The Humanities and the Study of the Future: Creating a Minor in Futures Studies

FAIN: AKA-270043-20

University of Rochester (Rochester, NY 14627-0001)
William H. Bridges (Project Director: September 2019 to September 2023)

A one-year planning grant to create a minor and three-course cluster in future studies.

The University of Rochester (UR) seeks NEH support to develop a minor, a cluster (a 3-course sequence), and experiential learning activities in humanistic futures studies. Two critical ideas drive the project: that the ability to think well about the future should be foundational to undergraduate education, and that the texts and habits of mind cultivated by the humanities are invaluable facilitators of futuristic inquiry. Home to the Futures Studies Research Circle and the Rochester College Consortium, a regional confederation of 22 IHEs whereby students may take courses at any member college, the UR program will be a national model for undergraduate futures studies in the humanities. The planning grant will achieve these 5 outcomes: 1) design curriculum and courses; 2) obtain approval of the minor and cluster; 3) identify additional community collaborators for the experiential learning components; 4) recruit additional faculty aligned with the topic; and 5) begin to recruit students.