This article examines the work of several anthropologists from the 1960s to the 1980s who used images of the future in their anthropology classrooms in order to stimulate alternative thinking in their students. In response to the apparent inevitability of "monofutures" characterized by globalization, I suggest the necessity for such an approach…

Suggests that science fiction can be used as a vehicle for teaching a broad range of content subjects incorporating an interdisciplinary approach. (RB)

This booklet discusses the development of science fiction, tracing its origins to the time of the industrial revolution. Many of the people of this time realized that life was changing and would continue to change, that there were new forces at work in the world, and that humankind should exercise some forethought about the direction in which…

Since science fiction imaginatively explores the future, technology, and the human role in problem solving, it lends itself to the development of a process-oriented curriculum. Students may participate in planning, executing, and evaluating a study of science fiction, while they may learn through process goals to deal intelligently with change--a…

The articles collected in this volume focus on the literary genre science fiction. Part one, "Backgrounds," includes "Starting Points" (Kingsley Amis), "Science Fiction and Literature" (Robert Conquest), and "The Roots of Science Fiction" (Robert Scholes). Part two, "Theory," contains "On the Poetics of the Science Fiction Genre" (Darko Suvin),…

Examination of the treatment of religion in world-future novels for young people provides a discussion of science fiction and cites 14 novels as examples with grade levels indicated. Four references are listed. (EJS)

The founder of future studies was the English novelist, popularizer, and journalist H. G. Wells. In Wells all the tendencies in earlier futurist thought coalesced, and in his abundant writings, models may be found for nearly all that is best in present day futures inquiry. (RM)

Discusses Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series and Frank Herbert's "Dune" series as examples of quality science fiction that applies itself to philosophical problems while being entertaining. (FL)

Education for the future must avoid the hardening of categories that predisposes one to future shock. (JH)

This paper examines the use of science fiction to predict the future. First, science fiction is compared to other fiction literature forms; then the changes in science fiction over the last 20 years are discussed. The influence of recent scientific advances on science fiction is also presented. The generation of alternative scenarios of the future…

Considers science fiction as a literary genre and as a predictor of technological advances, particularly in the information industry. An annotated bibliography is included of 11 science fiction titles and 1 nonfiction book that suggest possible information futures. (LRW)

"Battlestar Galactica," ABC-TV's prime-time science fiction series for 1978-79, illustrates how popular, mass media entertainment can communicate contradictory meanings that correlate with unresolved cultural tensions. The ambiguity of visual design is especially confusing because it is contrapuntal to the simplicity and clarity of the…

This paper discusses science fiction in general, and argues that science fiction is a method for exploring present and future potentialities, for educating people about the possibilities of the future, for helping people condition themselves to change. A science fiction course taught at the community college level as a humanities elective is…