Advancing Futures : Futures Studies in Higher Education

by Dator, James Allen

• ISBN13: 9780275976323
• ISBN10: 0275976327
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-04-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

What is Futures Studies, what are the theories and methods underlying the field? What are its basic concepts and metaphors, and how is it related to other academic fields? These are the core questions addressed in this book by a comprehensive assembly of distinguished scholars. They explore the enigma of why Futures Studies, despite its growing maturity as an intellectual endeavor, after more than three decades of groundbreaking work, still struggles for institutional acceptance. Together these contributors paint a picture of Futures Studies not so much a product of the stale intellectual heritage of the 20th century, but as a vibrant harbinger of intellectual perspectives sure to gain wider currency in the 21st. Drawing on their backgrounds in fields as diverse as political science, history, sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology, management, and human ecology, this international line-up of contributors includes world systems theorist Immanuel Wallerstein, philosopher Peter Manicas, management professor Bill Halal, and industrial sociologist Arthur Shostak.

Author Biography

JAMES A. DATOR is professor of political science and director of the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies at the University of Hawaii, and a past president of the World Futures Studies Federation.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Future Lies Behind---Thirty Years of Teaching Futures Studies	1	(32)
Jim Dator
Part I Overviews and Histories
Making People Responsible: The Possible, the Probable, and the Preferable	33	(20)
Wendell Bell
A Sociologist's Experience	53	(8)
Eleonora Barbieri Masini
The Future as a sociocultural Problem: A Personal Ethnohistory	61	(22)
Reed D. Riner
Past and Future	83	(8)
W. Warren Wagar
Futures Studies as an Intellectual and Applied Discipline	91	(18)
Richard A. Slaughter
Pedagogy, Culture, and Futures Studies	109	(16)
Sohail Inayatullah
Part II Explaning and Defining
Explaining the Past and Predicting the Future	125	(10)
Peter T. Manicas
Social Change and Futures Practice	135	(8)
Peter Bishop
Permanent Development of Futures Research Methodology	143	(10)
Erzsebet Novaky
The Transformation of Futures Research in Hungary	153	(8)
Eva Hideg
Politics + Science = Futures Studies?	161	(16)
Mika Mannermaa
Maximizing Evolvability: Teaching Futures Studies at the University Level	177	(6)
Jan Huston
Future-Oriented Complexity and Adaptive Studies (FOCAS)	183	(12)
Kaoru Yamaguchi
Part III Courses and Methods
Futures Studies in Pakistan: The PFI	195	(14)
Ikram Azam
A Generation of Futures Studies in Taiwan	209	(8)
Kuo-Hua Chen
Teaching Futures-Seeking Policy Process	217	(16)
Markku Sotarauta
A Journey to the Future in the United Kingdom	233	(10)
Graham H. May
Global Issues and Futures for Planners: The Heuristic Model	243	(22)
Sam Cole
Planet Eaters or Star Makers?	265	(18)
Christopher Burr Jones
The Challenge of Teaching Futures Studies	283	(12)
Jordi Serra del Pino
Giving Images a Chance: Images of the Future as a Tool for Sociology	295	(14)
Anita Rubin
Futures Praxis: Consulting and Teaching Futures Studies through the World Wide Web	309	(12)
Paul Wildman
Postmodern Education: A Futures Perspective	321	(10)
David Hicks
Visionary Futures: Guided Cognitive Imagery in Teaching and Learning about the Future	331	(14)
Oliver W. Markley
Part IV Concerns and Issues
Producing a Better World: Theory, Education, and Consulting	345	(10)
Ian Lowe
Cocreating a Futures Studies Course with Unionists	355	(6)
Arthur B. Shostak
Diagnosing Global Change: Educating the Economic Strategist	361	(8)
Ernest Sternberg
Prophets of a High-Tech Age: Futures Studies through the Eyes of a Futurist	369	(14)
William E. Halal
Index	383	(20)
About the Editor and Contributors	403