March 14, 2019
The authors of the best-seller “Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America” will join Ball State University President Geoffrey S. Mearns for INconversation with James and Deborah Fallows from 6:30 to 8 p.m. March 18 at the Ball State University Alumni Center.
Since 2013, Mr. and Mrs. Fallows have traveled to small communities across America in a single-engine prop airplane. Those communities have faced economic, political, or other challenges. At each place the authors visited, they spoke with entrepreneurs, creative professionals, teachers, students, librarians, and business and community leaders.
“I invited the couple to visit Muncie after reading their account of their travels,” President Mearns said. “Their descriptions of how communities crafted solutions to challenges similar to Muncie’s caught my attention. As an anchor institution, Ball State has both a self-interest and a moral obligation to see Muncie thrive again.
“Our community has the positive attributes that the authors say communities need to prosper. Those assets include a vibrant downtown, a research university, genuine public-private partnerships, and distinctive schools. I look forward to this opportunity to listen and learn from other communities and to share Muncie’s story.”
Mr. and Mrs. Fallows’ visit to Muncie is one of four stops for Our Towns: Indiana Tour, organized by Indiana Humanities and New America Indianapolis and supported by Ruoff Home Mortgage.
This event is free and open to the public, though advance registration is requested (register at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inconversation-with-james-and-deborah-fallows-muncie-registration-56044157584). Doors open at 6 p.m., and seats are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. A book-signing reception, including book sales, will follow the event.
About INseparable
We’re all in this together. Whether due to real or perceived differences, Americans see each other differently depending on whether they live in rural, suburban or urban communities. The conclusion drawn from the near-constant polling, media commentary and academic analysis of the past two years is that America is a nation culturally divided by geography. In 2019 and 2020, Indiana Humanities invites Hoosiers to dig into these divides, exploring how Hoosiers relate to each other across boundaries and considering what it will take to indeed be inseparable, in all the ways that matter.
About Indiana Humanities
Indiana Humanities connects people, opens minds and enriches lives by creating and facilitating programs that encourage Hoosiers to think, read and talk.
www.IndianaHumanities.org
About New America Indianapolis
New America Indianapolis introduces locally-generated solutions and local innovators into New America’s work as a research institute, technology lab, solutions network, media hub, and public forum. New America Indianapolis and the rest of the national network find and circulate innovative local solutions to public problems; tell stories of American renewal; and leverage local innovation in conversations and policymaking across the U.S.
www.NewAmerica.org/Indianapolis