Alternative Technofutures: Black Speculative Visioning for a Better Tomorrow

In the last decade, we have witnessed the acceleration of technological experimentation and production. As such, this class explores the role that Black speculation plays in helping us envision and create technocultures beyond empire. Together, we will explore imperialism and colonialism as they manifest in our digital age, paying particular attention to how digital technologies like predictive algorithms, machine learning, surveillance, and data extraction extend and innovate on these systems of power. After initial grounding in the study of technology, speculative art and literature, and speculative design, we will pivot to “labs” where you will be able to read and analyze Black speculative works, develop a Black speculative method based on these works, and apply that method to your design of a technological tool that addresses a social problem.