John A. Sweeney

John A. Sweeney is a renowned futurist, deputy director of The Centre for Postnormal Policy & Futures Studies at East-West University in Chicago, IL, and a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) where he teaches courses in Future Studies, Political Science and World Religions. He also works as a researcher at the Hawaii Research Center for Future Studies under the direction of Jim Dator^[1]. He won several awards for his work, such as the Most Significant Futures Works (MFSW) Award in 2015^[2] and the Art & Science Student Research award in 2014^[3].

Biography

John Sweeney obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from Kennesaw State University in 2005 with a Major in History of Ideas and a Minor in Philosophy. Then, he received a Master's Degree in Religion at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) in 2007 with a focus on Asian Religion, Contemporary Religion, Theory and Pedagogy^[4]. In 2009, he began a doctoral program in Alternative Futures and Political Theory at UHM^[5]. He completed the International Cultural Studies Graduate Certificate Program in 2012 and published his Dissertation on "Alternative Futures of Global Weirding" in 2014^[6]. Sweeney has taught different courses on Future Studies, Political science and religion and has participated in presentations in several universities and organizations worldwide.

Sweeney is a member of the World Futures Studies Federation, the World Future Society, and the Association of Professional Futurists and has conducted several foresight and future studies workshops around the world.

Work

Most of Sweeney's work revolves around the concepts of Postnormal times and Global Weirding and his dissertation research explores postnormal times solutions to climate change, from bio-engineering to terraforming other planets. He also worked closely with the Center for Studies on Urban Creativity at Sapienza Università di Roma (University of Rome) during his research as a member of the Nonkilling Futures Studies Research Committee with the Center for Global Nonkilling. John’s work has been published in The Journal of Futures Studies, Ctheory, Futures, and other academic outlets^[7].

Publications

Peer-reviewed Publications

The JRC Scenario Exploration System - From Study to Serious Game, Journal of Futures Studies, John A. Sweeney, Aaron Rosa, Laurent Bontoux, and Daniel Bengtsson, March 2016, 20(3): 93–108
The Three Tomorrows of Postnormal Times, Z. Sardar, J.A. Sweeney, Futures vol.75 (2016), 1-13
Communicating Power: Technological Innovation and Social Change in the Past, Present, and Futures, Jim Dator, John A. Sweeney, Aaron Rosa and Aubrey Yee, Journal of Futures Studies, June 2013, 17(4): 117-134
Command-and-control: Alternative futures of geoengineering in an age of global weirding, John A. Sweeney, Futures vol.57, March 2014, Pages 1-13
New Wave Orientalism: Postnormal Imaginings in Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, John A. Sweeney, East-West Affairs n°2 (2013), Pages 75-98
Structure Matters: Method to Manoa School’s Madness or How I became convinced Jim Dator is a robot!, John A. Sweeney, Journal of Futures Studies, December 2013, 18(2): 139-146
Dator’s 2nd Law of South Park: Imagining(poorly animated) Futures of Religion,Technology, & Culture, John A. Sweeney, Journal of Futures Studies, March 2013, 17(3): 147-150

Books

Mutative Media, J.A.Dator, J.A. Sweeney, A.M. Yee, Springer, 2015, XVII, 208 p.

References

^ Winter, Jenifer (2015). The Future Internet: Alternative Visions. United-States: Springer. pp. XI. ISBN 978-3-319-22994-2.
^ "Past MSFW Winners | Association of Professional Futurists". Association of Professional Futurists. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
^ "Office of Community and Alumni Relations". manoa.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
^ "John A. Sweeney | University of Hawaii at Manoa - Academia.edu". manoa-hawaii.academia.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
^ "Department of Religion - University of Hawaii | Class of 2007". Department of Religion. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
^ Sweeney, John A. (2014-03-01). "Command-and-control: Alternative futures of geoengineering in an age of global weirding". Futures. 57 (Supplement C): 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2013.12.005.
^ "John A. Sweeney" (PDF). DST innovation lab.

[1] Winter, Jenifer (2015). The Future Internet: Alternative Visions. United-States: Springer. pp. XI. ISBN 978-3-319-22994-2.

[2] "Past MSFW Winners | Association of Professional Futurists". Association of Professional Futurists. Retrieved 2017-11-22.

[3] "Office of Community and Alumni Relations". manoa.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-22.

[4] "John A. Sweeney | University of Hawaii at Manoa - Academia.edu". manoa-hawaii.academia.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-22.

[5] "Department of Religion - University of Hawaii | Class of 2007". Department of Religion. Retrieved 2017-11-22.

[6] Sweeney, John A. (2014-03-01). "Command-and-control: Alternative futures of geoengineering in an age of global weirding". Futures. 57 (Supplement C): 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2013.12.005.

[7] "John A. Sweeney" (PDF). DST innovation lab.

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