YELLOW SPRINGS — The Nonstop Liberal Institute has designs to become a new source of cultural and intellectual advancement for Yellow Springs and Greene County.

The institute, formed in the wake of Antioch College’s suspension in 2008, began as a way for students to continue taking classes in an alternative format. Classes were taught by several former Antioch College professors and people from the community, and classes were held in coffee shops, people’s homes, and other public places.

Now, with the rebirth of Antioch College, Nonstop registered itself as a non-profit organization and has refocused its efforts on providing workshops and events for the community. “We host about 2 events per month,” said Tim Nobel, IT Coordinator for Nonstop. “We’ve been very successful in terms of engaging the community.”

Last Wednesday, they hosted a live teleconference with Steven Bezruchka, senior lecturer on Global Health at University of Washington, entitled “Capitalism and the health impacts of Economic Collapse.”

“I think we might do another event on health care, and I can imagine that there will be a series of local performers,” said Chris Hill, a member of the Executive Collective of Nonstop. “I think it makes sense to take advantage of the people who are here and their desire to continue keep the community active, and that’s what we see ourselves doing.”

“We hope to be able to collaborate with the college in some way, but in the short term, I think that there’s a group of people here who put an enormous amount of effort into making YS a healthy community and we want to continue to do that,” said Hill. “We feel that the space represents that issue and to carry that forward is a healthy thing for us and for Greene County.”

The office and meeting place is a renovated plastic factory, which houses custom designed offices and a library of books from the student and women’s center collections salvaged from Antioch College. The remodeling was done mainly by Nonstop faculty and volunteers, and used many materials recycled from the factory. The total redesign, which utilizes resources like natural light and recycled heat, cost about $10 per square foot, according to Nobel.

There is also a small stage and projection screen in the office to host Non Stop Presents events. Such events include dance performances, interviews, lectures and debates. People who are interested in becoming involved with Nonstop should go to www.nonstopinstitute.org or e-mail inquiries@nonstopinstitute.org.

An overview of the Nonstop facility and recent public events, including the installation of Nonstop’s emergency shelter at the University of Minnesota’s Reworking The University conference. Nonstop personnel lectured and presented emergency arts and education structures at the conference.

Chris Hill
Executive Collective
Nonstop Institute of Yellow Springs

Nonstop’s Summer Alumni Festival featured an academic mini-conference addressing academic freedom and labor issues, film screenings, performances, seminars and presentations by alumni, Nonstop and other faculty, a community work project, and more. Bob Devine ’68 taught what was to be the last session of his beloved class Media and Social Change, as he retired on June 30th. Bob looked back on the 20 years that he has been teaching the class to “explore the paradigm shift in social change media during those years — from content distribution to interaction and the building of relationships”. Bob used the class as a way to explore and understand the ways we have communicated and organized in our efforts to save Antioch College.

As part of the academic mini-conference, filmmaker James Motluk came from Canada to present his film Whose University Is It?, a chronicle of the failed struggle against corporatization at Trent University in Ontario. Professor Alison Hearn from The University of Western Ontario took part in discussing the film and also participated in one of the panel discussions that were part of the conference. The panels explored issues of academic freedom and labor and featured faculty from Nonstop and elsewhere, and were moderated by AAUP President and Antioch Alum Cary Nelson ’67. Scott Warren, former Antioch Professor of Philosophy and Politics and Nonstop faculty member, contributed his expertise in Critical Theory and radical philosophy and politics to offer a contextualization of the Liberal Arts as a means of reclaiming emancipatory knowledge. By charging Antioch and other Liberal Arts institutions to “generate knowledge that can liberate us from various forms of domination and confinement”, Scott’s talk offered valuable food for thought as we reflect on the past year of Nonstop and look forward to building an independent college. Video of all of this programming as well as performances by Nonstop and former Antioch Professors Jill Becker (Dance) and Louise Smith (Theater) can be viewed on Nonstop’s website.

Since March of this year, a task force made up of members of Nonstop and the Alumni Board has been developing a proposal for consideration by the Board Pro Tempore outlining projects that could maintain the momentum built by Nonstop over the past year involving curricular research; the rebuilding of the Co-op program; sustaining a regional cultural and intellectual presence through events and conferences; and entrepreneurial projects that can be integrated with sustainability/greening plans and development of improved information and media services shared by the village and the campus. The proposal was presented to the community at SAF and to the Alumni Board last weekend. Nonstop also reported on plans to move forward to establish not-for-profit status.

For more information, including video documentation of the mini-conference, arts presentations, overview of the task force proposal and more, please visit the SAF archive.

Compact Florescent Bulbs are more energy efficient than incandescents. The Village of Yellow Springs purchased the light bulbs, and alumni will go door to door to distribute them. This project will promote greater energy efficiency, help support Yellow Springs in their efforts to become a greener village, and help to sustain the important connection that Nonstop has made with the village over the past year. It will be a pleasant and relaxing way to spend some time strolling through beautiful Yellow Springs, chatting with our neighbors!

Alumni will also work on cataloging the Alt Library collection. Sara Eklund Payne, a recently-retired professional librarian will be guiding the effort. The Alt Library will join the Womyn’s Center and the TWA/BAMN collections which have already been barcoded and cataloged, so your contribution this weekend will allow the entire library to be accessible online. The Alt Library was created and maintained by students and Community Government workers over nearly two decades.

The work project hours are: Thursday, June 18th, from 2PM to 5PM, Friday, June 19th, from 2PM to 5PM, and Saturday, June 20th, from 9AM to 11AM. Alumni should meet at Nonstop’s space in the Millworks building at 305 N. Walnut Street in Yellow Springs.

This semester, Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute had the opportunity to give presentations at the Reworking the University conference at the University of Minnesota. The response from Nonstop’s fellow presenters was enthusiastic and supportive, so much so that some of the conference organizers and presenters from Minneapolis will come to Yellow Springs and participate in this weekend’s mini-conference.

From 12:30PM to 2PM on Saturday, come to a screening and discussion of “Whose University Is It?”, a film about the struggle against corporatization at Trent University in Ontario, with filmmaker James Motluk and academic labor organizer Alison Hearn. At 2:30PM to 6PM, there will be a Panel on Academic Labor/Freedom with Prof. Scott Warren, Prof. Jean Gregorek, Alison Hearn, and others, moderated by AAUP President Cary Nelson ’67.

For those Antioch alumni and other supporters who can’t make it to the Alumni Festival, programming from the entire weekend will be streamed live on the Nonstop homepage along with live chatting capability, so alumni everywhere can connect.

This event will take place at Nonstop’s space in the Millworks building, at 305 N. Walnut Street in Yellow Springs.

Media and Social Change – Part 1 of 2

Media and Social Change – Part 2 of 2

Pre-event Announcement:
This Friday, June 19th, Bob Devine ‘68 will teach a session of his Media & Social Change class as part of the Nonstop Institute’s Summer Alumni Festival. This class has been a favorite of many Antioch students over the 20 years that Bob has been teaching it. Bob is retiring at the end of this semester and this session will be his last class – it is not to be missed!

Media & Social Change played a vital role in Antioch’s communications curriculum. In this last session of the class, Bob will look back to the 20 years that he has been teaching the class and “explore the paradigm shift in social change media during those years — from content distribution to interaction and the building of relationships — with some comments on the communications and organization relative to the saving of the College.” From documentary films of the 60’s and 70’s, to public access, to social networking media, Bob will discuss how we use media to shape the world around us and how it shapes us.

Alumni and friends who cannot make it to the Summer Alumni Festival this weekend will be able to watch a live video feed of Bob’s class and other programming on www.nonstopinstitute.org. A chat window will be in place to allow viewers to talk about the programming.

Bob Devine has thirty years of teaching in the general field of Communications, fifteen years in CEO and leadership roles in non-profit organizations, and credits on several dozen documentary film and video productions. His teaching fields include communications theory, social theory, film history, cultural studies, community media and the use of democratic and participatory media for social change. Other areas of teaching interest include African-American film, Labor and film, and the First Amendment.

Bob Devine will teach the class from 12:30AM to 2PM on Friday, June 19th at Nonstop’s space in the Millworks building, at 305 N. Walnut Street in Yellow Springs.

Springfield, Ohio (June 1, 2009) – Preservation Ohio has announced the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites. This important list highlights important pieces of Ohio history that face an uncertain future, and which deserve the attention of all Ohioans as remnants of the past that merit preservation.

Each year, Ohio’s statewide preservation organization searches for houses, commercial buildings, governmental structures, bridges, historic roadways, landscapes, downtowns, neighborhoods and other important pieces of Ohio history that face a potentially risky future. The list serves to highlight those properties which are both historically significant and endangered — whether it be by threats of demolition, long-term disinvestment or neglect, insensitive governmental action, uncertainty or indifference.

Nominations for this important list have come from individuals, preservation organizations, downtown and neighborhood revitalization organizations, historical societies, historic road associations, local governments and other entities. In each case, the property is reviewed for both its value to local, regional, state or federal history, and the nature of the threat involved. Special attention is paid to those sites facing a threat which typifies one facing many of Ohio’s historic resources. Properties remain on the list each year until such time as the threat is lessened.

Designation is similar to that given for the country’s most endangered historic sites by the National Trust for Historic Preservation — the primary benefit of the list being public attention and focus. The list has received substantial media attention, including coverage in all of Ohio’s major newspapers, as well as in magazines, lifestyle publications and local media.

Information about the Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites program can be found on our website, located at: www.preservationohio.org. Beginning on June 2, a link to each listed property will be activated each day, with photos, videos and more to be included.

Antioch’s listing:

Antioch College Historic District (Various stages beginning in 1854) – Yellow Springs, Greene County – A landmark of national educational history, the original campus has been closed for over a year with concerns over the future of its historic buildings, and awaits hopeful re-opening. This is the first year for Antioch College on the list.

View the entire list here.

Below is a clip list with active links to each video segment of the ceremony.

01 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Intro – Dennie Eagleson
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LfuO6YMMlQ

02 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Intro – Lee Morgan Statement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JrbXQs3iRU

03 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Welcome – Dennie Eagleson
www.youtube.com/watch?v=80nylsnoV24

04 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Invocation – Alvin Denman
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJnhbk5R-c0

05 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – ExColl- Chris Hill Statement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehHN7wGSdlE

06 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – ExColl – Hassan Rahmanian
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgNfzEyF2SE

07 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – ExColl – Susan Eklund-Leen
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQeqU3X5c34

08 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – ExColl – Beverly Rodgers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ZGlHL1XWs

09 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Time Capsule – Multiple Speakers

10 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Judith Hempfling
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieOGKevk3vU

11 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Nic Viox
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s27UvdWGZ7M

12 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – James Russell
www.youtube.com/watch?v=upZqV4krQHg

13 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Kitty Jensen (audio)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQJ16I_mCgM

14 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Tim Noble
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnSWC57VOgM

15 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Rose Pelzl
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ofM-C-GpEs

16 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Lincoln Alpern
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD1qwJAYQ9g

17 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Janeal Ravndal
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDNgLXYLibY

18 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Jeanne Kay
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMPPzDwpVfk

19 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Community – Shea Witzberger
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nAG3puwVeU

20 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Certificates – Faculty
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SnHHbrMkfc

21 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Certificates – Staff
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_SADbcRxt0

22 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Certificates – Students and Community
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlRq4bC5Lj8

23 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Certificates – Family
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPUtokwO8oY

24 of 24 – NS Commencement ‘09 – Closing Remarks
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZWZ8C15PuE