Dr. David Hoffman and Tess McRae, Center for Democracy and Civic Life, Lead Sessions at Imagining America’s National Gathering
David Hoffman, Ph.D. '13, director, and Tess McRae '22, assistant director for connective learning, Center for Democracy and Civic Life, participated in Imagining America’s National Gathering from October 22 through 25 in Davis, California. Imagining America is a national consortium of artists, scholars, community leaders, and civic educators that envisions and seeks to enact a more just and liberatory America and world. UMBC has been involved with Imagining America since 2013 and co-hosted its 2015 National Gathering in Baltimore. Brian Kaufman, chair of UMBC’s music department, also participated in the 2026 National Gathering.
Dr. Hoffman and McRae led a session entitled Visionary Backshadowing: Leaping Forward and Looking Back from 2046, in which participants worked to generate the power and will to bring about a better world by liberating themselves from the constraints and deceptions of linear time. Guided initially by a “visionary backshadowing” worksheet, participants projected themselves forward to the thriving America they hope will exist in the year 2046. Then, from the vantage of 2046, they looked back over the previous 20 years (the ones we have not yet lived, but will) and outlined the (imagined) history of that era. The participants responded enthusiastically, generating many requests for more information about the visionary backshadowing technique.
They also co-led a session with colleagues from Towson University highlighting the work of the B’More With Imagination regional Imagining America collaboratory. Dr. Hoffman serves as a co-leader for the collaboratory along with UMBC professor Dr. Michael Casiano; former UMBC colleague and current Towson University Office for Social Impact director Romy Hübler '09, M.A. '11, Ph.D. '15; and additional colleagues from Towson University and MICA. B’More With Imagination convened a session last spring for about 30 students, faculty, and staff from UMBC, Towson, and MICA where participants used creative methodologies to identify barriers to collective thriving within our institutions as well as possible solutions.
As the 2025-2026 recipient of Imagining America’s Randy Martin Spirit Award, David also had the opportunity to design an activity in the conference’s central gathering space: a Visionary Backshadowing Wall where participants could create illustrations of their imagined thriving world of 2046 and the breakthroughs over the period from 2026 to 2046 that (will) make that world possible.