March 05, 2026
Fuller Futures Festival and Conference is next month
SIU Carbondale faculty, staff and students are invited to submit proposals and be engaged in a five-day festival in April that looks to carry on the vision and legacy of noted futurist, architect and designer R. Buckminster Fuller.
The Fuller Futures Festival “Reimaging Solutions for the World We Share,” April 22-26 is on campus and at sites within the City of Carbondale. Programming is inspired by Fuller’s unfinished work. Fuller (1895-1983) was a member of the SIU faculty from 1959 to 1972, recruited to the university by then-President Delyte Morris and Harold Cohen, a professor in the design department.
The festival will feature “artists, designers, scientists, students, civic leaders, and global thinkers to practice comprehensive systems thinking and collaborative problem solving.” Event organizers are seeking programming proposals for the festival, which includes the relaunch of Fuller’s World Games on April 23 and a World Resources Simulation Center on April 24. The simulation, hosted by SIU’s College of Arts and Media, will take a current global issue and scale it down to the local level.
The festival provides an opportunity for faculty and staff to “participate alongside the scholars and practitioners coming in and encourages student involvement,” said Elizabeth Donoghue, assistant director of SIU Carbondale’s University Honors Program. She added that faculty may also want to integrate participation into their current courses.
The proposal submission deadline is March 20. Proposals may be submitted at buckminsterfuller.com.
Proposals can include workshops, performances, papers, short presentations, posters, panels, installations, design challenges and interactive labs. For more information, contact Donoghue at elizabeth.donoghue@siu.edu or 618-525-3099.
Student registration is free but required, as there is limited capacity for some sessions. SIU faculty and staff may attend at no cost. Please email Donoghue for registration instructions.