| SCHOOL | School of Economics and Political Science | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| DEPARTMENT | Sociology | ||
| Level of Study | Undergraduate | ||
| COURSE CODE | 431092 | ||
| COURSE TITLE | Future studies (YE) | ||
| Independent Teaching Activities | Weekly Teaching Hours | CREDIT UNITS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures - assignments | 3 | 6 | |
| TOTAL | 3 | 6 | |
| Course Type | General Knowledge | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prerequisite Courses | No | ||
| Teaching and Examination Language | Greek with teaching proficiency in English | ||
| THE COURSE IS OFFERED TO ERASMUS STUDENTS | No | ||
| Course Webpage (URL) | https://eclass.uoa.gr/courses/SOC253/ | ||
Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:
General Capabilities
Future Studies is a new interdisciplinary field that gradually took shape after World War II. The context in which it emerged involved a situation of widespread geopolitical uncertainty and, above all, a threatening and precarious future due to the development of nuclear weapons. Subsequently, however, particularly during the 1960s, thinking about the future began to take on an academic dimension, and various thinkers began to produce theoretical discourse on this specific field. Both the concept of the future and the concept of forecasting were placed on a different footing. The basic idea is that Futures Studies is not about predicting the future. Its primary focus is the systematic exploration of multiple possible and plausible future scenarios. This means that its focus is on the present and the possibilities inherent in it. We cannot know the future, but we can understand the potential futures that lie within the present, and use this knowledge to improve the decision-making process for the present. Hence the plural: Futures Studies. It is not about predicting a single, inevitable future, but about mapping the potential of time. As is to be expected, Futures Studies quickly became a tool for organizations, governments, businesses, and security forces. Regarding the latter category, theorists cite as an extreme example the paranoid statement by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: ’Reports that say something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because, as we know, there are known knowns—that is, things we know we know. We also know that there are known unknowns—that is, we know there are some things we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns—those things we don’t know that we don’t know. And if one looks at the entire history of our country and other free nations, it is this last category that tends to be the most difficult« (February 12, 2002). In the context of multiple crises and contemporary geopolitical uncertainty, this particular approach tends to become the norm for decision-making in other sectors as well, beyond the security forces (organizations, governments, and businesses). An important question, therefore, is whether Futures Studies, with the theoretical framework and empirical research tools it has developed, could also serve as a tool for civil society. A tool that would enable communities, cultural groups, and initiatives in artistic and scientific inquiry to identify, within the dynamics of the present, potential forms of future expression and realization.
The purpose of the course is to trace the historical origins of the academic field of Futures Studies, explore their theoretical and methodological framework, and discuss potential applications across as broad a social field as possible. Because, as William Gibson writes, «the future is inherently plural.».
| DELIVERY METHOD | Development of topics in class and discussion. Lectures by scientists, artists, and practitioners specializing in the specific topics of the course. Social research scenario simulation. |
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| Information and Communication Technologies |
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| Activity | Semester Workload |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 24 |
| Social research simulations | 15 |
| Study of Required Reading | 60 |
| Study of supplementary material and preparation of assignments | 40 |
| Preparing for an Evaluation | 30 |
| Course Summary | 169 |
| Process Description Evaluation | Student assessment is conducted in two alternative ways.
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Suggested Bibliography
