imaginationasu.bsky.social

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We’re proud to share the latest annual report from the Center for Science and the Imagination.

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The report features details and updates about our efforts to build imaginative capacity at many levels, from K–12 education and public programming to speculative fiction narratives, community partnerships, and new empirical scholarship on imagination and futures thinking. Learn more on our website!

This week’s #FreeFictionFriday is “Even God Has a Place Called Home” by Ray Mwihaki. The future has been streamlined into the scientific necessities of human life, and community builds around an idol in a counterintuitive attempt to unlock the secrets of longevity. csi.asu.edu/story/mwihak...

This week's episode of Griots and Galaxies features a conversation with hosts @chineloonwualu.bsky.social, @yvettel.bsky.social, and guest Tendai Huchu. They discuss pitfalls of the publishing market, hurdles specific to African writers, and Tendai's journey through different genres of fiction.

Listen to the latest episode or revisit the previous season on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or our website. New episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays through October and November on The Imagination Desk podcast feed.

Congratulations to CSI's longtime friend and early champion, @nealstephenson.bsky.social, on the release of his latest novel, "D: Heavy Water", the second installment in his monumental "Bomb Light" series.

The gripping saga is set on the eve of World War II, as nations race to find and control an elusive substance critical to building atomic weapons. Get your copy of “D: Heavy Water” anywhere where books are sold.

This week's episode of Griots and Galaxies features hosts Jenna Hanchey and @yvettel.bsky.social, and guests @chidomuchemwa.bsky.social and Mubanga Kalimamukwento. They explore grief and the unique challenges of losing parents overseas, and archiving the voices of black women after their passing.

Our first episode of our all-new season of Griots and Galaxies features a conversation with hosts @chineloonwualu.bsky.social, @yvettel.bsky.social, and guest 'Pemi Aguda from Lagos, Nigeria.

'Pemi is the author of 'One Leg on Earth' and 'Ghostroots', a finalist for the 2024 National Book Awards in Fiction, the LA Times First Fiction Prize, and the Penn Faulkner Award.

This week's #FreeFictionFriday is "30-Second Situation" by @tochitruestory.bsky.social, who imagines the world of 2071, in which a sensorially immersive Smithsonian exhibit connects visitors to events of Summer 2020 to reflect on its change, creativity, and resilience. slate.com/technology/2...

This week begins the epic read of China Mieville’s new novel, 'The Rouse'. Join the World-building Initiative and the Humanities Institute this Wednesday from 11:30-12:30 in Ross-Blakley Hall room 197, for the first of six lunchtime discussions on the expansive saga asuevents.asu.edu/event/worldb...

This week’s #FreeFictionFriday is “Take Three” by @drkarenlord.bsky.social. As humanity ventures to new extraterrestrial locations, our relationship with music evolves closely behind us. Read here: csi.asu.edu/story/orches...

Our monthly series, Future Tense Fiction with @issuesinst.bsky.social features an original speculative fiction story plus a non-fiction response essay that delves deeper into the themes and real-world resonances that underpin the narrative.

In this month's #FreeFictionResponse, we’re delighted to spotlight “What Happens When Information is Severed From its Source?” by Dr. @monikasjones.bsky.social in response to @tinaconnolly.bsky.social's “Sunshine Hills Reality Edit”.

In this essay, Sengul-Jones, a writer, researcher, Wikipedia editor, and director of Society + Technology at the University of Washington, uses the story to examine the malleability of online information and the way it alters our search behavior for factual sources. issues.org/futuretensef...

This week's #FreeFictionFriday story is "Sunshine Hills Reality Edit" from @issuesinst.bsky.social by @tinaconnolly.bsky.social. In a remote cabin, an online encyclopedia editor has collected a vast library of books that she hopes can counteract a polarized online information environment.

When she gets a surprise visit from some young idealists, the editor is forced to confront what it means to curate information some find dangerous. issues.org/futuretensef...

Last week, Reactor Magazine published a piece by Dr. @anaklimchy.bsky.social, author, literary scholar, and editor of our book "From the Earth to the Moon: Annotated for the Spacefaring Age", on the nuance behind Verne's writing. Read more from the article here: reactormag.com/misunderstan....

21 Sept

We're partnering with our friends at the humanities institute for a special visit from China Miéville, who will discuss his new book “The Rouse”, a defining work twenty years in the making and a deeply moving, decade and continent spanning epic of personal grief, global tumult and grim conspiracy.

21 Sept

Stay tuned on their page for more information on book club meetings and a Q&A conversation with Miéville and @mdbell79.bsky.social about the book in February. Learn more about the book club and register here: asuevents.asu.edu/event/worldb...

19 Sept

This week’s #FreeFictionFriday is “Divided Light” by Corey S. Pressman. Two systems of energy production in Phoenix evolve convergently within two communities. The separation gives rise to cultural division until they find shared humanity in environmental reverence. csi.asu.edu/story/smallr...

@leopoldogout.bsky.social

15 Sept

Happy Pub Day to our friend and Imaginary College Fellow, @leopoldogout.bsky.social! If you’re in New York, catch his discussion with Marlon James tonight at Twisted Spine Bookstore and stay tuned for an event with CSI later this Fall. www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...

imaginationasu.bsky.social reposted

Leopoldo Goût

12 Sept

Brooklyn! Join me and #MarlonJames on Sept 15 at 7 PM for a raw conversation to launch my new novel, Rooted, at The Twisted Spine bookstore in Brooklyn. Areal talk, drinks after, and an open studio night RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc... torpublishinggroup.com/rooted/

12 Sept

This week’s #FreeFictionFriday is “Mozart on the Kalahari” by @kundalinisteve.bsky.social. Tourism and exploration become a luxury industry of space travel, leaving those without the means on Earth to create innovations in biotech that revolutionize the habitability problem csi.asu.edu/books/vvev/

11 Sept

Last week, OVMAE gave a special highlight to our friend and communications director here at Center for Science and the Imagination, Bob Beard.

11 Sept

After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, Bob was looking for his place in the community. That search ultimately led him to ASU, where his drive as a Marine was turned into curiosity.

vetengagement.asu.eduOVMAE Spotlight Series: Bob Beard | Office for Veteran and Military Academic EngagementAfter serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, Bob Beard was looking for his place in the community. That search ultimately led him to ASU, where his drive as a Marine was turned into curiosit...

11 Sept

That curiosity turned into the Veterans Imagination Project, a community program designed to improve the military-to-civilian transition process with the tools of futures thinking, speculative narratives and visual art. Read here: vetengagement.asu.edu/spotlight/bo...

4 Sept

This week’s #FreeFictionFriday is “Into the Storm” by Yakos Spiliotopoulos. Legislative apathy towards increasingly unusual weather continentally causes a long-standing era of political inaction for climate change in Canada to find ambition elsewhere. csi.asu.edu/books/everyt...

3 Sept

A huge congratulations to our Imaginary Friend and colleague Rachael Kaye for successfully defending her dissertation.

3 Sept

During her studies at the GAME school, Rachael researched design development and implantation of virtual reality as an educational tool. You can play (and learn!) with her games, Hurricane Heroes on Steam and Weather Wows on the Apple App store. We're so proud of you, Dr. Kaye!

2 Sept

CSI Skill Tree is a series that examines and celebrates how video games envision possible futures, build rich and thought-provoking worlds, and engage people as active participants in unfolding and interpreting stories.

2 Sept

In this episode, we discuss "I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (2022)", a science fiction narrative adventure developed by Northway Games and published by Finji, with speculative fiction writer/editors Troy L. Wiggins and CY Ballard. Watch the full episode here: youtu.be/jX67PxT7UUg?...

1 Sept

Last week, our founding director, @edfinn.bsky.social, appeared on AZfamily news to discuss a study from Villanova University on audience reception to stories written by AI compared to those by humans, and imagines how AI and creative writers might coexist. www.azfamily.com/2026/08/27/s...

1 Sept

Our monthly series, Future Tense Fiction, from @issuesinst.bsky.social features an original speculative fiction story plus a non-fiction response essay that delves deeper into the themes and real-world resonances that underpin the narrative.

1 Sept

This month, we’re delighted to share “How Can We Sustain Sustainable Housing?” by Muhamad Gambo in response to Osahon Ize-Iyamu’s “Where the Wild Things Grow.” Gambo brings his lived and professional experience to Ize-Iyamu’s tale of population growth and housing demands. issues.org/futuretensef...

28 Aug

This week's #FreeFictionFriday is "Where the Wild Things Grow" by Osahon Ize-Iyamu from @issuesinst.bsky.social. A grief-stricken daughter struggles to defend her late mother’s vision of sustainable housing against financial, regulatory, and personal hurdles. issues.org/futuretensef...

26 Aug

Our latest issue of Imaginary Papers, our quarterly newsletter about science fiction worldbuilding, futures thinking, and the imagination, is out now!

26 Aug

In this issue, @solarshades.club writes about solarpunk and the 2025 film Arco, Ines Montalvao considers salt as an expressive material in the work of the artist Nobuho Nagasawa, and CSI's @bobbeard.bsky.social recommends Cassandra Vieten's new book Imagine That. Read here mailchi.mp/asu.edu/imag...

Our Veterans Imagination Project isn't just designed for veterans transitioning to civilian life; it's built by men and women who have walked that same road. Meet Ray Lopez, a concept artist who has been with VIP since its inception.

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A graduate of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Ray brings years of professional experience to the Veterans Imagination Project, where he collaborates with service members to envision positive and enriching futures beyond their military careers.

csi.asu.eduVeterans Imagination Project Archives - Center for Science and the ImaginationFutures Thinking and Storytelling for Military Transition Each year, two hundred thousand service members separate from the military and begin their reintegration to the civilian world. But leaving mi...

VIP is free for ALL veterans in Arizona, with paid research opportunities available. Learn more and apply at csi.asu.edu/veterans

Ray grew up in a military family, with his father, three uncles, and two brothers serving in the United States Marine Corps, while other family members pursued careers in the Navy and Air Force.

21 Aug

This week’s #FreeFictionFriday is “Too Big to See” by @karlschroeder.bsky.social. A seemingly recreational innovation in aerospace provides an unexpected change in perspective, allowing world leaders splitting hairs over geopolitical conflict to see the bigger picture. medium.com/@imagination...

20 Aug

Our Veterans Imagination Project isn't just designed for veterans transitioning to civilian life; it's built by women and men who have walked that same road. Meet Eliza DelaPaz, a Marine Corps veteran and graduate student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Arizona State University.

20 Aug

Her background spans neuroscience, mindfulness, mental health, entrepreneurship, and military service, alongside her work as a Mindfulness Coach. This fall, she returns to VIP as a researcher and facilitator to explore how veterans can envision flourishing futures and apply their imaginations.

20 Aug

VIP is free for ALL veterans in Arizona, with paid research opportunities available. Learn more and apply at csi.asu.edu/veterans