On November 1, 2024, an interdisciplinary community of scholars will congregate at Columbia University to consider the ways humans have thought about the future. It is not an exaggeration to say that we live through intense uncertainty, even dread, of the future. Whether it’s the unsettling pace of technological development, the instability of taken-for-granted political institutions, radical transformations of work, labor, and economy, or the rapid reconfigurations of gender, race, and identity, nearly every facet of contemporary life seems characterized by confusion about our past and suspicion of our future.

This conference serves as a platform to dissect, among other topics, the intricacies of technology, governments, gender, and art and its relation to our future. Historians and scholars working beyond the historical field will reflect on the diverse social imaginaries and narratives that shape our understanding of the future.

The event is by registration only. You can register here.

Conference Program

9:30 am – 10:00 am — Registration and Breakfast

10:00 am – 10:15 am — Opening Remarks

• Professor Matthew Connelly, Columbia University; Director, Centre for the Study of Existential Threats

10:20 am – 11:20 am — Technology and the Future

• Commentator: Professor Daniel Kelly, University of California Berkeley
• Professor Angus Burgin, Johns Hopkins University
• Jacob Bruggeman, Johns Hopkins University
• Amira Moeding, University of Cambridge

11:30 am – 12:30 pm — The Politics of Tomorrow

• Commentator: Alma Steingart, Columbia University
• Emma Bates, University of California Berkeley
• Henry Schmidt, University of California Berkeley
• Micah Blaichman, New York University

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm — Lunch Break

1:45 pm – 2:45 pm — Art and Thinking Ahead

• Commentator: David Reynolds, CUNY
• Professor Juan Suárez Ontaneda, Bryn Mawr College
• Harry Hall, Harvard University
• Victoria Dadet, Columbia University

3:00 pm – 4:10 pm — Sex, Gender, and a Broader Future

• Commentator: Margaret D. Stetz, University of Delaware
• Wesley Cornwell, Columbia University
• Hatim Rachdi, Yale University
• Courtney Barter-Colcord, Princeton University

4:15 pm – 4:45 pm — Coffee Break

4:50 pm – 5:50 pm — The Future of Society

• Commentator: Matthew Connolly, Columbia University
• Michael Brown, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Professor Pilar Damião de Medeiros, University of the Azores
• Anna Diem, Geneva Graduate Institute

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm — Cocktail hour & reception

Register