and dining arrangements look like? This last question would just be interesting because so many Utopian thinkers spend a significant amount of time talking about the physical structure of their communities land and living arrangements.

A research question that I would be interested in pursuing is more about Fourierist communities in general than it is about Brook Farm.  I would like to know more about the role that religion was supposed to play in community life, according to Fourier, the role that it actually played in community life, and the role that it played in the failure of Fourierist communities.

It would be perfectly logical to assume that one should start with a clear question and then proceed by researching that question. However, going through the process of simply starting with a topic and then researching without a clear question already in my mind has taught me that one can actually be more successfully when one formulates a research question only after already doing a significant amount of research. While work-shopping the primary sources in class, I had to think more critically about the research question that was beginning to form in my mind. As I thought about the sources and my unrefined question simultaneously, I could ask new questions that lead me in a slightly different direction. If I had already formed a solid research question before looking at the primary sources, I wouldn’t have tried to see how the sources could best inform my question. After going through the process of the last two weeks or so, I have now been able to work myself to a research question which is both interesting to me, but that I also know that I can back up with the sources that I have.

My research question: What were the residents of Brook Farm originally expecting to receive from community life, and why did the purpose of the community then change (from Transcendentalist community to Associationist phalanx)?

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.