Speculative Design for Policy Making: San Diego 2049

Here at the UC San Diego Library, we’re all about celebrating innovation and creativity at all levels. In the past, we have partnered with the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination and other innovators on campus. 

This October, the Clarke Center is partnering with the School of Global Policy and Strategy to produce San Diego 2049, a series of programs and student competition that will use the imagination and narrative tools of science fiction to stimulate complex thinking about the future and the ways we could shape it through policy, technology, innovation, culture and social change. As part of the 2018-2019 series, they will be hosting the following opening events:
Worldbuilding: Scenarios, for Fun and for Survival Program Kickoff Public Lecture with Vernor Vinge

Friday, October 12 from 5 – 7 p.m. in Robinson Auditorium
Learn about the complex process of science fiction worldbuilding to construct a dynamic future scenario with one of the masters of the field, Vernor Vinge, an acclaimed science fiction writer. He has won five Hugo Awards and became an iconic figure among cybernetic scientists with the publication in 1981 of his novella “True Names,” which is considered a seminal, visionary work of Internet fiction and cyberspace. Dr. Vinge is Emeritus professor of mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. This event is free and open to the public. Reserve a seat. 

Worldbuilding Workshop with Ann Pendleton-Jullian
Saturday, October 13 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. in Robinson Complex 3106

This session is a hands-on workshop led Ann Pendleton-Jullian, an architect, writer, and educator focused on the interchange between culture, environment and technology. She was a tenured professor at MIT for 14 years and is also a core member of a cross-disciplinary network of global leaders established by the Secretary of Defense to examine questions of emerging interest. This workshop equips you with the tools to begin developing a future scenario of your own devising, as well as serve as an opportunity to connect with other graduate students to form teams. Note: this session is only open to UC San Diego graduate students. Reserve a seat.
For more information, please visit the San Diego 2049 website.