In the early 1960s the future became subject matter in the
classroom of Richard Meier at the University of Michigan and at the
University of California after his move to Berkeley. Other professors took
similar initiatives following the publication of Herman Kahn's On
Thermonuclear War at the beginning of the decade. Special units on the
future of Soviet-American relations or the coming impact of automation
were included in a number of courses. However, as closely as can be
determined, interest in alternative futures as a focus for scholarship did not
take hold at this time. The notion that coherent academic programs could
be future-oriented had to wait.
"The first university class in futuristics was the brainchild of Alvin
Toffler and was offered at the New School for Social Research in Fall