<NEW COURSE>
"Unleashing Your Creativity: Words, Movement and Images"
IS (Interdisciplinary Studies) 1037, 2.0 credits

Where do ideas come from? How do creative people nurture ideas into works of art, and what changes happen to the ideas along the way? How do artists working in different mediums collaborate? Whether you consider yourself especially skilled in dance, fine art, or creative writing—or whether you have no experience in any of these creative pursuits—this course will provide you with the opportunity to explore internal and external sources of creativity and new ways to engage the creative process.

We will begin the class with a series of field trips to Morris-area natural and human-made sites to gather ideas for creative pieces. We will also explore multiple ways to use personal experience and thoughts/emotions as fodder for creative work. Through readings about the creative process, written assignments, and in-class exercises, students will learn to take risks and to open themselves to new ways of thinking and living creatively. In order to move their ideas toward finished pieces, students will read and view model creative work and participate in classes that explore formal elements dancers, writers, and fine artists use to draft and refine their work. Students will learn how to think, speak, and write critically about the creative process; responding to peers’ work in constructive ways will be an important part of the course. The class will culminate in a gallery exhibit, reading, and dance performance that showcases students’ work over the two week period.