Futuring: Anticipating Change and Envisioning Strategic Opportunities

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This section is an honors section and satisfies requirements in the Business Scholars program. Our planet, our technology, our society, and our businesses are changing faster than ever. In 1836 Nathan Rothschild, the richest human in the world, died at age 54 from an infection that would be cured today with an antibiotic for less than one dollar. Today's iPhone has 100,000 times the processing power of the Apollo 11 moon landing guidance computer. Our world is progressing, but with that progress comes disruption, dissolution, and obsolescence. The Futuring course prepares students for a rapidly changing world by analyzing major trends and issues impacting business and society in the future. Participants are exposed to a variety of futuring tools and methods employed by professional futurists and strategists. The accelerated nature of the course allows one to introduce advanced readings from futuring scholars covering topics such as speculative design and causal layered analysis. These are applied in a semester-long team project exploring a phenomenon of change of their choosing. Through a process of scenario planning, students cultivate a foresight mindset to examine in great depth key uncertainties and create alternative futures. Insights on emerging opportunities are developed along with recommendations on how business can positively influence future change and create resilient strategies to enable success in an uncertain future. Additional honors requirements include: greater utilization of peer-reviewed academic research and explicit incorporation of moral implications.