Practicing Futures

Gabriel Peters-Lazaro, M.F.A., Ph.D. is Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts where he researches, designs, and produces digital media for innovative learning. His current research interests include civic imagination and hypercinemas. He is a practicing documentary filmmaker and his courses deal with critical media making and theory.Sangita Shresthova, Ph.D. is the Director of Research of Civic Paths Group at the University of Southern California. Her work focuses on the intersections among popular culture, performance, new media, politics, and globalization. Her previous books include Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: Case Studies of Creative Social Change (with Henry Jenkins et al.) and Is It All About Hips?: Around the World With Bollywood Dance.

• List of Figures – Foreword: The Work of Imagining Communities by Henry Jenkins – Overview – About Practicing Futures – Section Two: Practice Chronicles – Fantasy Can Help Us Breathe—Muslim Youth Group, Los Angeles – Bringing Imagination to Activism—Freedom School, Los Angeles – Mind Blown! Grown Ups Freaking Out—Digital Media and Learning Conference, Boston – Em/power Love: Building Empathy and Solidarity with Each Other—Salzburg Global Seminar – Turning the Chairs to Face the Table—Bowling Green, Kentucky – Future of Faith?—Fayetteville, Arkansas – Pakistan, from the Heart: Civic Imagination in Context of Violent Extremism – Imagination in the Classroom—New Media for Social Change – Of Two Faced Bunnies in the Woods—Brussels, Belgium – Section Three: The Practice Guidebook – General Notes About Facilitation – Workshop: Origin Stories—Imagining Ourselves as Civic Agents – Workshop: Infinite Hope—Imagining a Better World – Workshop: Step into the Looking Glass—Imagining Our Social Connections with a Larger Community – Workshop: Monuments from the Future—Bringing Imaginative Dimensions to Our Real World Spaces and Places – Workshop: Remixing Stories—Forging Solidarity with Others with Different Experiences Than Our Own – Workshop: Creating an Action Plan—Imagining the Process of Change – Stories from the Field – Final Thoughts – Recommended Readings – Author Biographies – Index.

“It is all too rare to find a book this widely researched, richly theorized, and immensely practical for all of us who seek to imagine together what our shared world can be. I can’t think of a more timely or crucial contribution to civic life and learning.”—Lissa Soep, Executive Producer of Journalism + Innovation Lab and Founding Director at YRMedia