Serving as an introduction to programs on “Speculative Futures” (the Critical Issues in America theme for 2011–2012), the talks offer both history and post–mortem: the pasts of contemporary risk discourse and the implications of obsessively thinking futures on present concerns.

Wolf D. Kittler is a professor in the Germanic, Slavic & Semitic Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Kittler's research interests are interdisciplinary. They include Western literature from Greek antiquity to the present, philosophy, art history, history of science, media technology and critical theory.

Colin Milburn joined the UC Davis faculty in 2005. His research focuses on the cultural relations between literature, science, and technology. His interests include science fiction; gothic horror; the history of biology; the history of physics; nanotechnology; video games; and posthumanism. His book, Nanovision: Engineering the Future (Duke University Press) was published 2008. He is a member of the UC Davis Science & Technology Studies program, and is affiliated with the programs in Cultural Studies, Film Studies, and Critical Theory.