Graduate Institute of Futures Studies will hold an international conference of “Education in the Future and Future Education” on 5/29 and 5/30 (Thru. and Fri.) at Ching-Sheng International Conference Hall. There will be many scholars from Australia, Switzerland, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and China attending the conference. Graduate Institute of Futures Studies had held numerous similar conferences in the past and had usually emphasized on issues relating to society, environment, technology and politics, while this conference concentrates on “education”. The Chair, Chen, Chien-fu, of the institute would like to use this occasion to highlight the importance and possibilities of incorporating methodologies and analytical approaches of futures studies into education so as to inspire educators.

The conference includes plenary speeches, education workshops, and dissertation presentations, amongst other activities. The topics of the conference range from “teaching methodologies and tools for teaching futures studies” and “how to teach futures studies” to “an alternative for future education”. Furthermore, this conference will serve as the preparation for the international futures studies conference held in July in Washington DC, so each of the six students who will be participating in that conference are going to one workshop at this conference as a practice.

Chen, Chien-fu reiterates that this conference is to allow scholars from different academic subjects to understand what futures studies is and inspire their interests in teaching futures studies. Chen Jo Hsuan, a sophomore of Dep. of Industrial Economics said that this is her first time to attend such big event and wishes to preview the issues that are globally concerned and interact with other scholars from different countries. ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )