What do our ideas about the future say about us today? This micro-module introduces you to the emerging research field of Critical Future Studies, which deals with the interdisciplinary analyses of how different possible futures are established in public discussions about what tomorrow might look like, what we call the futural public sphere. 

We will focus on the scope and limitations that exist within public culture for imagining and debating different potential futures.
We will do this by studying documents that attempt to shape the future, such as political programmes, documentaries and pop culture. We will also employ methodological approaches to explore what kind of people are expected to live in the different possible futures, the worldviews lying behind each potential version of tomorrow, and how knowledge about them is established.
This matters because images of the future have the power to affect the public sphere by influencing decisions, policies and attitudes. Learning how to challenge these narratives through alternative ways of thinking makes a better future easier to achieve.
We will engage with all these issues through a combination of lectures, seminars and a written assignment.