It’s Alive! Frankenstein’s Influence 200 Years Later

By Sarah Ventre, KJZZ 91.5 FM

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

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.

Two hundred years after Mary Shelley came up with the vision for the story that would become Frankenstein, Arizona State University, National Novel Writing Month, Chabot Space and Science Center, and Creative Nonfiction magazine will launch a series of writing “dares” to inspire the public to imagine new stories about science, technology and the impact of creation.

Ido Roll and Ruth Wylie
International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education

By Megan K. Halpern, Jathan Sadowski, Joey Eschrich, Ed Finn, and David H. Guston Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society

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…

By Ed Finn, Computer, IEEE Computer Society 48

Just in time for the United Nations’ World Space Week (October 4-10, 2015) comes Journeys through Time and Space, a new anthology of creative, thought-provoking visions of the future shaped by excursions through space and time, and into the labyrinthine caverns of the human mind.

Whether we’re crossing oceans, blasting off into space, migrating to distant unknown lands, or pursuing voyages of discovery within our own minds, we learn about who we are and who we want to become by traversing time, space and the imagination. In this volume, eleven young authors explore human futures shaped by excursions through space and time, and into the labyrinthine caverns of the human mind.

Shang Wang, Erin Walker, Rishabh Chaudhry, and Ruth Wylie Artificial Intelligence in Education

Our science fiction visions of the future often obsess over the mechanical and the digital—from rockets and space stations to holodecks and cyberspace. In this volume, 11 young authors use science fiction storytelling to explore a diverse range of possible futures shaped by biological and environmental challenges and solutions.

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.

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.

One person’s utopia is another’s dystopia, but both perspectives have one thing in common—hope for humanity is taken away when all the questions are answered for us. This collection of science fiction stories takes us into dark futures so that we can have a conversation about how to avoid them.

This story was originally published at ASU News. An interdisciplinary team at Arizona State University has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies

Michelene T. H. Chi & Ruth Wylie
Educational Psychologist

Take a whirlwind tour of tomorrow through the minds of 10 young authors as they paint compelling pictures of what could happen over the next several decades through short science fiction stories. Featuring a foreword by professional futurist Brian David Johnson and an interview with journalist Bryan Walsh.

Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination, Intel and the Society for Science & the Public are proud to announce the winners of their competition, “The Future – Powered by Fiction.” The competition challenged young people ages 13-25 from all over the world to share their visions for possible futures inspired by real science and technology. To see a full list of winners, visit: http://isef.tomorrow-projects.com/results/