Troy University’s College of Communication and Fine Arts, with support from the Alabama Humanities Alliance, hosted the Speculative Futures Conference on campus from April 24-25.
The conference was a free, public symposium that engaged with art and popular culture from a scholarly perspective. It featured presentations on topics like philosophy, art history, medieval literature, world languages and studio art practices.
Discussions were also held on the use of technology in classrooms, powerful women in comic books, the revolution of rap music and how it brings people together and other topics in popular culture and the arts. An art show was also held during the event along with a demonstration on how the Air Force uses board games to teach ethics in combat.
Dr. Richard Nokes, Professor of Medieval Literature in TROY’s English Department, served as the Project Director and part of the leadership hosting the conference this year.
“Although we had a lot of wonderful presentations, the fan favorites this year were the presentations on board games,” Dr. Nokes said. “Experts came to demonstrate how board games are used to teach business leadership skills, and how the Air Force uses board gaming to train airmen in the War College.”
Funded by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the event was organized in partnership with the Popular Arts Conference, an academic conference that is held annually in the South. The Speculative Futures Conference was intentionally scheduled alongside the Inaugural Trojan Research Week to help expand opportunities for TROY students to showcase their work.