Closed Captioned
Study Guide
Grades 7-12, College, Adult
Directed by Moira Simpson
Produced by Heather MacAndrew & David Springbett
DVD Purchase $79, Rent $45
US Release Date: 1997
Copyright Date: 1997
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-501-6
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-692-5
Subjects
Community
Computer Studies
Humanities
Multicultural Studies
Religion
Sociology
Urban Studies
Urban and Regional Planning
Women's Studies
Virtually Intentional
Finding community in the cloister, a commune, and in cyberspace.
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"An exploration of the people we have become." Orion Afield |
Is community a place or a state of mind? We most often describe community in terms of sharing a physical space, but communities can also share attitudinal landscapes.
VIRTUALLY INTENTIONAL looks at cyberspace -- specifically The Well in San Francisco -- where people use the Internet as an electronic front porch, united by their special interests. It also visits the Poor Clares, an 800-year-old order of cloistered nuns. These women of widely different backgrounds have come together and made an intentional community out of a shared love of prayer, contemplation, and love of God, as well as a distaste for the cult of individualism. Finally it visits an urban commune.
It's surprising how much these three communities have in common.
Other titles in the series are:
Community Animals - Leading thinkers explore community, work, time, values, and change.
Community by Design - Good design of houses and neighborhoods builds community.
Making Shelter - My Home with Others - Co-ops and co-housing provide new models for building community.
Reclaiming Community - Communities in Toronto and Oakland take back and revitalize public spaces.
Ageing with Community - The search for community and independence as we grow old.
The Boundaries of Change - Cities cope with changing demographics.
Finding Us and Them - Physically and mentally challenged people find community.
On the Road - RV owners leave their home towns and build their own communities.
Maps with Teeth - Bioregional mapping by locals communicates a sense of place and regional identity.
Reviews
"You can't keep community down. Give people a little encouragement and a few tools, and they'll recreate the sense of community spirit in any available cracks and crannies in our otherwise alienated culture...These stories...are upbeat, encouraging - and replicable."
"This is not an indulgent journey into nostalgia, but an exploration of the people we have become, touching on our diversity as well as our similarities."
"What (the producers) found was a growing belief and faith in the community as the cure for social ills like poverty, crime and estrangement from other people...It is precisely because WAYS WE LIVE is politically astute, without being partisan, that it is so compelling."