Professor:  Dr. Emily York

UNST 300E:  Design Fiction   TTH 11:00-12:15  – Carrier 0101

This is a 3D Printing Lab (3Space) course in which students will create design fiction—a blend of material production and narrative that incorporates science fiction and design prototyping—to critically interrogate plausible socio-technical futures as a hands-on practice of creative, critical inquiry and ethical reasoning.

This course would expand on a 4-week module on ethical reasoning that uses design fiction in my ISAT 271 Technology, Science, and Society class. Readings include “Design Fiction” by Julian Bleecker (2009), “The Central Capabilities” by Martha Nussbaum, and selections from Wade’s Scenario Planning: A Field Guide to the Future (2012), as well as science fiction texts, including short stories by Ted Chiang and Ursula Le Guin. Assignments would include scenario analysis assignments, presentations, a paper, and design fiction products, culminating in a final poster-style presentation of the design fiction. This course is being developed as part of my participation in the Integrative Design Technology Fellows program in the fall 2019 semester to learn how to use the 3Space classroom for a class. Below are some simple student design fictions, exploring the use of genetic engineering for super soldiers (left) and de-extinction (right).