School of Education Events

Location

America is suffering a crisis of the civic imagination -- that capacity which allows us to imagine the possibility of a better world, to feel solidarity with others in our community, and to experience a sense of civic agency. So, what can we do about it? The University of Southern California's Civic Imagination Project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, has developed a set of practices which we have tested in communities across the United States and around the world, which we believe can get people talking to each other about shared values and especially hopes and fears about the future. These workshops draw on world-building, a practice long associated with speculative fiction, to encourage playful and yet heart felt speculations about the world of tomorrow -- America in the year 2060. Such practices can be integrated into social science, arts and humanities classes as a way of getting students thinking about the process of social change. In this workshop, we will model how the process works and share some insights about its pedagogical value.

Henry Jenkins is the Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education at the University of Southern California.

Contact

Lindy Johnson, [[ljohnson]]