Projects
At the Center for Science and the Imagination, we pursue collaborative projects across many subjects and disciplines, exploring applied imagination, storytelling, technology in society, teaching and learning, and futures thinking. Here is a selection of our current and past projects. To learn more about our work, visit our About CSI page and check out our books and annual reports.
Current Projects
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Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
- Reimagining the education ecosystem in Arizona by supporting teachers and professional development organizations around the state.
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Imagination Salons
- A series of salons exploring how we can define, foster, and measure imagination, convened by collaborators across the U.S. and beyond.
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Climate Imagination ClimateWorks
- Positive climate futures, crafted by an international team of authors, grounded in real science and rooted in local geographies, cultures, and communities.
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Applied SciFi
- Events, research, and publications surveying how science fiction narratives can shape the development of real-world technologies.
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Veterans Imagination Project
- The Veterans Imagination Project (VIP) builds on traditional and proven transition services like career counseling and art therapy and infuses them with future-oriented insights to create a holistic intervention for career readiness.
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Sound Systems
- American orchestras face challenges relative to diversity, equity, relevance, sustainability. How do the embodied and cultural roles of performers and artists – enactors of aesthetic memories and futures – need to be reimagined and centered? What is the future of the orchestra?
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Solar Tomorrows Fellowship
- Creating educational materials on solar technologies, clean-energy transitions, and energy equity for learners throughout Arizona, from classrooms to newsrooms.
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Evoke
- Sponsored by the World Bank, this project brings together authors, artists, and experts to create stories, art, and instructional materials that inspire young people to solve global grand challenges.
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History of the Future
- Examining gripping cinematic visions of the future emanating from different moments in recent history.
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Imagination Desk
- In this occasional audio series, we chat with artists, scholars, and technologists about what inspires them and how they define and use imagination in their work.
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Applied Imagination Fellowship
- Our Applied Imagination Fellows work on projects to motivate transformative change, advance visions of inclusive futures, and explore how imagination is practiced by individuals and communities.
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Imaginary Papers
- Imaginary Papers is a quarterly newsletter. Each issue features brief pieces of writing from a diverse array of contributors, from scholars and journalists to cultural critics, and more. subscribe
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Skill Tree
- Examining and celebrating how video games imagine possible futures, build thought-provoking worlds, and engage people as active participants in interpreting stories.
Past Projects
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Us in Flux
- A series of short stories and virtual gatherings that explore how we might reimagine and reorganize our communities in the face of transformative change.
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Smithsonian Futures
- Envisioning the future of Smithsonian museums and research units through collaborative imagination sessions with curators and staff.
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Frankenstein Bicentennial
- Arizona State University served as the network hub for a global celebration of the bicentennial of the writing and publication of Frankenstein, 2016-2018.
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Hieroglyph
- Rekindling our grand ambitions for the future through hopeful, technically grounded visions of the near future by Neal Stephenson and other leading science fiction authors.
Veterans Imagination Project Community Workshops
Learn new skills to navigate your transition and define your post-service success.
Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
Arizona STEM Acceleration Project (ASAP) is a new initiative transforming how Arizona’s K-12 educators deliver high-quality, hands-on STEM activities to our state’s future leaders.
Hear From Past Participants
How VIP Can Change Your Trajectory
The Applied Sci-Fi Project
The Applied Sci-Fi Project, made possible by support from the Sloan Foundation, is an event series and research project that brings together science fiction writers, futurists, scholars, and technologists to
Everything Change: An Anthology of Climate Fiction, Volume III
A collection of short stories by writers from around the world, exploring the climate crisis and how human responses to it will shape the futures we will inhabit. Featuring winning stories from our 2020 Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest.
Get the bookEVOKE: The Collaborative Process
EVOKE: The Collaborative Process from Science & the Imagination on Vimeo.
Want to change the future? Start with a great story. EVOKE is a massive multi-player online educational game that uses narrative to help players develop 21st century skills and drive collaborative innovation.Imaginary Papers: Issue 19
Philipp Kürten, Chinelo Onwualu & Christopher Cokinos
CSI Skill Tree: Signs of the Sojourner
with Leigh Alexander and Mia Armstrong-López
History of the Future: Silent Running
On August 21st, 2024, ASU CSI will partner with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1972 sci-fi movie, “Silent Running”. Get tickets here!
Hopeful Climate Futures through Speculative Storytelling (Washington, DC)
Register (in person) Register (Zoom) Date and time: Tuesday, June 4, 2024, 12:00-1:30pm Eastern / 9:00-10:30am Arizona When we think of climate, the stories we tell about the future are
Imaginary Papers: Issue 18
Alexis Lothian, David J. Staley & Joey Eschrich
CSI Skill Tree: Mass Effect: Andromeda
with Souvik Mukherjee & Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay
Imagining Transmedia
A collection of essays exploring how the blurring of media forms—transmedia—became the default for how we experience narratives, and how that cultural transformation has redefined the worlds of education, entertainment, and our increasingly polarized public discourse.
2022/23 Annual Report
Center for Science and the Imagination celebrates 10 years
How To Transition From Soldier to Civilian
Bob Beard on how to make long-term plans amid the culture shock of civilian life. Slate.com
Veteran Imagination Project helps soldier dream big for next career
“You know, we’re trying to populate the desert, well you can’t do it without food,” said Curtis Merritt. Merritt is sharing his vision for the future of agriculture, one that
Program helps veterans reckon with reintegration
Veterans Imagination Project helps vets craft future narratives, find success ASU News
Imaginary Papers: Issue 17
Erin K. Wagner, Joe Tankersley & Joey Eschrich
CSI Skill Tree: Game Localization
with Siyang Gao & Emily Xueni Jin
The Climate Action Almanac
A collection of fiction, nonfiction, and art exploring positive climate futures, grounded in real science and in the complexities of diverse human and physical geographies.
History of the Future: Planet of the Vampires
On January 24, 2024, ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1965 Italian Sci-Fi classic “Planet of the Vampires.” The film was introduced by Dr. Serena Ferrando. Click here to read her introduction “Introducing Terrore nello spazio.”
History of the Future: Total Recall
On April 24, 2024, ASU CSI will partner with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1995 Sci-Fi Blockbuster “Total Recall.” Get tickets here!
History of the Future: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
On March 27, 2024, ASU CSI will partner with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1981 Post-Apocalyptic classic “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” Get tickets here!
History of the Future: Westworld (1973)
On February 28, 2024, ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1973 Sci-Fi classic “Westworld.” The film was introduced by series curator, Devan Hakkal. Read his introduction “An Epidemic in the Wild West” here.
Introducing Griots & Galaxies
This is a ten episode series hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Chinelo Onwualu, and Yvette Lisa Ndlovu that explores the work of ten African speculative fiction authors and imagining new futures for the continent.
Griots & Galaxies: Wole Talabi
In this conversation, Wole speaks about gods going on heists and how technologies hold the potential to bring us together in alternative histories and imagined futures.
Book Launch: Climate Action Almanac (Online)
Tracing Pathways to Positive Climate Futures Zoom Webinar – Register This event starts at 1:00 pm Arizona time, which is 12:00 pm Pacific and 3:00 pm Eastern. When we think
Griots & Galaxies: Kemi Ashing-Giwa
In this conversation, Kemi takes us to galaxies far, far away, reimagining the hero’s journey through African-centered space opera.
Griots & Galaxies: Suyi Davies
In this conversation, Suyi talks to us about godpunk, Stranger Things, and how to support African and other marginalized writers…
Griots & Galaxies: Tlotlo Tsamaase
In this conversation, Tlotlo talks with us about queerness, the dead, and how African surrealist stories illuminate the politics of African urban landscapes.
Imaginary Papers: Issue 16
David K. Seitz, Katherine Buse, Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal & Joey Eschrich
Griots & Galaxies: Chinelo Onwualu
In this special episode of Griots & Galaxies, Yvette interviews her cohost, editor and author Chinelo Onwualu. Chinelo shares with us her experiences as cofounder of Omenana and a forerunner in African speculative fiction…
CSI Skill Tree: Hypnospace Outlaw
with Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal & Katherine Buse
Griots & Galaxies: Shingai Njeri Kagunda
In this conversation, Shingai talks to us about building community across the African diaspora, and challenges us to consider that taking African knowledges seriously means rethinking time itself.
Griots & Galaxies: Temi Oh
In this conversation, Temi talks to us about neuroscience, corporate control, and how futures of AI technologies relate to histories of racism and colonialism.
Griots & Galaxies: Ayodele Olofintuade
In this conversation, Ayodele talks to us about African metaphysics and the importance of queer and gender-expansive characters to resisting colonization.
Griots & Galaxies: Tobi Ogundiran
In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Chinelo and Yvette sit down with critically-acclaimed author Tobi Ogundiran. In this conversation, Tobi takes us into horror and haunting, talking about how fairytales reveal what different societies fear–and lo…
Griots & Galaxies: Mohale Mashigo
In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Jenna sits down with award-winning singer/songwriter and author Mohale Mashigo. In this conversation, Mohale shares her experiences in multimedia storytelling, and questions if aliens are truly as scary as Weste…
Solar Tomorrows Project Lesson Plan
For Grades 9-12 Created by Annie Holub INTRODUCTION For Teachers This Solar Tomorrows Project was designed by Annie Holub over the summer of 2023 as part of the Solar Tomorrows Fellowship at
A Slice of Life in 2050: A Sci-Fi Documentary Discussion about Possible Solar-Powered Futures
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit North America in 2020, the Center for Science and Imagination and Center for Energy and Society at Arizona State University convened a collection of
Imaginary Papers: Issue 15
Mateo Díaz Choza, Devan Hakkal & Joey Eschrich
History of the Future: RoboCop
On September 20, 2023 ASU CSI will partner with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1987 action classic, RoboCop. The film will be introduced by Dr. Jenny Brian. Get tickets here!
History of the Future: The Truman Show
On October 18, 2023 ASU CSI will partner with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present 1998 cerebral blockbuster, The Truman Show. The film will be introduced by Bob Beard. Get tickets here!
History of the Future: Prospect
On November 8, 2023 ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 2018 independent film, Prospect, starring Pedro Pascal. The film was introduced by Dr. Jenna Hanchey. Click here to read her introduction “On Prospect.”
History of the Future: Rollerball
On August 16, 2023 ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1975 cult classic, Rollerball. The film was introduced by Matt Bell. Click here to read his introduction “Rollerball and the Future We’re Racing Towards .”
Michael G. Bennett
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Michael G. Bennett, a lawyer and legal scholar, scholar of science, technology and society, visual artist, and higher education leader. In this chat, we discuss different ways that artists use imagination…
Christopher Rowe
In this episode of The Imagination Desk, we sit down with science fiction and fantasy author Christopher Rowe to have a conversation about the relationship between imagination and faith, and how imagination influences our view of the universe. Chris…
Claudia Alick
In this episode of The Imagination Desk, we sit down with cultural producer, performer, and inclusion expert Claudia Alick. In this conversation, Claudia speaks about Black imagination and futures, and shares her perspectives on ways to create safer an…
CSI Skill Tree: Citizen Sleeper
with Gareth Damian Martin & Phoebe Wagner
History of the Future: Outland
On February 15, 2023 ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1981 space western, Outland. The film was introduced by Dr. Ben Fong.
History of the Future: Soylent Green
On January 18, 2023, ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 1973 eco-thriller, Soylent Green. The film was introduced by Dr. Christy Spackman. Click here to read her introduction “Can you see the cow? On Jell-O, Mormon Musicals, and Soylent Green.”
Reimagining “The Future of [X]” (Online)
How to Build Collective Visions of the Future Using Sci-Fi & Foresight Tools What is the future of [X]? Over the past decade, there has been a growing trend of
Imaginary Papers: Issue 14
Jenna N. Hanchey, Erin K. Wagner & Joey Eschrich
History of the Future: Her
On April 19, 2023 ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill to present the 2013 science-fiction romantic comedy, Her. The film was introduced by Dr. Ed Finn. Read his introduction “Navigating Love and Artificial Intelligence in a Rapidly Evolving World” here.
CSI Skill Tree: Mutazione
with Pamela Carralero & Matthew Derby
Solar Tomorrows Fellowship
The Solar Tomorrows Fellowship reaches educators and learners of all ages throughout Arizona through educational materials about solar technologies and choices, clean-energy transitions, and issues of energy equity and justice.
History of the Future: Terminator 2
On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, ASU CSI partnered with Majestic Neighborhood Cinema Grill for a screening of Terminator 2. The film was introduced by Dr. Aviva Dove-Viebahn. Click here to read her introduction “Terminator 2: The Evolution of a Sci-Fi Icon.”
Imaginary Papers: Issue 13
The Future of Energy Ownership
Clark A. Miller Energy Democracies for Sustainable Futures
Redesigning Political Economy: The Promise and Peril of a Green New Deal for Energy
Clark A. Miller The Green New Deal and the Future of Work
Helping veterans transition to civilian careers
Program Director Bob Beard and former participant Erik Villegas appear on Arizona PBS to explain more about the methods used and why thinking about the future can be a helpful tool in military to civilian transition.
Visionary Histories
When someone says they want to know the future of something, what they are really saying is they want to know what the state or behavior of some complex adaptive system is going to be at point n in the future. Visionary Histories makes the case for the disciplined study of the future via the historical method, arguing that historians are well-positioned to anticipate the possible future behaviors of a wide variety of systems.
Imaginary Papers: Issue 12
Zoyander Street, Jason Tashea & Joey Eschrich
Applied Imagination Fellows Project Report: Ian Edwards
Applied Imagination Fellows Project Report: Sultan Sharrief
Applied Imagination Fellows Project Report: Panthea Lee
Applied Imagination Fellows Project Report: Regina Kanyu Wang
Applied Imagination Fellows Project Report: ImagiNasi by Benjamin Ong
Fabrice Guerrier
This episode of Imagination Desk features Fabrice Guerrier. In this conversation, Fabrice discusses how he uses imagination, and how imagination can be used to create better social futures.
Laura Tohe
This episode of the Imagination Desk features Laura Tohe, poet laureate of the Navajo Nation for 2015-2019, discussing how imagination informs her work and how it is used in both the poetry community and Indigenous communities.
Corey Pressman
This episode of Imagination Desk features Corey Pressman. In this conversation, Corey discusses what applied imagination means to him, his work, and the future.
Lisa K. Solomon
This episode of Imagination Desk features Lisa Kay Solomon. In this conversation, Lisa discusses different applications of design thinking and futures thinking, and incorporating creativity and imagination into interdisciplinary fields and everyday life.
Annual Report 2021/22
Center for Science and the Imagination Annual Report 2021-22 PDF Annual Report 2021-22 EPUB
Fabrice Guerrier
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Fabrice Guerrier, who sits down with us to explore topics including the relationship between imagination and the physical world, how imagination can be used to to come up with better solutions to current is…
Laura Tohe
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Laura Tohe. In this conversation, Laura dives into the role imagination plays in communities, specifically Navajo communities. We also discuss the importance of language in her community, and the impact of …
Corey Pressman
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Corey Pressman. In this conversation, Corey discusses inquisitive topics including the effects of imagination on mental health and culture, the link between imagination and materialism, and how he uses imag…
Lisa Kay Solomon
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Lisa K. Solomon. In this conversation, Lisa talks about practicing imagination in the classroom, listening to and learning from our peers, and collaboratively building inclusive futures. Lisa Kay Solomon is…
The Island, by Elsa Sjunneson
A story about ability and disability, journalism, and creating adaptable communities.
Imaginary Papers: Issue 11
Lafayette Cruise, Azucena Castro & Joey Eschrich
Sympathy, by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
A story by Suyi Davies Okungbowa about children, robots, and bureaucracy.
Us In Flux Conversations: Suyi Davies Okungbowa & Lance Gharavi
University, Speaking, by Phoebe Wagner
A story by Phoebe Wagner about reimagining universities as radically open to their communities, and better attuned to addressing local challenges.
Us In Flux Conversations: Phoebe Wagner & Punya Mishra
CSI Skill Tree: Sound and Worldbuilding in Video Games
with Amos Roddy & Tochi Onyebuchi
Becoming Birch, by Carter Meland
A story by Carter Meland about rock music, unexpected connections, and northern Minnesota forests.
Us In Flux Conversations: Carter Meland & Grace Dillon
Solutions for unfinished learning
ASU News
Imaginary Papers: Issue 10
Pippa Goldschmidt, Paul Cockburn & Joey Eschrich
The Sci-Fi Feedback Loop: Mapping Fiction’s Influence on Real-World Tech
May 12, 2022
Life After Carbon Imagining the City of the Future
Clark Miller Event – Video
Cities of Light: How Will Solar Energy Transform Urban Futures?
Clark A. Miller Event – video
Building Solar Cities Rethinking How Cities Get Their Power
Clark A. Miller Event – video
CSI Skill Tree: Cloud Gardens
with Ken Liu & Izzy Fiacco
Ubiquitous Collaborative Support (UbiCoS)
A novel multi-platform approach to scaffolding math learning and encouraging student collaboration.
Boomtown
by The Weight of Light and Cities of Light collaborator Andrew Dana Hudson, in the anthology Phase Change: Imagining Energy Futures (2022)
Sickness, Systems, Solidarity: A Pandemics and Games Essay Jam
The global cataclysm of COVID-19, and the quarantines and social distancing that have accompanied the still-unfolding pandemic, has brought enormous changes to the games industry, the ways we play videogames (and physical games) alone and together, and the meaning and content of games old and new.
Andrew Dana Hudson: Our Shared Storm
Speculative fiction writer and sustainability researcher Andrew Dana Hudson discusses his book, five interlocking novelettes exploring the possible realities of our climate future.
Imagination project helps student veterans see their future more clearly
Scott Bordow, ASU News
Imaginary Papers: Issue 9
Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, Bob Beard & Joey Eschrich
“Planetary Reversal: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Utopian Plan to Save the Planet”
A Lecture by N. Katherine Hayles Presented by ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination and the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict Rescuing the planet from climate chaos
Annual Report 2020/21
Annual Report 2020-2021 PDF Annual Report 2020-2021 EPUB
Solar Futures: an Interview with ASU’s Joey Eschrich & Clark Miller
Solarpunk Futures podcast
CSI Skill Tree: Outer Wilds
with Randy Smith & Luc Riesbeck
Kamila
Kamila is the apple of her parents’ eye: a brilliant student with a quick wit who wanted to change the world with science and technology. She had a future —
Marcel
The Taliban has re-taken Afghanistan. When Marcel chooses to let her disabled brother leave the country ahead of her, she has no idea if she will ever see her family
Andre
Andre left his country after University when one of his film projects was banned by the government and they persecuted and threatened to jail him. He returned secretly to save
Carlos
Carlos is just like any other young man in his twenties: he wants a chance to make his own way in the world, and define himself on his own terms.
Gladys
Gladys loved her life on the farm: the big open skies, the stars, the chance to see wildlife before it disappeared. And she loved raising her children there, even though
Stay in the Airplane
Smithsonian Futures Exhibit
Smithsonian
Not Your Typical AI
Dark Possibilities and Grim Realities
What We Think About When We Think About AI
Welcome To Sci-Fi House
Brian David Johnson
In this episode of the Imagination Desk, we sat down with ASU futurist in residence Brian David Johnson. In this chat, we talk with Brian about his work on artificial intelligence and introduce his new podcast called Sci-Fi House Presents Imagining Int…
Crafting Climate Futures: From Story to Policy (Online)
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow presents an opportunity for decisive global action amidst escalating climate chaos. Now, more than ever, we need narratives of positive climate futures
Imaginary Papers: Issue 8
Lena Nguyen, Dagmar Van Engen & Joey Eschrich
A sci-fi story of Earth’s renewal
EcoFutures Climate Justice Project
Today’s escalating climate chaos is intensified by global threats to democracy, violent backlashes to migration, and horrific biodiversity loss. Furthermore, environmental degradation is exacerbating existing inequalities, with poor and marginalized
Imagining Our Climate Futures (Online)
If we hope to achieve the global will and cooperation needed to meet the challenges of the climate crisis, we need stories of hope and transformation, not just disaster and
ASU’s Veterans Imagination Project Aims To Help Veterans Envision New Career Paths
By Steve Goldstein
The Days After Tomorrow: Climate Fiction for the Future
Can we reimagine our relationship with nature and protect the future? How can we marshal our collective imagination to accelerate global transformations and move towards a sustainable way of life?
Workshop on Reimagining Climate Futures
Join the Center for Science and the Imagination, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG), and the UK Science and Innovation Network for a workshop that brings together innovative
Postcards from the Future
Create a digital postcard from the future, with concept art by João Queiroz.
Meet the Climate Imagination Fellows
Unlocking Our Climate Imagination
When we imagine our climate future, it’s easy to drift towards catastrophe, especially in view of this summer’s shocking examples of climate chaos—from floods and sinkholes to heat domes and
CSI Skill Tree: Kentucky Route Zero
with Zoyander Street & Rachel Carr
Imaginary Papers: Issue 7
Damien P. Williams, Nilanjana Bhattacharjya & Joey Eschrich
Applied Imagination Fellows 2021-22
Our fellows are exploring how imagination can motivate transformative change.
Imagination Salons
Imagination is a fundamental human capacity, practiced by individuals, communities, and cultures the world over. The act of imagination, creating mental images and simulations beyond our direct, physical experience, is
CSI Skill Tree: In Other Waters
with Lisa Yin Han & Hilairy Hartnett
Moscow author’s story lands in climate fiction anthology
Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Idaho)
Indigenous Futurisms And Climate Fiction
Tom Maxedon Word podcast, KJZZ 91.5 public radio
Imaginary Papers: Issue 6
Lisa Yin Han, Jonathon Keats & Ruth Wylie
Sarena Ulibarri and Ed Finn on Solarpunk
How Do You Like It So Far? podcast
Cities of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures
A collection of science fiction stories, art, and essays exploring how the transition to solar energy will transform cities; catalyze revolutions in politics, governance, and culture; and create diverse futures for human communities.
Claire Vaye Watkins: Climate Writing (Online)
Join Claire Vaye Watkins, award-winning author of the climate fiction novel Gold Fame Citrus and the short fiction collection Battleborn, for a virtual reading and a conversation about climate writing.
Sci-Fi TV Dinner Small Bites: The Mailbox (Online)
Our Science Fiction TV Dinner series is going virtual for 2020-2021, to help keep our community safe during the pandemic. We’re shifting the format slightly, presenting Science Fiction TV Small
Arizona State University’s Free Solarpunk Anthology is All About Optimistic Futures
Andrew Liptak, Tor.com
Cities of Light: A discussion on the impact of a solar future
Justin Spangenthal, The State Press
Applied Imagination Fellowship
The Center for Science and the Imagination invites applications for its new Applied Imagination Fellowship. The fellowship is inspired by our belief that imagination is a crucial but often overlooked resource that serves as the ignition system for empathy, anticipation, and resilience. Learn more
How imagining our own extinction may save us
Pauline Holdsworth, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
Cities of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures
A collection of science fiction stories, art, and essays exploring how the transition to solar energy will transform cities; catalyze revolutions in politics, governance, and culture; and create diverse futures for human communities.
Get the bookKatie Bouman
Katie Bouman is an assistant professor of computing and mathematical sciences, electrical engineering, and astronomy at Caltech in Pasadena, California. In this episode, we talk about scientific collaboration, imagination, and Katie’s work on the Event…
Imaginary Papers: Issue 5
Emma Kostopolus, Malik Toms, and Joey Eschrich
Annual Report 2019/20
Annual Report 2019/20 PDF Annual Report 2019/20 EPUB
Sci-Fi TV Dinner Small Bites: Akoota (Online)
Our Science Fiction TV Dinner series is going virtual for 2020-2021, to help keep our community safe during the pandemic. We’re shifting the format slightly, presenting Science Fiction TV Small
CSI Skill Tree: Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
with Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay & Arkady Martine
Moya Bailey
Moya Bailey is a Black queer feminist scholar, writer, and activist. She is the co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice and has a new book Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance coming out May 2021. In this …
Sci-Fi TV Dinner Small Bites: Ellipse (Online)
Our Science Fiction TV Dinner series is going virtual for 2020-2021, to help keep our community safe during the pandemic. We’re shifting the format slightly, presenting Science Fiction TV Small
Frankenbook Teachers’ Resource
Imaginary Papers: Issue 4
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Katherine Buse and Joey Eschrich
CSI Skill Tree: 80 Days and Africa & Africans in Video Games
with Deji Bryce Olukotun
Stories of Algorithmic Justice (Online)
We often cling to the idea that artificially intelligent systems are neutral arbiters, despite knowing that these systems can only be as good as the parameters and data sets that
CSI Skill Tree: Time and Emotion in Video Games
with Jessica L. Conditt & Tochi Onyebuchi
Imagination, Dreams and Empathy With Ed Finn
Join Ed Finn, associate professor and director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, as he explains why imagination is the ignition system for all
Sci-Fi TV Dinner Small Bites: A Love Letter to the Ancestors from Chicago (Online)
Our Science Fiction TV Dinner series is going virtual for 2020-2021, to help keep our community safe during the pandemic. We’re shifting the format slightly, presenting Science Fiction TV Small
“Tomorrow Is Another Daze” by Ernest Hogan
Us in Flux: Conversations—Ernest Hogan and Frederick Luis Aldama [Video—Past Event]
“Even God Has a Place Called Home” by Ray Mwihaki
Us in Flux: Conversations—Ray Mwihaki and Christopher Rowe [Video—Past Event]
Imaginary Papers: Issue 3
Troy L. Wiggins, Kate Greene & Joey Eschrich
CSI Skill Tree: Waking Mars
with Katherine Buse & Steven Desch
“The Wandering City,” by Usman T. Malik
Us in Flux: Conversations—Usman T. Malik and James Graham [Video—Past Event]
“A Cyber-Cuscuta Manifesto” by Regina Kanyu Wang
Using design-based research to improve peer help-giving in a middle school math classroom
Mawasi, A., Ahmed, I., Walker, E., Wang, S., Marasli, Z., Whitehurst, A., & Wylie, R.
International Conference on the Learning Sciences.
Us in Flux: Conversations—Regina Kanyu Wang and Athena Aktipis [Video–Past Event]
CSI Skill Tree: Subsurface Circular
with Izzy Fiacco & Malik Toms
“Notice” by Sarah Pinsker
Us in Flux: Conversations— Sarah Pinsker and Punya Mishra [Video–Past Event]
“Fourth and Most Important” by Nisi Shawl
Us in Flux: Conversations— Nisi Shawl and Ayana Jamieson [Video–Past Event]
The Art of Us in Flux: An Interview with Nina Miller
A conversation about art that visualizes the future, creative expression in moments of crisis, and how art can be a path into fictional worlds.
“Skating Without Streetlights” by Tina Connolly
Imaginary Papers: Issue 2
Indrapramit Das, Jessie Rack & Joey Eschrich
Us in Flux: Conversations— Tina Connolly and Dennis Bonilla [Video–Past Event]
“A Room of One’s Own” by Tochi Onyebuchi
Us in Flux: Conversations—Tochi Onyebuchi and Michael G. Bennett [Video–Past Event]
“When We Call a Place Home” by Chinelo Onwualu
Us in Flux: Conversations—Chinelo Onwualu and Robert Evans [Video–Past Event]
Imagining and Designing Low-Carbon Futures
video lecture at University of Oklahoma, by Clark A. Miller, coeditor of The Weight of Light and Cities of Light
“An Attempt at Exhausting My Deck” by Kij Johnson
Us in Flux: Conversations—Kij Johnson and Jessie Rack [Video—Past Event]
“The Parable of the Tares” by Christopher Rowe
Us in Flux: Conversations—Christopher Rowe and Michael Bell [Video—Past Event]
Jonathan Alexander
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Jonathan Alexander. Jonathan is Professor of English and Informatics at The University of California, Irvine and author of books such as Writing Youth: Young Adult Fiction as Literacy Sponsorship (2016) and…
Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest 2020
What would our world look like if we actually respected and lived within planetary boundaries? We’re excited to announce our third global climate fiction short story contest. Learn more…
Imaginary Papers: Issue 1
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Torie Bosch & Joey Eschrich
YACHT
This episode of The Imagination Desk features the band YACHT or Young Americans Challenging High Technology. We spoke with them about their new album Chain Tripping and it’s use of machine learning.
Paolo Bacigalupi
This episode of The Imagination Desk features science fiction heavy-weight Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Water Knife and Shipbreaker. We caught up with him in this bonus episode to discuss the changes in his writing process as well as his latest proj…
Maureen McHugh
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Maureen McHugh. Maureen is an author and narrative designer who has worked on some of the biggest transmedia stories and alternate reality games (ARGs) in the history of the medium including The Beast for S…
Matt Derby
This episode of The Imagination Desk features Matt Derby. Matt is a writer and designer who works on innovative media projects where these two disciplines meet. Matt is a designer at the game studio Harmonix, the co-writer of the serialized fiction pod…
Anne Cofell Saunders
Our first interview for The Imagination Desk features Anne Cofell Saunders. Anne is an award-winning TV writer and producer, who has worked on some of the most popular genre shows of the past decade including Battlestar Galactica, Chuck, Smallville, an…
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Stargate SG-1
A classic work of military science fiction TV, Stargate SG-1 plunges humans into a new cosmology shaped by stargates: devices that create wormholes, enabling near-instantaneous travel across vast distances of
Black Futures Reader
A collection of recommended media to experience more Black Futures.
Future Tense Fiction Book Launch: Washington, DC
Join us to celebrate the launch of Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow, a new anthology of science fiction from Future Tense, with France Córdova, director of the National Science
Climate Justice in India
Upcoming book project
Future Tense Fiction: Double Spiral
By Marcy Kelly
Future Tense Fiction Book Launch: New York
Join us at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice to celebrate the launch of Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow, a new anthology of science fiction from Future Tense,
Future Tense Fiction: What the Dead Man Said
By Chinelo Onwualu
Future Tense Fiction Book Launch: San Francisco
Join us to celebrate the launch of Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow, a new anthology of science fiction from Future Tense, with award-winning fiction authors Annalee Newitz, Meg Elison,
Future Tense Fiction Book Launch: Phoenix
Join us to celebrate the launch of Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow, a new anthology of science fiction from Future Tense, with award-winning fiction authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Maureen
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Max Headroom
A true 1980s pop-culture oddity, Max Headroom is a cyberpunk satire of the 21st century where the world is controlled by a cabal of shadowy, ruthless TV networks (example: “off”
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Star Trek: Discovery
The first Trek series born in the age of Prestige TV, Star Trek: Discovery presents a gritty, stubbornly weird, and ethically challenging take on Trek‘s spacefaring, post-scarcity future. Discovery asks
Announcing Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow
by Torie Bosch, SLATE
Review: Future Tense Fiction
Kirkus Reviews
Frankenstein at 200
By Renee Anderson Lawfare
Future Tense Fiction: Zero in Babel
By E. Lily Yu
Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow
An anthology of mind-bending science fiction short stories by some of the top authors in the field, drawn from our Future Tense Fiction project. How will living with scientific upheaval and technological transformation change the world–and us?
Facing the Pariah of Science: The Frankenstein Myth as a Social and Ethical Reference for Scientists
Peter Nagy, Ruth Wylie, Joey Eschrich, Ed Finn Science and Engineering Ethics
Should we make AI more human?
Patrick McGurrin
2019 Campbell and Sturgeon Awards Winners
Locus Magazine
Future Tense Fiction: Space Leek
By Chen Qiufan
Co-Design for Learner Help-Giving Across Physical and Digital Contexts
Ahmed, I., Girotto, V., Mawasi, A., Whitehurst, A., Wylie, R., & Walker, E.
International Conference on the Learning Sciences
Investigating help-giving behavior in a cross-platform learning environment
Ahmed, I., Mawasi, A., Wang, S., Wylie, R., Bergner, Y., Whitehurst, A., & Walker, E
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education
Starred Review:Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow
Publishers Weekly
Monster algorithms: Ed Finn
by Athena Aktipis and Dave Lundberg-Kenrick, Zombified Podcast
Future Tense Fiction: No Moon and Flat Calm
by Elizabeth Bear
Approaches to Light
This biography of a dawn traces one particular sunrise through poetry, photography, and lived experience as it played out from four different vantage points on the San Francisco Peaks. This collection is inspired by James Turrell’s land art project at Roden Crater in Northern Arizona.
Future Tense Fiction: The Song Between Worlds
By Indrapramit Das
17 Writers on the Role of Fiction in Addressing Climate Change
by Amy Brady, Literary Hub
Five ASU affiliates who are using their art to make change in their communities
by Chelsea Hofmann, The State Press
ASU ebook ‘Weight of Light’ provides a vision of a solar future
by Nick Hedges, The State Press
Center for Science and the Imagination event puts the science in science fiction
by Endia Fontanez, The State Press
Climate Change Fiction for Students and Teachers
by Sarah Outterson-Murphy Morningside Center
The Scout Report: March 29, 2019
The Scout Report (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Big Rural (reprint)
by Cat Rambo, Motherboard – VICE
The Arisen
by Louisa Hall
Authors, artists explore solar futures in new anthology
by Joey Eschrich, ASU Now
Friday Field Notes 032219
Solar Cascade
Can Climate Change Fiction Build Consensus, Empathy?
by Brooke Ruth and Mark Sauer, KPBS (San Diego)
Science Fiction Frames: Black Mirror and the Search for True Love
Gr8estIdeaEver
A collection of science fiction stories, art… [Post about Weight of Light]
Solarpunks.net
Announcing The Weight of Light
ASU Science & Imagination
Emerge 2019 celebrates invention
Ride an ornithopter, interact with robot marionettes and explore the theme of “Invention!,” celebrating human inventiveness on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci.
Mpendulo: The Answer
By Nosipho Dumisa
When ‘Everything’ Is Changing, Stories Have A Role To Play
by Jason Sheehan, NPR Books
How sci-fi could help solve climate change
by Zoe Sayler, Salon.com
We’re overdoing dystopian sci-fi. Can we please take a break?
by Gautham Shenoy, Factor Daily
CRISPR Rampage
Patrick McGurrin
How sci-fi could help solve climate change
by Zoe Sayler, Canada’s National Observer
Speculating on the Blockchain Beyond Cryptocurrencies
by Andrew Hageman, Los Angeles Review of Books
The Weight of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures
A collection of science fiction stories, art, and essays exploring human futures powered by solar energy, with an upbeat, solarpunk twist. What will it be like to live in the photon societies of tomorrow? How will a transition to clean, plentiful energy transform our values, markets, and politics?
Get the bookEmerge 2019: Invention!
Emerge is a festival of art, science, and technology devoted to creative imagination and experiences of tomorrow. Ride an ornithopter, interact with robot marionettes and explore the theme of “Invention!,”
How sci-fi could help solve climate change
by Zoe Sayler, Grist
How sci-fi could help solve climate change
By Zoe Sayler Grist
In the face of climate chaos, writers find grief and hope
by Joey Eschrich, ASU Now
A New Cli-Fi Collection You Can Download For Free
by Amy Brady, Chicago Review of Books
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Over the past 42 years, the Star Wars universe has grown beyond galaxy-spanning battles between an evil empire and acrobatic warrior monks to encompass a multitude of stories about diversity, resilience, courage,
The Story of the American War with Omar El Akkad
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019, 6:00PM | Ventana Ballroom, Memorial Union In this year’s annual Imagination and Climate Futures Lecture, Omar El Akkad talks about how he came to write his debut novel, American War – the events that inspired it, the references buried throughout the text and the places he visited to research the book.
Kamala Harris is wrong about science fiction
by Charlie Jane Anders, The Washington Post
Everything Change: An Anthology of Climate Fiction, Volume II
A collection of short stories by an international group of authors, drawn from our 2018 Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest, plus a foreword by our lead judge, Kim Stanley Robinson.
Get the bookWhy Climate Fiction?
Andrew Dana Hudson
A free book of science fiction from around the world about climate change, introduced by Kim Stanley Robinson
by Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
Thoughts and Prayers
by Ken Liu
Literally, Stories of Climate Change
by Joey Eschrich and Angie Dell, iMPACT magazine
When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis
by Annalee Newitz
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Person of Interest
In just a few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has shifted from the stuff of futuristic dreams to a ubiquitous part of our daily lives. In a moment of dizzying change,
Future Tense Fiction: Overvalued
The Scientific Origins of Frankenstein
by Javier Yanes, BBVA OpenMind
Don’t Be Scared of Killer Robots
by Ed Finn The New York Times
Center for Science and the Imagination and Open Technology Institute Launch “AI Policy Futures”
“Science fiction stories exert a powerful influence on how we think about technology and the future. But if we spend all of our time looking over our shoulders for killer robots, that means we are not looking ahead to discern the outcomes we might actually want.”
The History of the Future of Transportation
Joey Eschrich
Ghost Stories in the Machine
Andrew Dana Hudson
Burned-Over Territory
Frankenstein at 200
by Jennifer Schuessler The New York Times
Lions and Gazelles
How humans fit into Google’s machine future
by Ed Finn and Andrew Maynard The Conversation
When We Were Patched
ASU Chamber Orchestra: ‘Frankenstein!’ at Mesa Arts Center
Buy tickets The Jeffery Meyer conducts the ASU Chamber Orchestra as they embark on a musical exploration of Frankenstein themes as part of the ASU Frankenstein Bicentennial Project. Concerts at
ASU Chamber Orchestra: Frankenstein! at ASU Gammage
Buy Tickets Frankenstein! Part of the ASU Frankenstein Bicentennial Project ASU Chamber Orchestra Jeffery Meyer, Conductor David Schildkret, Chansonnier The ASU Chamber Orchestra embarks on a musical exploration of Frankenstein
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Torchwood
The BBC’s Torchwood, a spin-off of Doctor Who, centers on a team of investigators working in secret, “outside the government, beyond the police,” to protect Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Battlestar Galactica
What are the challenges of sustaining a human society in space? How should we govern ourselves and endure political crises in an environment dangerously starved of resources? More importantly, how
Some of us are born in orbit
Jessie Rack
Monsters
ASU Science & Imagination
The Starfish Girl
We Have Always Died in the Castle
In this novella, award-winning science fiction and fantasy author Elizabeth Bear and artist Melissa Gay imagine a near future informed by visceral VR simulations to catalyze positive change.
Get the bookA Brief and Fearful Star
Phoenix will no longer be Phoenix if Waymo’s driverless-car experiment succeeds
By Ed Finn MIT Technology Review
Frankenbook
A collaborative reading experiment with Mary Shelley’s classic novel.
Frankenbook: collective annotations on Mary Shelley’s 200 year old novel “Frankenstein”
By Cory Doctorow Boing Boing
200 Years of Frankenstein: Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece as a Lens on Today’s Most Pressing Questions of Science, Ethics, and Human Creativity
By Maria Popova Brain Pickings
What have we learned from science’s most infamous doctor-patient relationship?
Massive Science
Future Tense Fiction: Safe Surrender
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Short Fiction Roundup: April 2018
Maria Haskins
Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog
Imaginary Worlds: Living in Space
People have fantasized for ages about what it would be like to live in space. If Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos achieve their goals with Space X and Blue Origin,
Gardner Dozois Reviews Short Fiction: Lightspeed, Asimov’s, Analog, and F&SF
Gardner Dozois
Locus Magazine
A Year Without a Winter
A collection that brings together science fiction, history, visual art, and exploration, inspired by the literary “dare” that would give birth to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein amidst the aftermath of a massive volcanic eruption. Named one of the top art books of 2019 by the New York Times.
Future Tense Fiction: Domestic Violence
History of the Future: Demolition Man
Buy Tickets This summer, FilmBar and Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination are going back to the future. This second installment of The History of the Future
History of the Future: They Live
Buy Tickets This summer, FilmBar and Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination are going back to the future. This second installment of The History of the Future
History of the Future: Logan’s Run
Buy Tickets This summer, FilmBar and Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination are going back to the future. This second installment of The History of the Future
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
What would it be like to actually dwell in space? What challenges might bedevil us as we tried to live well in such a vast and inhospitable place? What opportunities
ASU creates interactive moon colony exhibit
Fox 10 News
There are wonderful holes in my brain
Jessie Rack
Explore a prototype moon colony this weekend at ASU
AZFamily.com
ASU Emerge to create a moon colony on campus
Mary Beth Faller ASU Now
The Enduring Influence of a Dangerous Narrative: How Scientists Can Mitigate the Frankenstein Myth
Bioethical Inquiry
Peter Nagy, Ruth Wylie, Joey Eschrich and Ed Finn
Robotniks for Robots
Corey S. Pressman
Science Fiction TV Dinner: The Jetsons and Other Classic Cartoons
Classic cartoons like The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound, and Beany and Cecil powerfully shape our vision of the world around us, including the way that we understand science and technology. These series have enduring power
Emerge: Luna City 2175
Emerge will transform ASU’s Galvin Playhouse into a rich, immersive experience grounded in space-science research and the inspirational vision of our Writer-at-Large, Kim Stanley Robinson. Come see, hear, touch and
Because the wolves are shot
By Jessie Rack “Coyote” by Jitze Couperus, licensed under CC BY 2.0 What do you really know about coyotes? Maybe you’ve heard the official line about the economic consequences of coyotes
Future Tense Fiction: Mother of Invention
A new short story by the author of Marvel’s Black Panther: Long Live the King, Nnedi Okorafor.
What Black Panther Could Mean for the Afrofuturism Movement
By Michael Bennett
Slate – Future Tense
Science Fiction Frames: The Incredible Logic Dilemma
Patrick McGurrin
Farewell, ‘Frankenstein’
Ira Flatow and Christie Taylor
Science Friday
It’s Aliiiiiive! Celebrating The 200th Anniversary Of ‘Frankenstein’
Steve Goldstein, Sarah Ventre
KJZZ
Footnotes to Frankenstein
Jon Turney
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Drawn Futures: Arizona 2045
A science-based comic book for 5th through 8th grade students. Created by award-winning comics authors and advised by ASU sustainability scholar Dr. Paul Hirt, this original story envisions the near future of Arizona’s energy systems.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Westworld
Westworld examines timeless dilemmas about free will, individual identity, and the fundamental altruism or savagery of human nature through the lens of artificial intelligence and robotics. Building on motifs from a
Frankenstein game teaches kids about science
Erin Blakemore
Washington Post
Rummaging through the Queer Closets of James Whale’s Frankenstein Films
In 1931 and 1935, respectively, James Whale, classical Hollywood’s most openly gay filmmaker, directed Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, the two most famous, admired, imitated, and parodied films based upon elements of Mary
Future Tense Fiction: The Minnesota Diet
A new short story from the author of the Nebula Award–winning All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders.
Frankenstein 200: America’s science museums celebrate the bicentennial of Mary Shelley’s Frankestein with a free, amazing transmedia experience
BoingBoing
ASU’s newly-published collection of sci-fi stories has people talking about space
Horizon Arizona PBS
Man as God: ‘Frankenstein’ Turns 200
Marcelo Gleiser NPR – 13.7 Cosmos and Culture
Sci Fri Book Club: ‘Frankenstein’
Science Friday
Science Fiction TV Dinner: The Good Wife
The Good Wife is a legal drama with salacious political overtones and an unusually complex and thought-provoking approach to emerging technology and the law—in 2013, Wired magazine called it “the
Workshop: “Writing to Change Minds” with Slate’s Torie Bosch
Stubbornness may be the defining characteristic of the moment we’re in. People seem increasingly reluctant to listen to other points of view or deviate from their tribe. So how can
‘Frankenstein’ Has Become a True Monster
Ed Finn and David H. Guston The Wall Street Journal
Arizona State University challenges experts, authors to imagine space futures
New research-based collection features narratives by top science fiction authors, essays by experts on future possibilities for exploring Mars, Asteroids, Low Earth Orbit, and Exoplanets.
Out of Control
Richard Holmes
The New York Review of Books
Space Is Not a Void
By Joey Eschrich and Ed Finn
Future Tense – Slate
Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures
Bruce Sterling
Wired – Beyond the Beyond
Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures
Why should we go to space? Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities takes on the challenge of imagining new stories at the intersection of public and private—narratives that use the economic and social history of exploration, as well as current technical and scientific research, to inform scenarios for the future of the “new space” era.
Get the book‘Black Panther’ isn’t just another Marvel movie — it’s a vision of a future led by blackness
by Xavier Harding Mic
The Rightful Place of Science: Frankenstein
A collection of essays by scholars, journalists, scientists, and policy experts, taking the bicentenary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as an occasion to explore issues of scientific creativity and responsibility.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Joss Whedon’s cult-classic series Buffy the Vampire Slayer continues to fascinate feminists, genre aficionados, and those of us who are hopelessly nostalgic for the late 1990s. Join us for a special Halloween
Art by Algorithm
Ed Finn
Aeon
Climate Change Nurtures a New Genre of Science Fiction
Steve Goldstein
KJZZ 91.5
Margaret Atwood, Prophet?
Ed Finn
Slate – Future Tense
Earth Day Short Fiction: Harold
Jeanne Dietsch
Drawn Futures: Arizona 2045
Drawn Futures: Arizona 2045 is a science-based comic book for 5th through 8th grade students. Created by award-winning comics authors and advised by ASU sustainability scholar Dr. Paul Hirt, this original story envisions the near future of Arizona’s energy systems.
Learn more…
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Fringe
Fringe is a police procedural tailored for a conspiracy-addled culture: a fever dream of near-future biotechnology research, Timothy Leary-esque 1960s counterculture, and the seemingly ineluctable creep of corporate governance. Created by
Overview: Stories in the Stratosphere
A collection of science fiction, art, and speculative timelines exploring the near future of the stratosphere. From Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Martian, great science fiction stories have shaped how we think about voyages into deep space—but what gripping confrontations and adventures might unfold in near space, above the clouds?
Ulises I
Ulises I is an art mission to space by the Colectivo Espacial Mexicano. This is a personal journal, photographic record, and collection of essays documenting the mission, by Juan José Díaz Infante and other collaborators. Note: This is a beta version of the Ulises I book.
Engineering a Superhero
ASU Science & Imagination
Flatliners: Unexpected Frankensteins
Get tickets Frankenstein! Beyond green skin and neck bolts, what else comes to mind? Environmental degradation? The technological singularity? Vicious high school cliques? FilmBar and Arizona State University’s Center for
Her: Unexpected Frankensteins
Forget Alexa – here’s an artificial intelligence you can truly fall for. Join us Wednesday, July 19 at FilmBar Phoenix for Spike Jonze’s visionary “Her,” part of our Unexpected Frankensteins
CSI Conversations: Cory Doctorow
Cory talks about his new novel Walkaway and his essay in the book Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds, a new critical edition edited by the leaders of ASU’s Frankenstein Bicentennial Project.
What Matters in Concept Mapping? Maps Learners Create or How They Create Them
Shang Wang, Erin Walker, Ruth Wylie International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education Nominated for Best Paper
Day One of the Imagination Economy
Corey S. Pressman
Balancing Student Needs and Learning Theory in a Social Interactive Postdigital Textbook
Erin Walker, Ruth Wylie, Andreea Danielescu, James P. Rodriguez III, Ed Finn End-User Considerations in Educational Technology Design, IGI Global
Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds
This edition of Frankenstein pairs the original 1818 version of the manuscript with annotations and essays by leading scholars exploring the social and ethical aspects of scientific creativity raised by this remarkable story. The result is a unique and accessible edition of one of the most thought-provoking and influential novels ever written.
The Thing: Who is the disease, and who is the cure?
Robert Weisberg
Human Meets Robot.
Patrick McGurrin
Sharp | Distance
Corey S. Pressman
The Serendipity of Semiautonomous Systems
The MIT Press Podcast
What Algorithms Want
RSVP here >> Algorithms tell us what to read, where to go, and whom to date…but do we really understand them? It’s easy to think of algorithms as magical beings,
“Readings in the Cthulhucene” – The Futures of Afrofuturism
More about this event >> Michael Bennett speaks at this symposium at the University of Tennessee.
“It’s Alive!” Frankenstein’s Lessons for Scientists and Creators
Get tickets here >> Two hundred years after its creation, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is still alive and well, continuing to shape how we imagine science and its
What Algorithms Want – Future Out Loud Podcast
Future Out Loud Podcast
Future Tense Fiction: “Mr. Thursday,” by Emily St. John Mandel
“She’d seen the coat before in this moment, exiting this train, here. Every face in the crowd looked somehow familiar.” Read the full story on Slate.com
What Algorithms Want
In this book, Ed Finn considers how the algorithm—in practical terms, “a method for solving a problem”—has its roots not only in mathematical logic but also in cybernetics, philosophy, and magical thinking.
What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing
The founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at ASU presents his latest book, explaining the ties that connect algorithms and computing to human culture–past and present.
Why Frankenstein is a Stigma Among Scientists
Peter Nagy, Ruth Wylie, Joey Eschrich, Ed Finn Science and Engineering Ethics Download article
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Occupied
The Norwegian thriller Occupied masterfully blends the Machiavellian ruthlessness and icy visual style of House of Cards with the existential threat of climate change. Masterminded by world-renowned crime novelist Jo
Emerge 2017: Frankenstein
EMERGE is an annual transmedia art, science and technology festival designed to engage diverse publics in the creative exploration of our possible futures. The festival’s 2017 theme is Frankenstein, a 200-year old
Science Fiction TV Dinner: The X-Files
When we think of The X-Files, we think of sprawling government conspiracies, eerie UFO sightings, cigarette-smoking men, and the compelling dynamic between the smoldering, occasionally unhinged Fox Mulder and the doggedly
Science Comics Workshop
Why: Mark Siegel is an award-winning illustrator, New York Times bestselling author and the founder and editorial director of First Second Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers that creates graphic novels
Author And Illustrator Discusses Impact Of Graphic Novels
KJZZ – The Show
How Frankenstein’s Monster Became Sexy
Joey Eschrich
Slate – Future Tense
Unexpected Frankensteins: Weird Science
Buy tickets today! Frankenstein! Beyond green skin and neck bolts, what else comes to mind? Environmental degradation? The technological singularity? Vicious high school cliques? Each month throughout 2017, weâre partnering
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Black Mirror
Black Mirror brings the breathtaking aesthetics, dystopian fervor, bracing social commentary, and eerie prescience of The Twilight Zone to the age of iPhones, Snapchat, and Snowden. The first season episode
Science Fiction TV Dinner – CSI: Cyber
In a moment of cyber-paranoia and cyber-crisis, there’s never been a cyber-time more cyber-appropriate for the overheated (and tragically, recently canceled) cyber-procedural, CSI: Cyber. Cybersecurity has never been more critical
Let Go
Corey S. Pressman
Science Fiction Frames: Calibrating AI’s Moral Compass
Patrick McGurrin
Science Fiction Frames: The Repository
Cody Staats
Science Fiction Frames: The Repository
View at Medium.com
Everything Change: An Anthology of Climate Fiction
Features short stories from our 2016 Climate Fiction Short Story Contest along with a foreword by science fiction legend and contest judge Kim Stanley Robinson, and an interview with renowned climate fiction author Paolo Bacigalupi.
ASU writing contest breathes new life into climate-change conversation
Arizona State University unveils climate fiction anthology
Book features authors from six different countries alongside science fiction luminaries Paolo Bacigalupi, Kim Stanley Robinson
Science, for Dummies?
Patrick McGurrin
Frankenstein at 200 Exhibit
Exhibit is on display from August 30 through December 10, 2016 No work of literature has done more to shape the way people imagine science and its moral consequences than
Science Fiction Frames: Mowing the Future
Alex Halavais
It’s Alive! Frankenstein’s Influence 200 Years Later
By Sarah Ventre, KJZZ 91.5 FM
Daydream Genius
Corey S. Pressman
Science Fiction Frames: Moon and the Dream of Unlimited Energy
Sherryl Vint
Future Tense Fiction
In April 2016 CSI launched a new experiment with the Future Tense Channel at Slate: a regular writing series featuring original science fiction stories by well-known authors. We launched Future
NSF Transmedia Project
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a modern myth; a 200-year-old science-fiction story with themes of human creativity, societal responsibility and scientific ethics. Two centuries later, these themes continue to resonate in our technological age. As
The Frankenstein Bicentennial Dare
The Dare
Two centuries ago, on a dare to tell the best scary story, 19-year-old Mary Shelley imagined an idea that became the basis for Frankenstein. Mary’s original concept became the novel that arguably kick-started the genres of science fiction and Gothic horror, but also provided an enduring myth that shapes how our society continues to grapple with creativity, science, technology, and their consequences. Two hundred years later, inspired by that classic dare, CSI launched a series of creative challenges inspiring amateur and professional writers to reflect on questions of science, ethics, creativity, and responsibility.
Science Fiction TV Dinner – Star Trek: The Next Generation
September 8, 2016 is the 50th anniversary of the Star Trek universe. Celebrate with us by taking a journey to the final frontier, where Captain Picard and his stouthearted crew
Writ in Water: Millimeters to the End of the World
By Joseph Horton, Ploughshares
Jason X, Snapchat, and the Double-Edged Machete of Nostalgia
Bob Beard
Situated Media, Sprouting
Corey S. Pressman
Science Fiction Frames: eXistenZ and Cybernetics
Peter Nagy
Science Fiction Frames: Interstellar and Dystopian Optimism
Samuel Arbesman
Sprint Beyond the Book: SSP 2016
SSP 2016 Conference, Vancouver
Facebook Trending story: The Wizard of Oz algorithm
Stitching Together Creativity and Responsibility: Interpreting Frankenstein Across Disciplines
By Megan K. Halpern, Jathan Sadowski, Joey Eschrich, Ed Finn, and David H. Guston Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society
Star Wars Day: May the 4th Be With You
Our communications and public engagement strategist Bob Beard visited Phoenix’s NBC affiliate, 12 News, to discuss Star Wars Day and why science fiction fandom matters. Watch now…
Emerge 2016: The Future of Sport
What will sport look like in 2040? What would you like it to be? How can we steer the development of “sport” to answer our cravings for fun, adrenalin, competition and collaboration so common in our species?
Cheering Artificial Intelligence Leader
At the festival, meet CAIL, the Cheering Artificial Intelligence Leader, designed by Director of Research and Collaboration for Emerge, Hannah Star Rogers, with Center for Science and Imagination staff Joey
Paolo Bacigalupi Uses Fiction and Law to Debate Whether Robots Are Capable of Murder
Putting the science in fiction
Law prof ponders: If a highly advanced robot kills, is it murder or product liability?
Future Tense Fiction: “Mika Model,” by Paolo Bacigalupi
“The girl, the robot … this thing—I’d seen her before, all right. I’d seen her in technology news stories about advanced learning node networks…”
Futurist Brian David Johnson on The Gist Podcast
Listen to our Futurist in Residence Brian David Johnson on The Gist podcast with the inimitable Mike Pesca!
Furman students author stories about the future and sustainability
History of the Future Film: Equilibrium
This summer we’re proud to present a film series examining gripping cinematic visions of the future emanating from different moments in recent history. Join us at FilmBar in Downtown Phoenix
History of the Future Film: The Lawnmower Man
This summer we’re proud to present a film series examining gripping cinematic visions of the future emanating from different moments in recent history. Join us at FilmBar in Downtown Phoenix
History of the Future Film: Outland
This summer we’re proud to present a film series examining gripping cinematic visions of the future emanating from different moments in recent history. Join us at FilmBar in Downtown Phoenix
History of the Future Film: Westworld
This summer we’re proud to present a film series examining gripping cinematic visions of the future emanating from different moments in recent history. Join us at FilmBar in Downtown Phoenix
Science Fiction Prototyping: Afrofuturism
Justice Scalia: Minor Philosopher of Technology
Michael G Bennett
Cylon Folk Wisdom
Corey S. Pressman
Slow Catastrophes, Uncertain Revivals
A collection of research-based “fiction with footnotes” short stories about environmental futures, created by students in Dr. Michele Speitz’s course “Slow Catastrophes, Speculative Futures, Science & Imagintion” at Furman University in South Carolina.
The Adventures of Buckminster Fuller and the Dymaxion Car: A Book Excerpt
Jonathon Keats
Talking Science Fiction and Game Design with James L. Cambias
Joey Eschrich
Teaching Bioethics With Pool Noodles
Bob Beard
Devices Like Us
Corey S. Pressman
Discovering Tomorrow with ASU’s University Futurist, Brian David Johnson
What if we had a Secretary of the Future?
Algorithms Are Like Kirk, Not Spock
When technologists describe their hotshot new system for trading stocks or driving cars, the algorithm at its heart always seems to emerge from a magical realm of Spock-like rationality and mathematical perfection. Algorithms can save lives or make money, the argument goes, because they are built on the foundations of mathematics: logical rigor, conceptual clarity, and utter consistency. Math is perfect, right? And algorithms are made out of math.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Zombies from the U.K.
What happens after the zombie apocalypse ends? We’ve managed to survive and fend off the ravening hordes, but how do we rebuild our communities? The award-winning BBC series In the
The Crab and the Butterfly: Semicolon Services in the 21st Century
Corey S. Pressman
Poetry for Robots
Corey S. Pressman
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Lost in Space
Running alongside Star Trek‘s original series at the dawn of the Space Age, Lost in Space presented a strikingly different vision for the future of human exploration in space. Lost
Building Visions of Humanity’s Climate Future – in Fiction and on Campus
Unhooked: Wonder in the Digital Age
Corey S. Pressman
New ASU Futurist-In-Residence On The Future, Imagination
Intel futurist Brian David Johnson heads to ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination
Futurist Brian David Johnson leaves Intel, joins Arizona State University
Renowned futurist, technologist, and author Brian David Johnson, who left his position at the Intel Corporation in January, will be joining Arizona State University as Futurist in Residence for spring 2016 at the Center for Science and the Imagination and as a Professor of Practice in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society.
What Algorithms Want
We spend an awful lot of time now thinking about what algorithms know about us: the ads we see online, the deep archive of our search history, the automated photo-tagging of our families. We don’t spend as much time asking what algorithms want.
Thinking Big
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Starships from the 1970s
From Star Trek to Interstellar, starships have long held a special fascination for science fiction storytellers. The ships function as surrogate Earths, providing safety, sustenance, and a sense of home
We Can Build the Future
By Ed Finn, Computer, IEEE Computer Society 48
Annual Report 2014-2015
Clockwork Conversation: Not Everything Could Be Half of Something
Corey S. Pressman
The Internet of Slow Things
Higher education is obsessed with 3-D printing. Makerspaces and fab labs are sprouting like extruded weeds on college campuses, and everyone from business school deans to librarians are asking how 3-D printing and fabrication can be implemented in teaching.
Contest challenges writers to imagine futures shaped by climate change
The Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative at Arizona State University invites writers to submit short stories that explore climate change, science and human futures for its first Climate Fiction Short Story Contest. The submission deadline is Jan. 15, 2016, and contest entry is free. The contest will be judged by science fiction legend Kim Stanley Robinson.
Science Fiction TV Dinner – Star Trek: The Original Series
Reception: 4:30 – 5:15pm / Doors Open: 5:15 / TV Dinner: 5:30 Star Trek’s original series remains perhaps our most influential and beloved vision of the future. It continues to
Short Fiction Contest: Ocean Trash Write-Away
Every sea on Earth is plagued by massive amounts of trash. Refuse in the ocean kills hundreds of thousands of birds and marine mammals per year, and hazardous heavy metals bind to plastic particles and enter our food chain. The Ocean Trash Write-Away contest challenges writers to imagine solutions to this global challenge and write an inspiring short story set in a future where we’ve turned the tide on ocean trash.
September 17: Paolo Bacigalupi to imagine Southwest water futures at ASU
In Paolo Bacigalupi’s most recent science fiction novel, The Water Knife, Phoenix is dried up and California and Nevada are not too far behind. The millions of people who rely on the Colorado River to survive are not only thirsty, but fighting for their lives. It’s a compelling story that captures a not-so-distant future. Will Phoenix eventually collapse? Will the river dry up?
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Robots from the 1980s
Featuring TV’s Small Wonder, futurist Brian David Johnson, and digital humanities scholar Jacqueline Wernimont Small Wonder rewires the classic American sitcom with hilariously awkward circuitry, dropping an adorable humanoid robot,
Hieroglyph anthology earns futurist award
Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future, an anthology of ambitious, technically-grounded science fiction visions of the near future curated by the center, has been honored with an award for Most Significant Futures Work by the Association of Professional Futurists.
Poetry by Robots for Robots
Corey S. Pressman
Margaret Atwood, ASU collaborators explore climate futures
What might a world without oil look like? How will human societies cope with massive changes in the Earth’s climate? How will we adapt to survive the future? And how can storytelling and art — alongside science and technology — help us confront the challenge of climate change?
Jonathon Keats, Thousand Year Photo
A short documentary by Nathan Broderick about experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats, the Millennium Camera, installed at the ASU Art Museum, and the Deep Time Photo Lab, an interactive exhibit that debuted at ASU’s Emerge festival in March 2015.
Ed Finn and Project Hieroglyph on Arizona Horizon
On June 9, 2015, CSI director and Project Hieroglyph co-editor Ed Finn visited the Eight, Arizona PBS show Arizona Horizon to discuss Project Hieroglyph, science fiction, optimism for the future, and the trade paperback edition of Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future.
What Would Robot Poetry Look Like?
Man Who Sold the Moon wins the Sturgeon Award!
Teach Your Automaton to Feel
Robots Are Learning to Write Poetry
Apocalypse Moon: Neal Stephenson on his new novel, Seveneves, and the future of humanity
An interview with Neal Stephenson about his new novel, Seveneves, humanity’s resilience, and more.
Emerge 2015 Highlights
In March 2015, Arizona State University’s Emerge presented eleven spellbinding “visitations from the future” – tangible, visceral experiences at the intersection of art and science. Learn more at emerge.asu.edu.
Take a picture. It’ll last longer
An experimental philosopher’s project to document 100 or even 1,000 years of change with a single photograph.
Joey Eschrich
Slate – Future Tense
A Crazy Experiment Attempts to Document Change With a Photo Taken Over 1,000 Years
A new project by experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats at Arizona State University involves creating simple, incredibly durable pinhole cameras that will slowly create a single image over the course of a century or a millennium.
Documenting the next millennium of Tempe urbanization in history’s slowest photograph
Boasting two interstate freeways and one of Arizona’s largest shopping malls, the city of Tempe has been selected to represent the evolution of world civilization over the next thousand years.
ASU invites community to help redesign the future at Emerge 2015
Radically new visions of the future will be showcased as part of Arizona State University’s Emerge 2015 – a one-day event featuring visionary Jad Abumrad, host of the award-winning show Radiolab, and 10 spellbinding “visitations from the future,” including theatrical performances, improvisation, games, dance and hands-on opportunities to design and build the future.
An Interview With Margaret Atwood
Climate fiction, or “cli fi,” can be a dreary genre. Storytellers like to make a grim business of climate change, populating their narratives with a humorless onslaught of death, destruction, drowned monuments, and starving children. Margaret Atwood is the conspicuous exception, somehow managing to tackle the subject, including these familiar elements, with deadpan wit and an irreverent playfulness, making it both more interesting and believable. The flood is coming, her MaddAddam trilogy promises, but there is hope.
Science Fiction TV Dinner – Star Trek: Voyager
Set in the 24th century and produced in the 1990s, Star Trek: Voyager reflects upon and updates Star Trek‘s hopeful vision for an intergalactic human future, its philosophical explorations, and
Evoke: Human Trafficking
A short comic book about the challenge of human trafficking, and how we might address this crisis. Created in collaboration with the World Bank’s Evoke project.
5 Burning Questions: Astrid Atkinson and Bridget Kromhout
Technologists and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer aficionados Astrid Atkinson and Bridget Kromhout answer CSI’s 5 Burning Questions at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
An Illuminated Manuscript About Space Exploration, Science Fiction, and Physics
You just don’t see many illuminated manuscripts these days. There’s a good reason why: They take a long time to make. I learned this recently when I set out to commission a thoroughly modern illuminated manuscript: not a religious text, but an interview with theoretical physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies, a professor at Arizona State University and the author of books like How to Build a Time Machine.
5 Burning Questions: Dawn Gilpin
Dawn Gilpin, associate professor of public relations and social media at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, answers CSI’s 5 Burning Questions.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Highlights
Event Date: October 8, 2014 Location: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, ASU Episode: “Intervention” (Season 5) Speakers: Bridget Kromhout, tech operations engineer; Astrid Atkinson, senior engineering manager, Google; Dawn Gilpin, associate professor of public relations and social media, ASU; Nina Miller, design strategist, Center for Science and the Imagination
Science Fiction TV Dinner: House, M.D. – Highlights
Event Date: September 30, 2014 Location: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Episode: “Cane and Able” (Season 3) Speakers: Dr. Cathy Seiler, scientific liaison at ASU’s Biodesign Institute; Dr. Kenneth S. Ramos, associate vice president of precision health services and professor of medicine at the Arizona Health Sciences Center of the University of Arizona; Joey Eschrich, editor and program manager, Center for Science and the Imagination
Future perfect: How the Victorians invented the future
Review: Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Warner Bros. in Space
This Science Fiction TV Dinner (at lunchtime) is part of the Chandler Science Spectacular, a festival for all ages celebrating and exploring invention. We’ll screen a series of classic Warner
Future Tense: Can We Imagine Our Way to a Better Future?
On October 2, 2014, Future Tense and Issues in Science and Technology hosted an event in Washington, DC inspired by Project Hieroglyph.
Project Hieroglyph Book Launch: Phoenix, AZ
Launch event for Project Hieroglyph’s first anthology, Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future (HarperCollins, 2014) at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, AZ on October 22, 2014.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Dollhouse
Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse imagines a future where neuroscience enables human personalities to be uploaded, reconfigured, and downloaded into brains…or erased entirely. The series wrestles with the ethical implications and technical
Emerge 2014 Ethics Report
Edited by Joel Garreau and Ed Finn
Emerge 2014 Ethics Report
Talks at Google: Project Hieroglyph
On September 10, 2014, Project Hieroglyph visited Google in Mountain View, California for an event as part of their Talks at Google series.
Project Hieroglyph in Seattle: Cory Doctorow and Neal Stephenson
On October 26, Hieroglyph contributors Cory Doctorow and Neal Stephenson and CSI director Ed Finn appeared at Town Hall Seattle, in an event titled “Reigniting Society’s Ambition with Science Fiction.”
SciFiTV Podcast: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Event date: October 8, 2014 Location: ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Speakers: Bridget Kromhout, tech operations engineer; Astrid Atkinson, senior engineering manager, Google; Dawn Gilpin, associate professor of public relations and social media, ASU; Nina Miller, design strategist, Center for Science and the Imagination
SciFiTV Podcast: House, MD
Event date: September 30, 2014 Location: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Episode: “Cane and Able” (Season 3) Speakers: Cathy Seiler, scientific liaison, ASU Biodesign Institute; Kenneth S. Ramos, associate vice president of precision health services, Arizona Health Sciences Center; Joey Eschrich, editor and program manager, Center for Science and the Imagination
New Book Explores Science Fiction Turned Reality
Saving Spaceship Earth
Fiction Writers Help Scientists Push Known Boundaries
Sci-Fi Writers Urge Strapped Researchers to Keep Dreaming
Recap: Science Fiction TV Dinner, Buffy
What happened The Center for Science and the Imagination crew hosted a Science Fiction TV Dinner series event at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism centered around an episode of
Recap: Science Fiction TV Dinner, House, M.D.
What happened At this Science Fiction TV Dinner event on September 30 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, we screened “Cane and Able,” of the hit medical drama
Enough With Dystopias: It’s Time For Sci-Fi Writers To Start Imagining Better Futures
Project Hieroglyph on Slate’s Future Tense Channel
Slate magazine’s Future Tense channel is running a series of stories inspired by and excerpted from Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future, exploring about the connections between science fiction storytelling, scientific discovery, public policy,
Innovation Starvation, the Next Generation
Humankind has lots of great ideas for the future. We need people to carry them out.
Neal Stephenson
Slate – Future Tense
Don’t Diss Dystopias
Sci-fi’s warning tales are as important as its optimistic stories.
Ramez Naam
Slate – Future Tense
ASU’s Center for Science And Imagination Presents Science Fiction TV Dinner
Book Review: ‘Hieroglyph’ edited by Ed Finn and Kathryn Cramer
Stories to Make You Think BIG
The Dystopian City and Urban Policy
Science fiction has inspired scientists and political activists, but it should be an inspiration for municipal governments too.
Annalee Newitz
Slate – Future Tense
Meeting My Protagonist
When I wrote a novel about a Nigerian space program, I didn’t expect it to be so close to the truth.
Deji Bryce Olukotun
Slate – Future Tense
Project Hieroglyph Story: “The Day It All Ended”
A short story from Hieroglyph, a new science fiction anthology.
Charlie Jane Anders
Slate-Future Tense
Only Science Fiction Can Save Us!
What sci-fi gets wrong about income inequality.
Lee Konstantinou
Slate – Future Tense
Project Hieroglyph: Science fiction for better futures
Joey Eschrich
Robohub
The Inspiration Drought
Forget the Tricorder
Why gadgets aren’t the coolest part of science fiction.
Joey Eschrich
Slate – Future Tense
Project Hieroglyph Story: “Covenant”
A short story from Hieroglyph, a new science fiction anthology.
Elizabeth Bear
Slate – Future Tense
Q&A: The sci-fi optimist
Hieroglyph: Stories & Visions for a Better Future
Inspired by New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson, an award-winning anthology of stories, set in the near future, from some of today’s leading writers, thinkers, and visionaries that reignites the iconic and optimistic visions of the golden age of science fiction.
Project Hieroglyph: Fighting society’s dystopian future
What will it take to get us back to the Moon?
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Technology, identity and vampires.
Annual Report 2013-14
Our center’s progress for the year 2013-14.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: House, M.D.
Our Science Fiction TV Dinner series is a launch pad for new conversations about science, technology, art and society. Enjoy dinner from local food trucks, then watch a screening of
Author Margaret Atwood to discuss creative writing, science at ASU
This article originally appeared in ASU News. Internationally renowned novelist and environmental activist Margaret Atwood will visit Arizona State University this November to discuss the relationship between art and science,
The Power of Positive Sci-Fi
CSI partners with World Bank on science fiction, gaming and social innovation
The Center for Science and the Imagination is partnering with the World Bank to create a series of stories and artwork to integrate into an online game, EVOKE, designed to get young people in the developing world involved in social innovation and civic engagement.
ASU, NGA to address national security risks of climate change
Arizona State University was selected for a competitive, five-year award of $20 million by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to launch a research partnership, effective June 1, to explore approaches for anticipating and mitigating national security risks associated with climate change.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Farscape
Co-sponsored by the Arizona Science Center Free Event, Registration Required; Learn more and RSVP at the Arizona Science Center website Living starships. Super-soldiers. Sentient plants. Intergalactic empires. Wormholes. Animatronic puppets. Join
How America’s Leading Science Fiction Authors Are Shaping Your Future
Imagining Possible Worlds
CSI and Imagining Possible Futures on Public Radio
This article originally appeared on ASU News Ed Finn, director of ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination, and an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and
5 Burning Questions: David Rothenberg
In this episode, we talk with interspecies jazz musician and philosopher David Rothenberg. David appeared at Arizona State University’s Emerge: Carnival of the Future on March 7, 2014 to perform alongside flying quadcopters and the band There Is Danger. Click here to watch a clip of the performance, titled “Drone Confidential,” and visit Slate’s Future Tense channel to read an article about the process of creating the performance. Check out this transcript of the interview, or watch the video below! https://vimeo.com/91355576
An Aerialist, Two Clowns, and a Robot Walk Into a Carnival …
In his 1984 film The Terminator and its sequels, James Cameron imagines a dystopic future in which armies of intelligent robots move with startling suddenness from positions of servility to utter and violent dominance, destroying civilization and driving humankind to the brink of extinction.
This, of course, is pure science fiction. There’s little reason to believe things will unfold that way. First, they would take all our jobs and wreck our economy.
This is the nightmare narrative of our future with robots and artificial intelligence. The utopian version of this tale—one accepted by many powerful people in industry and government—involves a …read more
Researchers receive NSF grant to lead Frankenstein Bicentennial Workshop
This item was originally published by ASU News. Three Arizona State University researchers have received a grant from the National Science Foundation to lead a workshop to build a global,
Confess Your Digital Sins
A voice cries out in the desert:
“Know thyself, not thy selfies!”
“Digital media will not save you!”
“The zero is not whole and the one is not The One!”
Technically, we’re not in the desert—we’re in a dusty parking lot in downtown Phoenix. And the voice is not coming from the Prophet Isaiah, but from professor Ron Broglio, whom I’ve ordained as a Minister of the Digital Tabernacle. As people wander into the massive circus tent at Arizona State University’s Emerge: Carnival of the Future, they are greeted by a pair of shifty evangelists preaching the analog Word. (Disclosure: …read more
How to Make Music With Drones
The good thing about performing music with drones is that they always show up for rehearsal on time. The bad thing is that they might suddenly drop out of the air and onto your head.
I learned all this while putting together a piece called “Drone Confidential” for Arizona State University’s Emerge, a “Carnival of the Future” that was held in Phoenix recently. Emerge is an annual circus of cool new technologies in performance, dedicated to showing how artists and machines can work together to create something awesome. …read more
What if Computers Know You Better Than You Know Yourself?
I recently read about the launches of both an “ultrasecure” mobile phone for protecting privacy and a clip-on camera that takes a picture of everything you do at 30-second intervals. Our cultural relationship with data is more complicated and contradictory than it has ever been, and our debates on the subject almost always center on privacy. But privacy, the notion that only you should be able to control information about yourself, cloaks a deeper tension between information and meaning, between databases and insights.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: The Walking Dead Highlights
Check out the discussion that followed the Science Fiction TV Dinner screening of the first episode of The Walking Dead. Adam Chodorow, the Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, challenges the definitions of life and death in U.S. legislature and questions the applications of tax laws regarding zombies, avatars, and vampires.
Art of Launching a Satellite
Juan José Diaz Infante, the director of the Mexican Space Collective, visited Arizona State University to tell the story of how he brought together a team of artists, scientists and engineers to build a satellite, Ulises I, and launch it into space.
Project Hieroglyph Trailer
Ed Finn, director of the Center for Science and the Imagination, describes the mission of Project Hieroglyph. Hieroglyph is a platform that unites scientists, engineers, artists and authors to create ambitious, thoughtfully optimistic, scientifically-grounded visions of the near future.
Technology, Craft and Spirituality: Building a Gyroscopic Mandala
Our friend Thad Trubakoff, an MFA student in Woodworking at ASU and a contributor to our recent Cautions, Dreams and Curiosities anthology, just let us know about a cool new project, which he calls “Gyroscopic Mandala.” Check out the demo video and read Thad’s guest post about the project below. To learn more about ASU and Mandalas, which have been popping up around here a lot recently, visit our Emerge 2014: The Carnival of the Future website: http://emerge.asu.edu.
Emerge
Emerge is a creative, playful and challenging approach to the future world we want to make.
The Wonder Dome: Embodied, Interactive Stories in an Immersive Environment
Humans tell stories; how we tell them changes. Wonder Dome is a touring performance platform that brings traditional storytelling into the 21st century by inviting audiences of all ages into
ASTC 2013 Keynote – A Conversation with Neal Stephenson
The Art of Launching a Satellite
When it comes to exploring space, why should scientists and engineers have all the fun? How can we use creative and artistic experiments to better understand our place in the
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Quantum Leap
Join the Center for Science and the Imagination for our first Science Fiction TV Dinner of 2014 with Quantum Leap, an early 1990s classic that blends science fiction, actual science,
Sprint Beyond the Book: The Future of Publishing
Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt, Germany
Straight Out Of Sci-Fi: Cyberpunk Author Plans Tallest Skyscraper Ever
5 Burning Questions: Bruce Sterling
In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with legendary science fiction author, design critic, editor and journalist Bruce Sterling. Bruce recorded this interview with us during his tenure as CSI’s inaugural Visionary in Residence. Among many other things, Bruce blogs for Wired.com and is the de facto spiritual leader for ASU’s Emerge since its inception in 2012.
Science Fiction Evening Snack: Interfaces and the Future of Design
Make It So with Nathan Shedroff Interfaces in sci-fi serve a primarily narrative purpose. They’re there to help tell the story of how a character disables the tractor beam, or
Neal Stephenson on Tall Towers and NSA Cyber-Spies
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Red Dwarf
Location: Cottonwood Hall, Room 101/103 Map: http://goo.gl/oHnSRU Blast into the distant future with the Science Fiction TV Dinner series and BBC’s classic science fiction comedy, Red Dwarf! Join us for
Science Fiction TV Dinner: The Walking Dead
This event is presented by ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination and Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. The Science Fiction TV Dinner series has been reanimated for a
The Conversation: Ed Finn
Yesterday’s Naysayers
Corey S. Pressman
Jules Verne to Star Trek: Does sci-fi show the future?
Countering Dystopian Science Fiction’s ‘Wet Blanket Effect’ on Innovation
Annual Report 2012-13
Download the 2012-13 Annual Report
The Spark of Imagination
Is There a Difference Between Necessary and Unnecessary Bad Science?
Bruce Sterling creates 21st century Petroglifs at CSI
During Emerge 2013: The Future of Truth this spring, CSI Visionary in Residence Bruce Sterling was hard at work with a team of collaborators at Arizona State University testing the limits of our rapid prototyping and fabrication facilities. The result of this whirlwind of creativity is an original exhibit of 21st century Petroglifs carved into native Arizona rock with laser cutters.
Can Science Fiction Writers Inspire The World To Save Itself?
Event Recap: Former Intel CEO Craig R. Barrett on the Future of Moore’s Law
By Sarah Rothbard This post originally appeared on Zócalo Public Square. Zócalo Public Square is a partnership of the New America Foundation and Arizona State University; Future Tense is a
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Doctor Who, “The Shakespeare Code”
Celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday with Doctor Who! Join us for a screening of the episode “The Shakespeare Code” and a conversation about time travel, the Elizabethan era, TARDIS, Time Lords
Help Neal Stephenson Engineer the Weird and Create a New World of Sci-Fi
Neil deGrasse Tyson on Van Gogh’s Role in Space Exploration and Other Great Tales of Science
By Torie Bosch Science panels don’t normally involve a striptease, even a G-rated one. But on Saturday, March 30, Neil deGrasse Tyson took off his shirt to prove a point
Bruce Sterling Talks Emerge and CSI at SXSW Interactive
Each year at SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX, science fiction author, design critic and CSI Visionary in Residence Bruce Sterling delivers an epic state-of-the-planet rant, challenging the tech industry and
Bruce Sterling sports laser-cut ASU hoodie at SXSW
CSI Visionary in Residence and Emerge provocateur Bruce Sterling delivered the closing remarks at the SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, TX last night, and we were proud to see him sporting his
Are Cyborg Humans (and Animals) Still True Life Forms? A Future Tense Panel Recap.
By Adam Sneed Cyborgs have arrived on Earth, but there’s no reason to worry. They’re nothing like the cold machine-men from The Terminator. Cybernetic technologies that integrate with the human
Is It Time To Take Cyborg Rights Seriously? A Q&A With Neil Harbisson.
Torie Bosch Slate – Future Tense
Introducing CSI Visionary in Residence Bruce Sterling
This month CSI welcomes science fiction legend Bruce Sterling, our inaugural Visionary in Residence. Bruce is currently hard at work with collaborators from ASU’s Design School, using digitally-controlled laser cutters to inscribe futuristic petroglyphs on native Arizona desert rock.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Twilight Zone
Room: Cottonwood 101/103 Join us for a screening of the classic Twilight Zone episode “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” and a conversation about biotechnology, ethics and the connections between
The art of the hashtag
Twitter Verses We hear you. We see you. Tell us your story. On Feb. 28 – March 2, you will be part of a larger story. Emerge 2013 Tweet us a fragment of a story. The story must be true. Send as many fragments as you can. Tweet these at #emergeTV
Celebrate National Science Fiction Day by Learning to Live in the Future
Celebrate National Science Fiction Day by Learning To Live in the Future
By Ed Finn It’s 2013, people—we are living in the future. Since the news is still awash with problems we created for ourselves decades or centuries ago (the permanent fiscal crisis, gun control, the political powder-keg that is the Middle East), it may have escaped your notice that today is also National Science Fiction Day.
Science Fiction TV Dinner: Valentine’s Day Edition
Join Micah Lande and Angela Sodemann of the College of Technology and Innovation to watch and discuss the 2007 version of The Bionic Woman, science fiction, cyborgs, design and the
Science Fiction TV Dinner: The X-Files
Join Gregg Pascal Zachary and Retha Hill of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Ed Finn of the Center for Science and the Imagination to watch and discuss The X-Files, science fiction and the search for truth.
Science Fiction TV Series: Jetsons edition
Science Fiction TV Series: The Jetsons Tuesday, November 27, 6:00 – 7:30 pm Memorial Union 242 (La Paz Room), ASU Tempe campus RSVP at http://asujetsons.eventbrite.com Since 1962, The Jetsons has
How tall can we build?
One of our Hieroglyph collaborations.