The Future Readiness Lab: Design Like a Futurist

July 26-30, 2027 Rose Hill

Non-Credit Course

What will the world look like in 10 years—and what role will you play in shaping it? In this interactive, five-day experience, students become future explorers, investigating emerging trends, imagining surprising possibilities, and challenging assumptions about how the world works. Through creative simulations, real-world investigations, and collaborative challenges, students will explore how technology, society, the environment, and human behavior could transform our lives, while examining the impact of artificial intelligence and learning how to harness its potential to innovate and solve problems. Working in teams, they will step into a possible future and design an innovative solution to a challenge that doesn't even exist yet.

Skills and Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Identify signals of change: Recognize emerging trends, technologies, and social shifts that offer clues about how the world might change over the next decade.
• Think creatively and challenge assumptions: Move beyond conventional thinking to imagine multiple possible futures, including scenarios that initially seem unlikely or somewhat ridiculous.
• Analyze forces shaping the future: Explore how developments in technology, climate, economics, culture, and society interact to create new challenges and opportunities.
• Understand and harness artificial intelligence: Explore how AI is transforming society, education, and the future of work, while learning to use AI tools creatively, critically, and responsibly to explore possibilities, generate ideas, and develop innovative solutions.
• Develop empathy and global awareness: Consider how future changes, including advances in AI, could affect different communities and populations, recognizing that the future will not be experienced equally by everyone.
• Apply critical thinking and problem-solving: Analyze complex future scenarios, anticipate potential consequences, and develop creative responses to emerging challenges.
• Collaborate, innovate, and communicate: Work in teams to design a product, service, or initiative for an imagined future and present ideas through a compelling visual presentation and pitch.
• Build confidence and personal agency: Recognize their ability to influence the future and identify skills, strengths, and actions they can develop today to help shape a better tomorrow.

Course Schedule

Day 1: Welcome to the Future — Think Beyond What's Possible

Focus: What if the world in 2037 looks nothing like the world we know today?

Students are introduced to the mindset of a futurist and challenged to question assumptions about the world around them. Through interactive exercises, they explore how quickly the world can change and begin imagining alternative futures.

 

Day 2: Spot the Future — Discover the Signals of Change

Focus: The future is already happening. Can you spot the clues?

Students become future detectives, investigating emerging technologies, social trends, and unexpected innovations that could transform society. They learn to recognize early signals of change and connect them to larger patterns.

 

Day 3: Forces of Change — What's Reshaping Our World?

Focus: Explore the powerful trends that will shape the next decade.

Students examine major forces transforming the world, including artificial intelligence, climate change, demographic shifts, health innovations, and the changing nature of work. Through games, debates, and collaborative activities, they investigate how these forces interact and consider their potential consequences.

 

Day 4: Future Challenges — Imagine a Better World

Focus: How can we create better futures for people and the planet?

Students explore how complex global challenges are interconnected and why solutions must consider the needs of different communities. They examine real-world problems, question existing systems, and begin developing creative approaches to future challenges.

 

Day 5: Design the Future — Your Ideas Could Change the World

Focus: Don't just predict the future. Help shape it.

Students bring together everything they have learned in a culminating Future Design Challenge. Working in teams, they enter a fictional future scenario and develop an innovative product, service, experience, or initiative that responds to the challenges and opportunities of that world.

 

Instructor Bio

Bryant Dowd is the Associate Director of International Initiatives at Chapman University. With nearly two decades of experience in education, he focuses on expanding global engagement and helping prospective students navigate opportunities in U.S. higher education. Through his work, Bryant has engaged with students, counselors, and institutional partners in more than 30 countries, building relationships that connect global students to academic pathways and campus communities.  Bryant is a Horatio Alger National Scholarship recipient, an experience that continues to shape his commitment to access, opportunity, and student success. His work in international enrollment centers on thoughtful outreach, strategic collaboration, and supporting students as they evaluate their educational goals.  He is particularly interested in how emerging technologies can support student advising and learning while preserving the human-centered relationships that are essential to student development and meaningful educational experiences.

Immersion 3 Resident Move-In/Move-Out

Date	Resident Information
June 26	All medical forms and consents due
Sunday, July 25	Move-in between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Saturday, July 30	Move-out between 6 and 9 p.m.

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