Introductory description

The overarching objective of this module is to build an interdisciplinary appreciation and model of Creativity, through content and experience of different disciplinary approaches to the field, throughout history. Over the 10 weeks, students will experience a range of active, open space and creative pedagogies, which set out to explore theories underpinning creativity in and as practice.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The module sets out week by week, to examine and illuminate thinking on Creativity, through social and collaborative group learning. Each class draws on a range of academic disciplines, including the creative practice of individuals and organisations to help provide participants with an inquiry led and interdisciplinary perspective for understanding (and practicing) creativity. Something not exclusive to one discipline, but reflected in our collective thinking, attitude to learning and crucially to knowledge development.
Each week the module leader leads and or facilitates the class, to integrate and stimulate the interdisciplinary foci for the learning. The teaching and learning approach will embody an interdisciplinary emphasis, using open-space learning and creative pedagogies across the course of the module. Learning in this context is co-constructed, teacher-led but not teacher dominated, with progress dependent on our ability to communicate, connect and co-operate with one another.
Students will be introduced to a range of disciplinary grounded material, delivered by the module leader, guest academic or practitioner or artist. A small creative project running across the module will help integrate and thread the weekly themes/content. Students will encounter guest practitioners/artists who will emphasise hands-on learning and creation in different locations to the regular teaching space e.g. dance studio, laboratory, gallery, which will help the development of the creative project.
In the concluding session the Module Leader will review the students’ creative results in a presentation-based workshop, in which the group will receive formative and summative assessment.
Indicative weekly topics:

• Creativity: A Theoretical Perspective.
• Creativity in Practice.
• Legal Re-Creation.
• The Creative Economy.
• The Necessity of Failure.
• Creating Strategy.
• Creative Spaces.
• Science and Invention.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand and use elements of different disciplinary languages.
• Reflect on their own and others' experiences as participants in a creative and interdisciplinary learning process.
• Critically evaluate texts and other material with a comparative understanding of different disciplinary processes.
• Recognise the different disciplinary uses of evidence and documentation.
• Express complex and transdisciplinary ideas of Creativity.
• Recognise the complexity of different disciplinary and practitioner notions of Creativity.
• Understand the various manifestations of Creativity in texts, cases and other materials.
• Identify and understand how creativity relates to different disciplines and different media.
• Weigh and compare evidence from historical and contemporary sources in order to make informed but independent and original judgements.
• Reflect on and contrast different disciplinary models of pedagogy, learning and creation.
• Identify trans- and inter-disciplinary issues, formulate questions and engage in creative problem-solving, including own independent research.
• Synthesise ideas imaginatively from a range of different disciplinary perspectives.
• Imaginatively respond to dramatic stimuli (texts, visual image, performance) to support group learning and performance.

Indicative reading list

Teresa M Amabile, Creativity in Context: Update to the "Social Psychology of Creativity", Westview Press, 1996.
Chris Bilton, Management and Creativity: From Creative Industries to Creative Management, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006.
Lotte Darsoe, Artful Creation: Learning-Tales of Arts-in-Business, Samfundslitteratur, 2004.
James C. Kaufman & Robert J Sternberg (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology), Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Kyna Leski and John Maeda, The storm of creativity, London, Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press, 2016.
Keith Osborn, Something Written in the State of Denmark: An Actor's Year with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Oberon Books Ltd, 2010.
Tony Proctor, Creative problem solving for managers: developing skills for decision making and innovation, London, Routledge, 2014.
Ken Robinson, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Capstone, 2001.
Jim Shorthose and Neil Maycroft, Where is creativity? A multi-disciplinary approach, London, Routledge, 2017.
Penny Sparke, The Genius of Design, Quadrille Publishing Ltd, 2010 (book) and DVD (Acorn Media UK Ltd, 2010).
Alexander Styhre, Science-Based Innovation: From Modest Witnessing to Pipeline Thinking, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
Fons Trompenaars, Riding the Whirlwind: Connecting People and Organisations in a Culture of Innovation, Infinite Ideas Ltd, 2007.

Subject specific skills

Appreciate the value of understanding and experiencing different disciplinary approaches and perspectives on creativity, especially in relation to their subject specialism.
Leverage a confidence and competence in creative interdisciplinarity for further study, work and citizenship.
Participate in creative activities and support the generation of original ideas and questions.

Transferable skills

Observe and reflect on their own and others' creative processes.
Communicate imaginatively with their peers and with academics.
Work within teams and successfully collaborate on short- and module length creative projects.
Use research tools and resources, including creative archives and cases, and reference material correctly.
Articulate arguments orally and through well-argued writing, supported by wide reading and research.
Conceive and present concepts verbally, graphically and through performance.
Manage time to meet a series of deadlines as an individual and team member.
Develop collaborative skills (across disciplines) of listening, giving and receiving feedback, and achieving resolution.
Make productive links between theoretical ideas and practical applications, and appreciate the practical value of learning through participative experiences.
Solve problems creatively and with originality.