The Fuller Dome, Center for Spirituality and Sustainability is offering a schedule of special programs in collaboration with the Buckminster Fuller Institute and the Estate of Buckminster Fuller. This five day series of events begins on Thursday, 3/27/25 and culminates on the 90th Day of the year, 3/31/25. Along with his architectural partner Shoji Sadao, Buckminster Fuller designed the miniature-earth-geoscope dome on the SIUE campus to straddle our planet’s 90th longitudinal meridian. Join us as we celebrate Fuller’s legacy on the 90th meridian on the 90th day.
Registration links are active in the program descriptions below the itinerary. Attendees can register for the entire five days with an “All Access Pass” for admittance into every single program or you can register for individual programs by clicking on the registration links in the program descriptions below. All of the programs require registration, even the free ones. We look forward to seeing you in the dome.
Itinerary for Fuller Dome • 90th Day Programing
Thursday 3/27/25
10:00am - 11:30am: Welcome (Free with registration)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Architectural Tour of Bucky’s Domes in the region ($150 registration)
7:00pm – 7:30pm Katherine Dunham Style Dance Performance ($10 registration)
7:30pm – 9:00pm: Opening Reception Gallery Exhibition on Fuller (Free with registration)
Friday 3/28/25
8:00am – 11:30am: World Resource Simulation Center • Part 1 will have a global focus ($10 registration covers both sessions)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 3:30pm: World Resource Simulation Center • Part 2 will have a local bioregional focus
4:30pm – 5:30pm: Poetry Performance & Bucky Readings • Jazz Trio accompanies readings ($10 registration)
7:00pm – 9:00pm: performance of the play, - ($30 registration)
“R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
Saturday 3/29/25
8:00am – 11:30am: World Peace Game Part 1 ($10 registration covers both sessions)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 4:30pm: World Peace Game Part 2
5:30pm - 7:00pm: Geometric Model Building • focus on children & families ($10 registration)
8:30pm – 10:00pm: Farshid Etniko • Concert Performance ($30 registration)
Sunday 3/30/25
10:30am – 11:30am: Soul Sunday (multi-faith unity gathering Free with Registration)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 2:00pm: Prayer for the Planet • with gospel choir (Free with Registration)
3:00pm – 5:00pm: Sound Bath • exploration of dome acoustics ($35 registration)
7:00pm – 9:00pm: performance of the play - ($30 registration)
“R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
Monday 3/31/25
8:00am – 11:30am: Symposium on Fuller Part 1 (Free with Registration)
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Symposium on Fuller Part 2 (Free with Registration)
7:00pm – 9:00pm: 25th Anniversary performance of the play - ($30 registration)
“R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
Fuller Dome • 90th Day Programing Descriptions
All Access Pass
Click here to register for an “All Access Pass” that grants you access to all of the programs over the entire five days from 3/27/25 to 90th Day on 3/31/25
Thursday 3/27/25 • Itinerary & Program Descriptions
10:00am - 11:30am: Welcome - (Free with registration)
Greetings from SIUE and regional political leadership
An introduction to the Fuller Dome’s history and its relevance to Buckminster Fuller’s legacy by Center Director, Benjamin Lowder
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Architectural Tour of Bucky’s Domes in the region - ($150 with registration)
Board the bus for a guided architectural tour of the most important region in the world for dome’s related to the legacy of Buckminster Fuller. Beginning at the miniature earth Fuller Dome that Bucky built on the SIUE campus 1971, the tour then heads up to Wood River Illinois to go into the Union Tank Car dome built in 1960. This 380ft wide 120ft tall geodesic dome is still in use and is now under the ownership of Watco. Next the tour takes us across the Mississippi River to St Louis to visit The Climatron dome at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It is a glass geodesic domed greenhouse built in 1960 to house a variety rare tropical plant species. The tour then comes back across the river into East St Louis to visit the Mary Brown Center dome. Built in 1968, this laminar style dome is the site of the meeting for Bucky’s Old Man River’s City proposal of a mile wide domed city for East St Louis. From there the tour will return to the miniature earth Fuller Dome on the SIUE campus.
7:00pm – 7:30pm Katherine Dunham Style Dance Performance - ($10 with registration)
You’ll be enchanted by a special Katherine Dunham Style Dance performance beneath the soaring Fuller Dome. Katherine Dunham was a world-renowned dancer and dance ethnologist. She combined modern dance of the 1940s with traditional Afro-Caribbean dance styles to create a technique that would support her innovative choreography. Later in life, while living in East St. Louis, Dunham was a professor at SIUE and reached out to her fellow SIU colleague Buckminster Fuller to envision a new urban plan for her beloved East St. Louis. The one-mile-wide domed city of the Old Man River’s City project was Bucky’s answer to Dunham’s request.
7:30pm – 9:00pm: Opening Reception • Gallery Exhibition on Fuller - (Free with registration)
You are invited to attend an opening reception in the Fuller Dome Gallery of historic artifacts that belonged to Buckminster Fuller himself. This important collection featuring models, drawings, drafting tools, maps and more has been donated to the Fuller Dome by the Estate of Buckminster Fuller. The Fuller Dome Gallery was opened in the dome with a ribbon cutting in 2021 by Bucky’s daughter Allegra Fuller Snyder. The gallery was created in the Fuller Dome in collaboration with The University Museum at SIUE to host exhibitions in furtherance of the dome’s mission to “promote humanity’s sacred connection to the earth and each other.
Friday 3/28/25 • Itinerary & Program Descriptions
8:00am – 11:30am: World Resource Simulation Center • Part 1 will have a global focus - ($10 registration covers both sessions)
Join us in the Fuller Dome as Peter Meisen leads a working group to reactivate Buckminster Fuller’s World Resource Simulation Center concept. In the 1960’s Bucky proposed the creation of a 200 ft diameter geodesic three-quarter sphere for the SIUE campus that he referred to as the World Resource Simulation Center. The building did not get the funding it needed to be built but it would have served as a data visualization center conveying information about global resource and population distribution around the world. For decades, Peter Meisen has been running a version of this concept that he calls the Sim Center. Leveraging current technology and data streams we will be resurrecting Fuller’s idea live in the Fuller Dome with Peter Meisen leading a group of students and community leaders in a problem-solving and brainstorming session in the spirit of Bucky’s stated goal to “make the world work for 100% of humanity.”
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 3:30pm: World Resource Simulation Center • Part 2 will have a local bioregional focus
4:30pm – 5:30pm: Poetry Performance & Bucky Readings • jazz duo accompanies readings - ($10 registration)
Students and writers from across the region will be coming together in the Fuller Dome to share poetry readings with the accompaniment of a jazz duo. in 1961 Buckminster Fuller was appointed to the prestigious Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry at Harvard. This engaging program will be featuring readings of Bucky’s own poetry both recorded in his voice a performed live along with the original poetry of local writers.
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Performance of the play - ($30 registration)
“R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
The theatrical one man play “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE” written by D. W. Jacobs returns to the Fuller Dome for three special performances. Actor Jon-Michael Rutter will play the role of Buckminster Fuller as he takes us on an emotional and inspiring journey through Fuller’s life. The dome in which these performances will be happening is a space that Fuller himself designed, built, and lectured in after its construction in 1971. The play was crafted by Jacobs from Fuller’s own words and this performance in the Fuller Dome will embody Bucky’s spirit in a truly unique way. Buckminster Fuller will be brought to life in front of an intimate audience within the miniature earth geodesic dome he created as an expression of the wholistically synergetic thinking that makes his’s legacy more and more relevant with each passing news cycle. Those in attendance for these Fuller Dome performances will be given the chance to gain a unique world view and will likely be left asking themselves to discover what one individual is able to do on behalf of humanity.
Saturday 3/29/25 • Itinerary & Program Descriptions
8:00am – 11:30am: World Peace Game Part1 - ($10 registration covers both sessions)
We will be playing Buckminster Fuller’s World Peace Game in the Fuller Dome. While a professor at SIU, Fuller conceived the World Peace Game to be played out on an enormous version of his, 1946 patented, Dymaxion Map. Participants will stand on a 27ft by 12ft version of Fuller’s world map representing our global population distribution across the continents. They will be assigned natural and technological resources corresponding to the populations they represent and tasked with figuring out ways to work together across the planet to avert conflict. The game is intended to model solutions to realize Fuller’s goal “to make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria)
1:00pm – 4:30pm: World Peace Game Part2
5:30pm - 7:00pm: Geometric Model Building • focus on children & families - ($10 registration)
In this hands-on session we will be building geometric models that echo the proportions of nature as well as Fuller’s geodesic geometry. All ages are encouraged to participate with a special invitation to children and families to discover primary geometric concepts through building models. Starter supplies of tooth picks and marshmallows will be provided to participants and full geometric dome and sphere building kits will be available for purchase along with assistance on hand for those participants who are ready to deepen their understanding of Fullers concepts through modeling.
8:30pm – 10:00pm: Farshid Etniko • Concert Performance - ($30 registration)
Farshid Etniko
Join us under the dome for a magical musical trip around the world with Farshid Etniko. Farshid is a renowned Iranian-American entertainer and composer who seamlessly combines jazz standards and Latin beats with a captivating Middle Eastern twist. His musical repertoire transcends borders.
Through his travels, Farshid has woven a variety of styles into a unique & familiar sound : Latin, popular Jazz standards, original compositions with a blend of Middle Eastern & Flamenco influences as well as American popular standards. He has performed as the opening act for Carlos Santana, Greg Adams, Taj Mahal, Cassandra Wilson, Angelique Kidjo, Shahin & Sepehr, B 52, Virtuoso Flamenco guitarist Juan Carmona & more. Farshid has also performed with world renown Grand Masters: Ustad Imrat Khan Sitar, Paquito & Sandro Lorier Gypsies from France and Irish Pipes wizard Paddy Keenen.
Sunday 3/30/25 • Itinerary & Program Descriptions
10:30am – 11:30am: Soul Sunday • multi-faith unity gathering - (Free with registration)
Soul Sunday is an ongoing nondominational gathering every Sunday in the Fuller Dome. The heart of this spiritual gathering is the sharing of prayers, inspirational readings, and passages from the scriptures of many faiths. Beyond that, there is no set form. You are welcome to simply sit, meditate and enjoy the spiritual atmosphere, or take a more active role by bringing and reading spiritual writings that uplift you. All are welcome.
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 2:00pm: Prayer for the Planet • with gospel choir - (Free with registration)
3:00pm – 5:00pm: Sound Bath • exploration of dome acoustics - ($35 registration)
Los Angeles based Ceremoni Sounds invites you to explore the unique acoustic properties of the Fuller Dome for an immersive and transformative sound bath experience. Aligning with Fuller's holistic worldview, this event integrates the principles of whole health and sound healing practices. As Fuller described, "One goes inside to go outside oneself and into the center of the Earth and thence outward to the stars in seconds. The Edwardsville Center becomes at once a cathedral of universal reality and a cathedral of universal mystery." Join us for this remarkable event and embark on a journey of inner and outer exploration!
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Performance of the play - ($30 registration)
“R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
The theatrical one man play “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE” written by D. W. Jacobs returns to the Fuller Dome for three special performances. Actor Jon-Michael Rutter will play the role of Buckminster Fuller as he takes us on an emotional and inspiring journey through Fuller’s life. The dome in which these performances will be happening is a space that Fuller himself designed, built, and lectured in after its construction in 1971. The play was crafted by Jacobs from Fuller’s own words and this performance in the Fuller Dome will embody Bucky’s spirit in a truly unique way. Buckminster Fuller will be brought to life in front of an intimate audience within the miniature earth geodesic dome he created as an expression of the wholistically synergetic thinking that makes his’s legacy more and more relevant with each passing news cycle. Those in attendance for these Fuller Dome performances will be given the chance to gain a unique world view and will likely be left asking themselves to discover what one individual is able to do on behalf of humanity.
Monday 3/31/25 • 90th Day on the 90th Meridian • Programs
8:00am – 11:30am: Symposium on Fuller Part 1 - (Free with registration)
Join in a day of sharing scholarly research pertaining to Fuller’s legacy. Fuller scholars, students and colleagues present fascinating reports and projects that inform our understanding of history while bringing the lessons learned to the contemporary challenges, we are all facing both locally and globally.
11:30am – 12:30pm: Lunch (Morris University Center cafeteria, attendees expense / choice)
1:00pm – 5:00pm: Symposium on Fuller Part 2 (Free with registration, button above)
7:00pm – 9:00pm: Special 25th Anniversary Performance - ($30 registration)
“R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE”
The theatrical one man play “R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE” written by D. W. Jacobs returns to the Fuller Dome for three special performances. Actor Jon-Michael Rutter will play the role of Buckminster Fuller as he takes us on an emotional and inspiring journey through Fuller’s life. The dome in which these performances will be happening is a space that Fuller himself designed, built, and lectured in after its construction in 1971. The play was crafted by Jacobs from Fuller’s own words and this performance in the Fuller Dome will embody Bucky’s spirit in a truly unique way. Buckminster Fuller will be brought to life in front of an intimate audience within the miniature earth geodesic dome he created as an expression of the wholistically synergetic thinking that makes his’s legacy more and more relevant with each passing news cycle. Those in attendance for these Fuller Dome performances will be given the chance to gain a unique world view and will likely be left asking themselves to discover what one individual is able to do on behalf of humanity.
Listed here below are links to the three hotels right on the edge of campus:
TownePlace Suites St Louis Edwardsville
+1 (618) 655-3001
6101 Center Grove Rd
Edwardsville, IL 62025 United States
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Edwardsville
+1 (618) 692-7255
1000 Plummer Dr
Edwardsville, IL 62025 United States
Country Hearth Inn & Suites Edwardsville
+1 (618) 656-7829
1013 Plummer St
Edwardsville, IL 62025 United States
Below is a map showing these hotels in relation to the Fuller Dome / SIUE campus:
