[AISWorld] An IS professor teaches Future And Foresight

[Erran Carmel at American University]

In spring semester I taught an unusual MBA class: FUTURE AND FORESIGHT. 

In this message I briefly share my experience with this list in order to see
if there's a community out there.  I will be delighted to share more with
interested colleagues.

Future and Foresight is a qualitative interdisciplinary area that examines
-- typically -- beyond 5 years, often 10 to 20 years. Futurists try to steer
away from “predictions” and create several “futures” as tools for planning
and for creating change. 

My syllabus outline for this short class appears below. I benefited
immensely from being here in Washington DC where many of the best futurists
work. Several were able to come speak to the class.   

Week 1: Introduction  
Week 2: Scenarios.  Creating scenarios is one of the foundational methods.
It is the core method for the student papers.
Week 3:  Desired Futures ; Patterns & Trends
Week 4: Technology;  Scanning;  Wild Cards
Week 5:  Other Key Tools and Methods (Included a Delphi exercise).
Week 6:   The future molecular economy and other topics.  
Week 7: Celebration with “Foods of the Future” /   Students Presentations.

Future Studies (another name for this area) is mostly taught outside of
business schools.  The only other IS professor I am aware of who taught a
similar class is Paul Gray (emeritus professor at Claremont) who taught it
around 2000.  

The main conference is WorldFuture (July 2010 in Boston; coming up in a few
weeks). 

I welcome your comments. 

Erran Carmel
Professor of Information Technology
and International Business Research Professor.
Kogod School of Business, American University, 
Washington D.C. 20016-8044  USA.
+1.202.885.1928   carmel at american.edu