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  • Call for Teaching: Future Literacy Seminar Series at the University of Mannheim

Call for Teaching: Future Literacy Seminar Series at the University of Mannheim

Topic: Future Literacy

Dates: February – June 2027

Format: Online

Application deadline: 30 September 2026

 

General information

Our ideas and thoughts about the future have a significant influence on how we think and act today. However, this connection often goes unnoticed. Trends, social narratives, and personal experiences shape the way we imagine tomorrow, which often leads to the notion of a predetermined or even inevitable future. Yet, the future is not a fixed destination but a realm of possibilities rooted in our own imagination. The capability to harness this imagination to design divergent futures is known as Futures Literacy. By imagining various possible futures, we gain insights that enable us to make more informed decisions in the present, even in uncertain and complex circumstances.

Against this backdrop, the University of Mannheim is launching a cross-disciplinary workshop series within the ENGAGE.EU network, designed to raise awareness among students and faculty to the profound impact our perceptions of the future have on our present lives. Grounded in the UNESCO Futures Literacy Framework and Riel Miller’s Discipline of Anticipation, this series aims to enable participants to embrace uncertainty as a space for learning and innovation.

Teaching invitation for ENGAGE.EU faculty members

For the online seminar series, the University of Mannheim is inviting members of the ENGAGE.EU partner universities to facilitate online workshop sessions. We welcome contributions from researchers and practitioners from all academic disciplines to illuminate the theoretical and practical dimensions of future-oriented capacities and approaches.

Workshops are intended for 10-15 participants and will take place between February and June 2027. The target audience includes members of all faculties and departments at the ENGAGE.EU partner universities, as well as alumni and the society as a whole. We welcome all participants. Each workshop is scheduled to last 90 to 180 minutes and is intended to encourage active participation. Each online workshop will be remunerated with €300 (via a freelance contract with our ‘University of Mannheim Service & Marketing Company’).

Because Futures Literacy as a framework and capability has been shaped by researchers and practitioners from various academic fields, we welcome proposals that connect Futures Literacy to specific academic or practical domains. Prospective lecturers are encouraged to propose topics such as (but not limited to):

    • Co-creation and best practice cases of enabling transformation
    • Speculative Design
    • The neuroscience or psychology of imagination
    • Decision-making under uncertainty
    • Deconstructing Anticipatory Assumptions
    • Transitioning from linear forecasting to new business models
    • How emerging technologies such as AI reshape our anticipatory assumptions
    • Utopias and reimagined societal contracts

Application instructions

If you are interested in giving an online workshop in the Futures Literacy Seminar Series, please send the following documents to studiumgenerale@service.uni-mannheim.de by the 30th of September:

    • your curriculum vitae (résumé) incl. teaching/research activities
    • a detailed outline of your online seminar or workshop idea (min. 300 words – max. 500 words), including:
      • a description of the core thematic focus
      • how the proposed topic aligns with Futures Literacy
      • the core objectives, methodology and the intended learning outcomes
      • your ideas about encouraging active participation
    • information on teaching preferences:
      • available date(s) (please list all days between middle of February and June 2027 that you could hold the workshop)
      • time(s) that you would be available on those days (flexible or specific)
      • the required minimum number of participants in your workshop.

We will contact you regarding the outcome of your application by December 2026.

In case of any questions regarding the application or the program, please reach out to Maria Collado (collado@service.uni-mannheim.de).