Martian Encounters: Imagining Alternate Non-Colonial Futures

Martian Encounters is a series of international, interdisciplinary conversations that address four themes shaping our visions of the future on Earth and beyond: Maps, Temples, Borders, and Ecosystems. We will explore these topics through a central concept of “otherness,” interrogating how we define people, things, and ideas as different, foreign, or alien.

The event will take place virtually on November 12 and 13, 2024 and will feature a diverse group of speakers, ranging from biologists and astrophysicists to fiction authors, visual artists, poets, and video game designers. Martian Encounters aims to weave new threads of thought between disciplines related to space exploration and other planets—starting with Mars, the closest and most familiar planet in our Solar System—but also to human interaction with planet Earth.

To see the full schedule and register for sessions, visit csi.asu.edu/martian-encounters.

This event is presented by three organizations in Mexico City—Marsarchive.org, Cúmulo de Tesla, and UNAM—in collaboration with ASU's Center for Science and the Imagination and Future Tense.

Conversations will be held in English and Spanish, with simultaneous interpretation between both languages. All sessions are free and open to the public.