'What's the Future of the American Dream?'

Intel's Futurist Brian David Johnson Coming to Champlain College to Search for Answers

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Brian David Johnson is returning to Champlain College on Feb. 5.

BURLINGTON, VT (01/22/2015)(readMedia)-- Brian David Johnson, chief futurist for Intel Corp., will return to Champlain College in early February in search of the "American Dream."

As part of his research for a new book, Johnson will hold a town hall-style gathering on Feb. 5 beginning at 6 p.m. in the Argosy Gym in the IDX Student Life Center at Champlain College. Johnson will lead a discussion surrounding the broad question, "What is the future of the American Dream?" Johnson has selected to focus his research in Vermont because he feels it presents the perfect mix of valuing history while embracing an innovative future. To attend, please register at champlain.edu/AmericanDream

After his last visit to Champlain and Burlington in April 2014, Johnson complimented the College's ability to bring together some of the area's top creative minds, acknowledging that Champlain is a generative thought leader in the state, according to Erik Oliver in Champlain's Advancement Office.

"Brian believes that Vermonters work hard, remain true to the land, and value self-reliance. Vermont, with its history, deep agricultural roots, creative economy, pragmatic approach to education, and innovative technology, represents a contained experiment - a rapid prototyping - of the American Dream. Our true genius, in short, has been a willingness to evolve and innovate, making Vermont the right place to start the exploration and Champlain the appropriate leader for this journey," Oliver added.

The future is Johnson's business. As the Chief Futurist at Intel Corporation, his work focuses on developing an actionable vision for computing in 2020 and beyond. His work, Future Casting, uses field studies, technology research, trend data, and even science fiction to provide Intel with a vision of consumers and computing. Accompanying Johnson will be his wife, Kate Ertmann, an ethnographic animation expert and businesswoman.

"We will use this question about the future of the Americian Dream as a lens and a guiding force to propel us through multiple issues, audiences, and futures. We will explore the American Dream through the generations and confront its relevancy in the 21st Century as we discuss some of the most pressing and challenging issues of today," Johnson explained.

"We will examine the future of work, manufacturing, agriculture, education, and technology, while re-imagining the American Dream for the 21st Century and beyond. This conversation will help us model the American Dream we still desire while exploring the American Nightmare as well. Ultimately, our journey will introduce us to the people, communities and places across America and around the world that are considering hard questions and confronting difficult realities about the future of the American Dream."

In April 2014, Johnson visited the College's new MakerLab and the expansion of its home, the Emergent Media Center (EMC). The new facilities at Champlain's Miller Center at Lakeside campus represent the College's ongoing commitment to supporting community projects and academic initiatives that will bring students to Vermont to develop new companies, create jobs and deliver on a sustainable Vermont.

His 2014 talk, "A Look into the Future," addressed the importance of technology and education in support of the Creative Economy and local businesses and capped off a two-day visit to the campus to learn about programs like the MFA in Emergent Media, meet Champlain students, faculty and visit classes. Read about his visit and watch the video at http://www.champlain.edu/about-champlain/newsroom/futurist-at-champlain

About Brian David Johnson:

The future is Brian David Johnson's business. As a futurist at Intel Corporation, his charter is to develop an actionable vision for computing in 2020. His work is called "future casting"-using ethnographic field studies, technology research, trend data, and even science fiction to provide Intel with a pragmatic vision of consumers and computing. Johnson has been pioneering development in artificial intelligence, robotics, and using science fiction as a design tool. He speaks and writes extensively about future technologies in articles and scientific papers as well as science fiction short stories and novels (Science Fiction Prototyping: Designing the Future with Science Fiction, Screen Future: The Future of Entertainment Computing and the Devices we Love, Fake Plastic Love, and Nebulous Mechanisms: The Dr. Simon Egerton Stories). He has directed two feature films and is an illustrator and commissioned painter.

CALENDAR LISTING

FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM, Brian David Johnson, chief futurist for Intel Corp., holds a town hall-style gathering on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Argosy Gym in the IDX Student Life Center at Champlain College. As part of his research for a new book, Johnson will lead a discussion surrounding the broad question, "What is the future of the American Dream?" The event is free and open to the public. to register in advance, go to champlain.edu/AmericanDream For more information, contact eoliver@champlain.edu or 802-383-6662.

About Champlain College:

Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and over 60 online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 379 Colleges: 2015 Edition. Champlain was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges and is ranked in the top tier of 2014 Regional Colleges in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.