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NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

SYLLABUS
Spring 2007
ANT 547 The Study of the Future (3)
Definition of the future; reasons for study of the future; man's development of interest in the future; state of futures research today.
Semester : Spring 2007
Time : Tuesday 09:35 - 12:05
Location : ANT (98D) - 110
Instructor: R. D. Riner
Office : ANT (98D) - 109F
Office hours : to be announced
E-mail:Reed.Riner@nau.edu
Phone: 523-6583, 779-0654; Fax 523-9135

Texts:

Bell, Wendell
1997     Foundations of Futures Studies, Vol I: History, Purposes, and Knowledge
              Foundations of Futures Studies II: Vlaues, Objectivity, and the Good Society
                New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

          on-line (in Vista) Reserve Readings as assigned.

This will include products of the previous eight iterations of the Flagstaff Tomorrow project;
this 'raw material' will be supplemented by materials on Departmental Reserve, and students will be introduced in class to the core literature in the futures field.

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Homepage     ||     Calendar    ||    Assignments     ||    Evaluations & Procedures    ||     Futures Resources

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EXPANSION

      This course develops an anthropology about the future and addresses issues of sociocultural change into the future. It is one of three which satisfy the requirement for a culture change course in the applied anthropology Master's degree program. The course emphasizes methods of futures research rather than the study of projected futures. This course is intended to prepare students to enter pre-professional internships doing environmental scanning, futures research, strategic planning, policy analysis and issues management for organizations.

      Conceptually, the course will teach what futures research is about, how to do it and apply its findings anthropologically with particular emphasis placed on the techniques of introducing guided change (telesis) into human organizations and sociocultural systems. This aspect of the course will emphasize the origins, the distinctive features and the consequences of futures images in human organizations and socio-cultural systems.

      Practically, students will develop familiarity with six exemplary and specific methods of futures research including the data collection, analysis, evaluation, and application phases. These skills may be practiced through participation in the 8th round of the ongoing Flagstaff Tomorrow Project: Flagstaff 2032.

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Homepage     ||     Calendar    ||    Assignments     ||    Evaluations & Procedures    ||     Futures Resources

Anthropology Home Page   ||    Anthropology Resources   ||   
Instructor HomePage     ||    NAU Home Page     ||    SBS Home Page

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This page is maintained by:

Reed D. Riner, Professor,
Department of Anthropology
email: Reed.Riner@NAU.edu

last updated on 06.11.01