Description

Try your hand at predicting the future using anthropological insights and win a prize.

The Department of African Studies and Anthropology at University of Birmingham invite you to drop in for 15-45 minutes, test yourself predicting a range of upcoming public events, and win a prize. We will fill a room with materials and exhibits focused on different forms of data that may or may not provide insight into what might be on the horizon, together with their crucial anthropological context. You simply fill out a prediction slip and post it through our ‘ballot box.’ Academics, student volunteers and political gambling experts will present their thoughts and talk through your ideas. The event is based on Dr Anthony Pickles’ fieldwork among political gamblers, which holds a speculative mirror up to contemporary politics. Along the way you will explore how people think about the future and interrogate your reasoning as a product of your own background. When you are ready, make a discretionary charity donation and enter our prediction competition: answer questions like who will control the US House and Senate in November? Will 2026 be the hottest year on record? What will be the highest grossing film of the year? A prize will be awarded to the best predictors, with all proceeds go to a local youth homelessness charity.