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Image by John Fowler

into the multiverse

speculative play practice for the future(s) of higher education

project prompt: think of a way to keep our class community engaged when the semester ends.

tools: google suite, zoom, collage materials, canva.

design question: “how might we sustain the connections we have made in the classroom and continue to explore the field of speculative theory?”

methods: organizing, workshop design, curation, facilitation.

outcome: a speculative design workshop hosted at the teaching and learning summer institute. 

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critical speculative theory in anti-racism was one of the most important classes i took during my master’s degree program. the books we read and conversations we had inside and outside of class were deeply engaging and pushed us to think critically and boundlessly about the type of future we want to see as well as what we can do now to manifest that future. additionally, the class community we formed was an integral part of the course. we were able to listen and learn from each other, share our ideas, and build strong connections. the last class ended with us wondering how we could sustain the connections we made and continue to explore the field of speculative theory. it was amazing that we asked that question, we were thinking about how we could shift our dynamic from a class community to a community of practice. inspired by the robert kelley’s black study, black struggle, i proposed that we start a book club. kelley described communities that came together as a collective to study and learn about radical theories that can shape their reality and they produced artifacts from that knowledge as a way to invite others into the conversation. similarly, we met once a month and it was a lovely time grappling with interesting ideas and largely just being in community with one another. this was a shortlived activity as life and other commitments took center stage but we decided to do something with our ideas before we said goodbye, so we conceptualized the speculative design workshop hosted at the teaching, learning, and innovation summer institute.

from from class to practice - TLISI workshop 

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in the 2023 edition of TLISI, frankie rubio, catalina pajarito, jessie cheng, nafisa isa, ijeoma njaka, and i hosted a speculative design workshop titled: into the multiverse: speculative play practice for the future(s) of higher education

during the session, workshop participants learned how to apply speculative design principles to imagining anti-racist learning environments. after introducing participants to speculative design and anti-racism frameworks, we asked workshop participants to imagine a higher education learning experience that is set in scenarios pulled from media and literature. 

in a scene from wakanda forever (black panther II), princess shuri and okoye describe MIT as one of the little wakandan village schools. we were inspired by this claim and thought it will be interesting to speculate about what the higher education experience in wakanda. the idea of wakanda is a manifestation of afro-futurism - a science fiction genre that centers black history and culture. afro-futurism is also a tool that is used to complicate realities and imagine futures where people of color (specifically, black people) are liberated and thriving. in this light, we imagined how a wakandan higher education institution would prioritize anti-racist practices and inclusive teaching, alongside other worlds drawn from media and literature.  we explored this imagining with educators and students through a speculative design workshop.

in small groups, participants were presented with a prompt. scenarios from media and literature listed below functioned as the spaces to locate their speculative prompt:

  • star wars - the future of the resistance / resistance u

  • jetsons - family and lifelong learning

  • star trek - decolonizing the institution 

  • wakanda - nation-state level education policy

  • sultana’s dream - speculative futures through a feminist lens

each group worked on developing a vision board for a higher education institution in response to their speculative prompt. afterward, they shared their work and learnings with the larger group. we hope that participants were inspired to reimagine their relationship with reality and to apply this practice to their work.

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