ASU Center for Science and the Imagination

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ASU Center for Science and the Imagination

We create visions of the future that are imaginative, inclusive, and inspiring. Newsletters: https:

The Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University engages in research, outreach, and radical collaborations to reinvent our relationship with the future. From writers, artists, and teachers to scientists, engineers, and technologists, we bring diverse intellectual practices together to reignite humanity’s grand ambitions for innovation and discovery. The center serves as a network hub for audacious ideas and a cultural engine for thoughtful optimism through programs like Project Hieroglyph, a public community of science fiction authors, scientists, and researchers, and the Frankenstein Bicentennial Project, which explores science in society through a modern myth of creativity and responsibility. We provide a space for productive collaboration among the humanities, arts, and sciences, bring human narratives to scientific questions, and explore the full social implications of cutting-edge research.

10/06/2026

This week begins the epic read of China Mieville’s new novel, 'The Rouse'. Join the World-building Initiative and the ASU 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.

10/03/2026

This week’s is “Take Three” by Karen Lord, from “Sound Systems: The Future of Orchestra”. As humanity ventures to new extraterrestrial locations, our relationship with music evolves closely behind us. A shifting cultural zeitgeist splits music into the traditional and the new age, and artists of both genres work to preserve and understand the heart of the trade. Read the story here: https://csi.asu.edu/story/orchestra-as-infrastructure/

10/02/2026

October is Black Speculative Fiction Month. Established in 2013 by authors Balogun Ojetade and Milton Davis, this observance honors the role that Black authors and creators have played in shaping the culture of speculative fiction, expanding our sense of what is possible, and charting the course toward vibrant and equitable futures.

Together with collaborators across Arizona State University and around the globe, we're celebrating how artists, writers, and creators of all kinds use the tools of imagination to engage with diverse perspectives and possibilities for a better world.

Cover art for the Griots and Galaxies podcast, which features an image of the African continent rendered as a purple soundwave. The subtitle reads "a podcast about African futures and storytelling."
We're thrilled for the return of Griots & Galaxies, a podcast miniseries examining Black and African speculative fiction as a tool for social and technological change.

Hosted by African speculative fiction writers and researchers Chinelo Onwualu and Lisa Ndlovu, along with ASU associate professor Jenna N. Hanchey, and produced by CSI's own Eden Campbell, this new season features conversations with 15 leading authors of African speculative fiction to understand how stories of time travel, epic fantasy, androids, and aliens can help us to reckon with the legacy of colonialism and inspire transformative futures.

New episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays through October and November on The Imagination Desk podcast feed. Find the show and dig through the archives on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or our website.

09/26/2026

This week's story is "Sunshine Hills Reality Edit" from Issues in Science and Technology by Tina Connolly. What does it look like to search for truth across ideological bubbles? 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. Read here:

09/25/2026

Last week, Reactor Magazine published a piece by Anastasia Klimchynskaya, 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. Klimchynskaya critiques the readerly instinct to ascribe Verne's work and other prominent works of science fiction to technological prophecy, noting Verne's brilliancy of exploring its societal impact that can be lost in its shadow. Read more of the article here: https://reactormag.com/misunderstanding-the-genius-of-jules-verne-and-why-it-matters-to-science-fiction/. Check out our book and stay updated on the rest of our "Imagination, Annotated" series on The MIT Press website.

09/21/2026

We're partnering with our friends at the ASU 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, “The Rouse” is a deeply moving, decade and continent spanning epic of personal grief, global tumult and grim conspiracy. Stay tuned on their page for more information on book club meetings and a Q&A conversation with Miéville and MattBell about the book in February. Learn more about the book club and register here: https://asuevents.asu.edu/event/worldbuilding-initiative-book-club-china-mievilles-rouse

09/19/2026

This week’s is “Divided Light” by , from “The Weight of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures”. Two systems of energy production and conservation in Phoenix evolve convergently within two communities. The separation in technology gives rise to cultural division until they find their shared humanity reflected in environmental reverence. Read the story here: https://csi.asu.edu/story/smallrural/

09/15/2026

Happy Pub Day to our friend and Imaginary College Fellow, Leopoldo Gout! A multi-media artist, writer, showrunner, and filmmaker, Leopoldo brings a haunting story of ancestral trauma, stolen artifacts, and awakened gods in his latest novel, Rooted. 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. Leopoldo Gout and Marlon James event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launch-rooted-by-leopoldo-gout-tickets-1996006320636

09/12/2026

This week’s is “Mozart on the Kalahari” by Steven Barnes from “Visions, Ventures, and Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures”. Tourism and exploration become a luxury industry of space travel, leaving those without the resources to remain on Earth, and create innovations in biotechnology that revolutionize the habitability problem. Read the story here: https://csi.asu.edu/books/vvev/

09/11/2026

Last week, the Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement - ASU gave a special highlight to our friend and communications director here at CSI, Bob Beard.

After 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 curiosity. 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 more about his journey and how he created the Veteran's Imagination Project here: https://vetengagement.asu.edu/spotlight/bob-beard

Address

1140 E Baseline Rd
Tempe, AZ
85283

Website

http://csi.asu.edu/, http://twitter.com/imaginationASU

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