The Center for Science and the Imagination invited Claudia Alick to collaborate in their Imagination Salons in 2021.
Starting in 2021, the Center for Science and the Imagination aims to intervene in this divide through a new research project on Applied Imagination. Convening a multi-institutional network of scholars, educators, community leaders, policy thinkers, and practitioners, we will explore how imagination is seen, valued, and practiced across a variety of contexts. Informed by this work, we will catalyze new collaborations, projects, and trainings that can be used and adapted by educators, facilitators, learners across a multitude of settings.
Imagination is a fundamental human capacity, practiced by individuals, communities, and cultures the world over. The act of imagination, creating mental images and simulations beyond our direct, physical experience, is the ignition system for creativity, anticipation, collaborative problem-solving, and resilience—the skills we need to navigate the global challenges of the twenty-first century. Yet outside of early childhood and in a few creative settings, this ability remains woefully underdeveloped in our societies today.
Black Liberation and Resilience
Claudia Alick reached out to natasha marin who had collaborated on a few clubhouse experiments together and pitched a conversation exploring liberation and resilience. Natasha had just finished a book project on Black Imagination and was about to start another. Claudia imagined a space for them fueled by pleasure activism and access intimacy that used digital tools to gather responses and make aggregate dreamscapes. They both invited Black activists, artists, organizers and community members. The final group gathered was all Black women. The beginning moments opened with a conflict. There wasn’t an understanding that the space needed to be Black exclusive. The white CSI members left quickly but it was a reminder of the constant labor to create safe space where Black folks can feel free. The conversation was rich and varied. Below is one artifact from our time dreaming together.
Who is Center for Science and the Imagination?
At the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University, they create inspiring, inclusive, technically grounded visions of the future by bringing together artists, authors, and educators with scientists, technologists, policy thinkers, and community members. They publish collections of science fiction, nonfiction, and art; lead informal and formal education initiatives around science, technology, culture, and society; host public events and forums and create podcasts and videos about science fiction, media arts, and possible futures; conduct interdisciplinary research about collaboration and imagination, and more.
Their projects have been supported by NASA, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Intel Corporation, Google, the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities, Ingka Group, the Spencer Foundation, and the World Bank.
They have collaborated with organizations including the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Slate magazine, New America, the Society for Scholarly Publishing, National Novel Writing Month, the Science Fiction Research Association, Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology, the MIT Press, the Mexican Space Collective, CoFUTURES at the University of Oslo, Creative Nonfiction magazine, the National Informal STEM Education Network, the ClimateWorks Foundation, and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.