Overview

How do we navigate possible futures where past experience no longer serves as a reliable guide? We will introduce experiential futures practices of gameplay and narrative as tools to leverage social imagination, probe uncertainty, identify new opportunities, and mitigate the risks of being blindsided by the unexpected.In 1973, John Lennon and Yoko Ono re-imagined immigration policy through a satirical performance art piece at a New York City press conference by founding the country of “Nutopia” through a public declaration.

“This may be the most important proposition revealed by history: 'At the time, no one knew what was coming.’”

- Haruki Murakami

“World-changing marvels to us are only wallpaper to our children.”

- Bruce Sterling

How do we navigate a present and a set of possible futures where past experience no longer serves as a reliable guide? How can we explore possibility and complexity by leveraging the social imagination? This class will introduce the experiential futures practices of gameplay and storytelling as tools to probe uncertainty, identify new opportunities, and mitigate the risks of being blindsided by the unexpected.

Join Lisa Kay Solomon and Jeffrey Rogers for an evening of multi-modal future-thinking and exploration hosted at the Stanford d.School. We’ll dive into speculative stories and play some “serious” games as we examine storytelling and gameplay as adaptive practices that should figure prominently in the toolkit of any aspiring futurist, designer, or leader.

Teaching Team