Designing Futures

Explores issues in design and contemporary culture through speculative and experiential engagements with questions at the intersection of digital technologies, ethics, and society.

“

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

—Arundhati Roy, Writer

Objective & Outcomes

This course will equip students with a deeper understanding of various methodologies and approaches to engage in narratives about possible futures, including speculative and critical design, science fiction, design fiction, and speculative fabulation.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to evaluate the implications of design from various critical lenses–ethical, cultural, environmental, political, and economic– as well as creatively and generatively design for complex socio-technical systems.

Typical Schedule

Session 1: Introduction
Session 2: History of Designing Futures
Session 3: Speculative Design + Science Fiction
Session 4: Experiential Design
Session 5: Feminism + Futurism
Session 6: Mid-Term Presentation + Critique
Session 7: Mid-Term Presentation + Critique
Session 8: Future of Work
Session 9: Post-Capitalist Future & Multi-Species Design
Session 10: Race + Afro-Futurism
Session 11: Crip Futures
Session 12: Decolonized Futures
Session 13: Final Project Presentation
Session 14: Final Project Presentation