Reimagining Global Futures

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In a tumultuous and changing world, how do we imagine possible futures? How do we navigate amidst the uncertainties of our complex global arena to steer towards the futures we want, and away from those we don’t want? This class will explore the future-oriented imagination in the context of contemporary global challenges related to peace/conflict, democracy, human rights, climate change, and other pressing issues. We will do this by using the tools that professional “futurists” have used to make predictions about the future, as well as to provoke “out of the box” thinking about alternative future possibilities. These include techniques for forecasting, visioning, scenario planning, experiential play, and design thinking. We will also discuss religious and literary forms of future imagining, including apocalyptic, messianic, and redemptive narratives, along with fictional depictions in science fiction and speculative genres such as Afrofuturism. We will consider the relevance of utopian and dystopian narratives for understanding contemporary global problems and dilemmas. Finally, we will consider how social movement activists and community groups around the world have used futures thinking to transform unjust conditions and generate more humane ways of living and working together.