Starting this May, I will be taking a year long sabbatical and will be back in August 2023. Faculty are eligible for these once every 7 years to use the time to think creatively and deeply about new ideas. I will be slow to respond over email and politely decline all service requests.
Wishing you all the best as we finish up another semester. Keep reading, making the world better, and finding the cracks. As Leonard Cohen said, “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”.
There are a variety of current challenges that will shape our future, such as climate change impacts, socio-economic disparities, the role of technology in society, and changing population dynamics. As ideas about the future influence actions taken today, it is important to study what possible futures young adults anticipate and how they believe those futures could be realized. In 2019, using an in-person paper survey, we asked students (N = 193; ages 18-26) to describe their best, most-likely, and worst possible futures for the United States in either the year 2050 or 2100. Participants were also asked questions to explore what would need to happen to achieve these futures and the actors who have influence in shaping the future. Here we explore their description of these future scenarios and pathways. Our participants’ images of the future are heavily infused with concepts related to environmental sustainability, technology, and social dynamics. Further, participants frequently expressed the belief that governance, technological developments, and individuals were key factors that will determine the contours of the future. The images of the future collected by our work can help to engage productively with young adults in addressing today’s pressing challenges.
Our last Human Behavior and Energy Consumption class..outside and with our great students.
In their nomination letter, my student stated: “Her teaching style blended academic research, PowerPoints, talks from change makers in the world (both local and far away), and guided experiences in determining and creating sustainable change in the world while still an undergrad. Sometimes to a fault, she always pushed us to do better, do more, and just get out there and make something of a difference.” <wow>
Bellagio Center (Photo credit: The Rockefeller Foundation)
I will be a visiting writer at the Bellagio Center in 2022 for four weeks. Beyond excited to meet other fellows and learn about integrating art and science to motivate action on climate change.
“Since 1885, the Indiana Academy of Science has supported the scientific research and science education of our state’s scientists and science students. It is one of the oldest scientific professional membership organizations in the United States, the only multidisciplinary scientific organization in the state of Indiana, and is dedicated to promoting scientific research, diffusing scientific information, improving education in the sciences, and encouraging communication and cooperation among scientists.” Shahzeen will be the 137th Annual Academy Keynote Speaker. See you there.
Wonderful conversation on Feb 27 2022 hosted by Women in STEM Living-Learning Center https://womeninstem.indiana.edu/ Learned a lot from others there.
Happy new year to us all.