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Everybody thinks about the future. Futurists just do it more, and more systematically. In this workshop, participants will be guided through the foresight process developed by the University of Houston’s renowned Graduate Program in Foresight. University of Houston faculty, Andy Hines & Mina McBride, will lead participants through a highly interactive learning-by-doing process that explains how futurists research, story tell, and influence the future. Not only will participants learn something about the process of exploring the future, they will also come away with some specific ideas about the future of libraries.
Learning Objectives:
- Become familiar with how futurists think about the future
- Introduction to basic terminology and key concepts of foresight
- Practice using tools of the futurists
- Develop insights about the future of libraries
Attendance Information
This in-person workshop will be hosted at Bentley University Library. Once registered, you will receive all logistical information necessary to attend this event. Questions? Email Cate Harriman at charriman@blc.org.
Please note space is limited to 40 attendees. Registration closes at 12 pm ET on Friday, March 20. Lunch and complimentary parking will be provided to attendees. Speakers
Mina McBride
Futurist and Adjunct Professor
University of Houston
Mina McBride helps organizations and individuals make foresight actionable. Blending expertise in behavior change, leadership development and futures thinking, she equips organizations and individuals to thrive in a world that demands constant adaptation. Her work has been published in foresight journals such as On the Horizon, World Futures Review, and the Journal of Futures Studies. Mina leads corporate foresight at a Fortune 50 company. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Harvard University and Master’s degree in Strategic Foresight from the University of Houston.Andy Hines
Associate Professor & Program Coordinator
University of Houston Foresight Program
Dr. Andy Hines is Associate Professor and Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist. He is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.Before that, he was Managing Director of Social Technologies/Innovaro, and served as an Adjunct Professor with the university since 2004. Hines enjoyed earlier careers as a consulting and organizational futurist. He was a partner with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a think tank and consulting firm that specialized in the study of the future. He was also Futurist & Senior Ideation Leader at Dow Chemical with a mission of using futures tools and knowledge to turn ideas into new business opportunities. Before that, Hines established and ran the Global Trends Program for the Kellogg Company.
Hines is motivated by a professional hunger to make foresight practical and useful, and he believes that foresight can help deliver the insight that is so needed in today’s organizations and the world. His goal, he says, is to infect as many change agents as possible with this message. Thus, he has honed a skill set designed to make foresight more actionable in organizations. His dissertation focused on “The Role of an Organizational Futurist in Integrating Foresight into Organizations.”
In this pursuit, he has authored six books: Imagining After Capitalism (Triarchy, 2025); w/Richard Slaugher (Eds.). The Knowledge Base of Futures Studies 2020 (APF, 2020); Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape (No Limits Publishing, 2011); Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007); 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1996). He has also authored dozens of articles, speeches, and workshops, including the 2003 Emerald Literati Awards' Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Foresight for “An Audit for Organizational Futurists” and the 2008 award for “Scenarios: The State of the Art.” He has appeared on several radio and television programs, PBS Houston, KRIV-26 News, and the CBS “Early Show.” He also co-founded and is former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.