Imagined Futures: Writing, Science, and Modernity in the To-Day and To-Morrow Book Series, 1923-31

Location
54 Pritchatts Road
Dates
Tuesday 10 December 2019 (13:00-20:00)
Contact

Lauren Cross: l.a.cross.1@bham.ac.uk

Please come to the launch of a new book by Max Saunders, Interdisciplinary Professor of Modern Literature and Culture; and/or to discuss possibilities for collaborative work.

At 13:15 and 18:15 Max will give a brief presentation about the book, and also about the follow-on projects he is working 

Book cover of Imagined Futures

on at the University of Birmingham.

Drinks and snacks will be served.

From 15:00 - 17:30 he will be holding an informal drop-in tea for anyone who might be interested in collaborating on these projects. If ideas of the future are important to your research please come along for as long as you like. For more information please see below.

Network in Future Thinking

Does future thinking play a part in your research?

We are working to establish a UoB-based network of researchers with an interest in future thinking, and would love to hear from people whose work involves thinking, writing about and/or planning for the future.

The project has evolved from Max Saunders’ work on the pioneering book series from the 1920s and early 1930s, To-Day and To-Morrow and Lisa Gee’s work on the future(s) of publishing and work.

There are two main elements to this project.

  1. In 2020 we will launch a comparable series for the 21st century. Working with Tortoise Media and Unbound, we will commission up to 100 leading and emerging writers, thinkers and researchers to write short books imagining the futures of their fields, and participate in associated events and podcasts.
  2. We will use the two series, and other predictions over the last century, in a comparative survey and analysis of future thinking methodologies (including forecasting, horizon scanning, scenario planning, identification of big data trends etc.), which will form the basis of one or more grant applications.

If either or both of these elements appeal, please contact us and we will invite you to the generative workshops we’re planning, starting in the New Year, to explore research synergies and to start developing the project with us. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss collaboration but are unable to join us on the 10th.