CSI 2012-2022

Celebrating 10 years of igniting collective imagination for a better future

For the last 10 years,
we have created inspiring, inclusive, technically grounded visions of the future by bringing together artists, authors, and educators with scientists, technologists, policy thinkers, and community members. We have published collections of science fiction, nonfiction, and art; led informal and formal education initiatives around science, technology, culture, and society; hosted public events and forums and created podcasts and videos about science fiction, media arts, and possible futures; conducted interdisciplinary research about collaboration and imagination; and more.

highlights

books published

2012

September
Official CSI launch event

November
First Science Fiction TV Dinner event, featuring Star Trek: The Original Series

2013

January
The Imagination Project, ASU student organization, forms

May
Press event and exhibit at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix

October
Sprint Beyond the Book activity at Frankfurt Book Fair, with Intel

2014

2015

2016

2017

January
25th Science Fiction TV dinner, featuring CSI: Cyber

April
NASA workshop: Narrative Projections for Commercial Space Futures

September
Kim Stanley Robinson delivers the 4th Imagination and Climate Futures lecture

October
EVOKE narrative hackathon with World Bank in Colombia

What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing

Frankenstein Book Cover Frankenstein written in angular typeface. Written by Mary Shelley. Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of all kinds. Edited by David H. Guston, Ed Finn, and Jason Scott Robert

Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds

Cover for Overview Stories in the Stratosphere

Overview: Stories in the Stratosphere

Cover for Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A collection of space Futures. Edited by Ed Finn and Joey Eschrich. Photo of the inside of a futuristic space station. A ship and planet can be seen outside the window.

Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures

2018

January-December
Frankenstein Bicentennial STEM events for learners and families at dozens of science museums across U.S.

January-February 
Frankenstein: Annotated featured on Science Friday’s public radio book club

June
Launch Frankenbook at Pioneer Works space in Brooklyn, New York

October
Frankenstein evening at Gammage, featuring performances from Southwest Shakespeare Company and ASU Chamber Orchestra

November
Future of Childhood Salon on Immersive Media and Child Development, hosted with Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Dubit

Drawn Futures: Arizona 2045

Frankenbook 
Open-access digital edition of Frankenstein: Annotated

2019

April 
Omar El Akkad (American War) delivers 5th Imagination and Climate Futures lecture

May 
AI Policy Futures workshop and public event in Washington, DC

December
CSI-originated story wins Sturgeon Award for best science fiction short, and A Year Without a Winter named one of NY Times’ best art books

Everything Change: An Anthology of Climate Fiction, Volume II

The Weight of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures

A Year Without a Winter

Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow

2020

January 
Launch of CSI’s podcast The Imagination Desk

February
40th Science Fiction TV Dinner event, featuring Stargate: SG-1

Narrative hackathon on solar cities at National Renewable Energy Laboratory

April
Us in Flux series of flash fiction stories and events on community, collaboration, and resilience

June
Launch of CSI Skill Tree, a virtual series on video games, worldbuilding, and futures thinking

October
Alien Zoo narrative development workshop with Dreamscape Immersive team

2021

March
Presentation to the Department of Energy’s Solar Technologies office about Cities of Light

September
Virtual launch event for Climate Imagination Fellowship with the British Library

October 
Climate futures workshop at TED Countdown Summit in Edinburgh with Kim Stanley Robinson and Vandana Singh

November 
FUTURES exhibition at Smithsonian Arts and Industries building, featuring stories and art created by CSI

EVOKE virtual narrative hackathon with World Bank

An illustration of a globe with representations of solar energy, forests, factories, and other technologies.

Everything Change: An Anthology of Climate Fiction, Volume III

Cities of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures

2022

April
Imagining Transportation Futures event with Sec. Pete Buttigieg and science fiction authors

May 
Accepted Women and Philanthropy award supporting the Veterans Imagination Project

Applied Sci-Fi project kickoff with workshop and event on “The Sci-Fi Feedback Loop: Mapping Fiction’s Influence on Real-World Tech”

June
Presentation about CSI futures methods to Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

November
Co-sponsor global Anticipation Conference at ASU Tempe

Book cover for Sickness, Systems, Solidarity. A composition in blue, yellow, and pink showing objects associated with the pandemic, like a face mask and a bottle of hand sanitizer, and objects asociated with gaming, like a video game console and a chess set.

Sickness, Systems, Solidarity: A Pandemics and Games Essay Jam

2023

Spring
Workshop on the future of orchestras with Alex Laing, principal clarinet at Phoenix Symphony

First cohort of Arizona STEM Teacher Fellows convening, funded by the ESSER grant

Fall
Host climate storytelling event with SciRens science filmmakers group at ASU Herald Examiner Building

Future Projects

Futures Thinking in K12

Personal Futures

Arizona Space Futures

Imagination Studies

Imagination Field Building

Reimagining Transmedia
Under contract, submitted for peer review with the MIT Press

Climate Action Almanac, supported by ClimateWorks Foundation grant
In preparation

Applied Sci-Fi book, supported by Sloan Foundation grant
In preparation

Imagination, Annotated series, with the MIT Press
In preparation

Monograph on imagination, by Ed Finn
In preparation