New Introductory Courses in History (200-0-22)
Topic
History of the Future
Instructors
Kenneth L Alder
847/467-4038
Harris Hall 307
Meeting Info
University Hall 122: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
Our world is awash in predictions: climate models and pandemic models, political polls and betting pools, economic forecasts and scenarios for war, plus the ever-approaching AI utopia and/or hellscape. This is hardly new. For millennia, people have been debating what the future holds. They haven't always been right, of course, but even their mistakes tell us a great deal about the times when they were made. Ironically, studying the future is an excellent way to study the past (and reconsider the present). In this course we will learn about 5,000 years of prognosticators, from Mesopotamian astrologers to today's climate scientists. Along the way we will read sci-fi authors and religious millenarians, socialists and Afro-futurists, eugenicists and risk managers. This course will teach you to better assess predictions of things to come. Come explore the alternative worlds of futures past.
Learning Objectives
The course teaches students to assess changing methods of predicting the future, from divination and scenario-planning... to epidemiology and climate models. It is also an exercise in Big History, covering 5,000 years of time, and exploring the epistemic challenges (and joys!) of historical method, including the status of evidence, the challenges of inference, the role of contingency, the choice of temporal scale, and the compelling virtues of historical modesty. Students will also learn how the risks of technological modernity have been unevenly borne by people over time and across the globe.
Evaluation Method
Timeline, Essay, Retrodictive history (i.e. predicting the past!)
Class Materials (Required)
All the assigned readings will be uploaded on Canvas
Class Notes
Concentration: Americas. European, Global
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Distro Area
Associated Classes
DIS - Harris Hall L04: Thurs 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Harris Hall L04: Thurs 2:00PM - 2:50PM
DIS - Harris Hall L04: Thurs 3:00PM - 3:50PM