“From what I’ve read,” I said to him, “the world goes crazy every three or four decades. The trick is to survive until it goes sane again.”

― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

The first Science Fiction/Futures event sparked conversation about a range of topics from how reading and writing fiction can help military strategists envision the future of warfare, to debate about whether the social lessons of science fiction are ignored in favour of the technological content.

This event will build on those discussions with new voices and ideas, including visions of South Australia in 2070. The aim of this event is to enable creative collisions of researchers and practitioners from different disciplines, with the hope of fostering a community of interest that can continue building on the ideas discussed on the night.

Speakers for the evening are:

Rachel Neef, PhD candidate in Law, The University of Adelaide
Dr Sean Williams, Author and Senior Lecturer at Flinders University
Dr Fred Bowden, Research Leader Capability Analysis and Design, Human and Decision Sciences Division, Defence Science and Technology Group

VENUE
The Cumberland Arms
The Cumberland Room, Level 1 (via stairs), 205 Waymouth Street, Adelaide SA 5000
(If you require assistance to access Level 1, please let us know when you register)

PROGRAM
17:30 - Arrival
18:00 - Presentations
18:30 - Questions/Discussion
19:00 - Food and Networking
20:30 - Finish

BACKGROUND READING

Militaries plunder science fiction for technology ideas, but turn a blind eye to the genre’s social commentary (theconversation.com)

Going Boldly: Military Thinking with Science Fiction | Mad Scientist Laboratory (army.mil) - Podcast

USING SCIENCE FICTION AS A TOOL FOR MILITARY AND DEFENSE ORGANIZATIONS TO IMAGINE THE FUTURE OF WAR (apf.org)

‘It’s not climate change, it’s everything change’: sci-fi authors take on the global crisis | Science fiction books | The Guardian

For additional reading from Convergence Science Fiction - Futures September 2021 click HERE (opens as PDF)

Defence Innovation Partnership - Convergence Series