With invited guest speakers Professors Joe Masco (University Chicago) and Annelise Riles (Cornell University), a group of doctoral students from across Switzerland were gathered between October 9 and 12 October to discuss "Anticipatory knowledge" in the practice of law, finance, and techno-science.

The event, co-organized by ANSO professors Grégoire Mallard and Filipe Calvão and the participation of Carlo Caduff (King's College), took place in Villa Garbald in Castasegna, a region of stunning natural beauty on the Bergell valley close to the Italian border. This "thinking lab", held under the auspices of CUSO (Conférence Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale), brought together theoretical debates and individual ethnographic projects around the increasing proliferation in contemporary public life and economic activity of expert renditions of the future.

The study of anticipatory knowledge practices -- how the future is turned into an object of knowledge and political intervention in different settings -- has become a fast-growing research area in anthropology that cuts across the sub-fields of legal, economic, medical and environmental anthropology. The purpose of the module was therefore threefold: to highlight the main results of individual ethnographic projects; to compare the challenges posed by various methodologies; and to identify future lines of research and theoretical advances.

Thanks to an agreeable and engaging group of participants, coupled with spectacular hikes across the region, this module provided a relaxed and productive venue for discussing the future of anticipatory knowledge in anthropology and the social sciences more broadly.