Even over Zoom, the sound of scratching pens and pencils can be heard as members of The Creativity Collaborative make marks on their journal pages. The focus of this meeting is on how to address issues of social justice through creativity, care, and the arts.
The Creativity Collaborative is an interdisciplinary scholarly-teaching and research group that was established in 2018 with initial funding from the university's campus-wide Humanities Council. What began as a reading group expanded into an active and vibrant community of practice.
Members include five women academics across disciplines, departments, and colleges and of various ranks who came together with a common interest to relocate their teaching and research by examining the spaces where critical media literacy and visual methods overlap:
- Dr. Tempestt Adams, assistant professor of career and technical education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction;
- Jewel Davis, associate professor and education librarian in the Belk Library and Information Commons;
- Dr. Peaches Hash ’12 ’20 ’21, lecturer of rhetoric and composition in the Department of English;
- Dr. Jennifer Luetkemeyer, assistant professor of library science in the Department of Leadership and Educational Studies; and
- Dr. Theresa Redmond ’05, associate professor of media studies in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Over the course of their first year, the group not only honed their attention to creative inquiry and arts-based research through focused study but also redefined themselves as a scholarly community of care that uses visual journaling in their scholarly-teaching praxis.
Adams described the group as a breath of fresh air: “As a collective, we encourage and remind each other that we have to take care of ourselves and be whole before we can show up for our work.”
A key tenant of the group’s practice is that everyone is creative and that creativity is important for learning and living.
“The need to create is universal and also universally provides a release that helps strengthen resiliency and community,” said Luetkemeyer.
Integrating Arts-Based Learning Into the Classroom
Now in their fourth year of collaboration, the group continues to explore ways to enhance the student learning experiences at both undergraduate and graduate levels through creativity.
Hash began using visual journaling with her students, explaining that it “facilitates critical thinking and active learning.” Moreover, it “engages students in multimodal composition,” which is important not only for rhetoric and composition courses but also in meeting the goals of critical and creative thinking that are foundational to the university’s general education program.
Redmond also incorporates expressive inquiry into her media courses. By integrating the arts and expression into their teaching, she explains that the collaborative is working on the cutting edge of innovative, caring pedagogies that honor the whole person.
“As human beings, learning is not singularly a cognitive endeavor– it is also emotional and somatic,” said Redmond. “In this spirit, our students thrive when learning experiences invite their entire selves into the curriculum.”
“Through arts-based pedagogies, we can seamlessly attend to the whole self and our inclinations towards curiosity and creativity,” she added.
Sharing Findings Through Publications and Presentations
Since its formation, the members have presented and published widely, working to bring attention to the increasing need to relocate teaching and research with attention to creativity and care, as well as modeling a cross-disciplinary community of practice that emphasizes care in their own campus areas.
The group participates in various events and book groups on campus, such as those offered through the Center of Academic Excellence and Still Point, as well as at regional, national, and international conferences and other professional meetings.
Taking the Next Steps
Outside of the myriad ways creativity aligns with the university’s mission and vision, The Creativity Collaborative feels expression can be a strategic tool or method for co-existing in our world during the continuing global pandemic.
In particular, the group feels it is vital that higher education becomes more inclusive of pedagogies that support creativity and care.
Davis shares, “I think now more than ever, we need creative and caring practices in all aspects of our lives. Seeking out creative communities of care can provide a light to help guide us through dark moments and to illuminate the strength and beauty in ourselves and in our world.”
Contributed by Dr. Theresa Redmond
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