Creativity & Innovation and the Crown Center for Teaching
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We’re excited to announce that Creativity and Innovation (C&I) has become a part of the Crown Center for Teaching. This alignment enhances Crown’s mission to support innovative and inclusive teaching across campus by heightening awareness of C&I programming and opportunities for engagement. C&I will maintain faculty programs such as its “Possibility Books” and “Creative Courage Cohort” while integrating its Student Facilitator Development program under the auspices of Crown’s efforts to recognize teaching across the college. Jessica Hunter has joined Crown as Associate Director, while Kris Stanec will serve as Director of C&I. As we explore the opportunities of this collaboration during the 2024-25 academic year, we welcome your participation and ideas to enhance our collective service to the College.
C&I spaces/where to find us:
C&I office (NW corner of Cache and Weber)
– Offices: Kris Stanec, Director, and Madeline Brooks, Program Coordinator
– cSpace – see below for more info
Crown Center in Tutt Library, Room 232
– Office of Jessica Hunter, Associate Director of Crown
C&I Honnen classroom 101
– Space for workshops
– Can be reserved by faculty who need to use the materials C&I provides. – — – Email Maddie at mbrooks@coloradocollege for more info.
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Introducing the Creativity Mindsets
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People often ask, “What IS creativity?”
The C&I program at CC aligns with the definition of creativity as “a principled engagement with the unfamiliar and a willingness to approach the familiar in unfamiliar ways.” (Beghetto and Glăveanu, 2021 p. 75)
Rather than attempt to ‘teach creativity,’ our program proceeds from the premise that creativity is an innate human trait that can be consciously cultivated to help bring the richness of our whole selves into every aspect of our lives (Rubin, 2023). We believe this approach supports the development of flexible, life-long creative skill sets that center playfulness, exploration, and experimentation. Therefore, C&I focuses on cultivating specific mindsets that support creative thinking.
C&I’s framework of creativity mindsets provides the basis for many of our curricular/co-curricular experiences and foregrounds creative processes over products. The chart below demonstrates how cultivating these mindsets can help us overcome barriers to creative thinking.
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Throughout this year, our newsletter will explore each mindset and celebrate the ways people are practicing them across campus. Please reach out to find out more!
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Updates & Opportunities through Block 2
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- C&I faculty workshops:
- Thursday, Sept. 12, Block 1: “Multiple Narratives,” led by Kris Stanec, from 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. in Honnen 101. Please RSVP here
- Block 2: “Ten Questions,” led by Jessica Hunter, from 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. in Honnen 101. Please RSVP here
- For more information about Blocks 3-6 faculty workshops, visit our Faculty Workshops page.
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- Crown programming will take place throughout the academic year. Formal lunch gatherings on a range of relevant topics will take place on the second Tuesday of each month. Informal breakfast conversations will take place on Thursdays following the conclusion of each block. You can find a running list of all Crown and C&I programming on the website.
- Crown is also offering a variety of different programs that will be explored throughout the year, visit the Program Initiatives page to learn more and get involved.
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Students Opportunities:
C&I is introducing student-led workshops in Blocks 2, 3, 5, and 6. The workshops will be led by our student facilitators in the C&I building (232 E Cache la Poudre- NW corner of Cache and Weber). The workshops will be from 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of the block.
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- Block 2: September 26, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: “Finding Inspiration”, facilitated by SFDS students Chloe Jung and Sam Yolles. The workshop includes pizza.
- Block 3: October 24, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: “Lyrical Questions”, facilitated by SFDS students.
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Need a space to explore your creativity? We’ve got you covered!
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C&I is introducing cSpace, a welcoming space for people to explore their creativity. The cSpace is located in the Creativity & Innovation building, 232 E Cache la Poudre (NW corner of Weber and Cache).
What is cSpace?
Based on feedback, we discovered a need for an open and easily accessible space on campus with a variety of materials to explore the creative process.
Designed to enable the CC community to prototype and play with materials as a way to think through an assignment or personal project, cSpace provides a place to focus on the exploratory process of creating and collaborating using a wide variety of materials such as paint (watercolor and acrylic), collage supplies (many types of paper, books, scraps, and Mod Podge), a printmaking station, musical tools, yarns, glue, stamps/ink, and Legos.
When is cSpace open?
CSpace will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every day. Individual Gold Card access will be shut off at 9:00 p.m., but anyone in the building at that time does not need to leave. We just ask that people coordinate a safe way to their next destination!
Who can use cSpace and how do you get access?
The space is open to all members of the CC community!
Because the space will be open after hours, access to the building will be granted ONLY upon receiving a formal tour of the space and signing a waiver. The first tour will be held on September 12th at 2:30, and access will be granted beginning September 16th.
Faculty: if you have a project or assignment for which students would benefit from having access to creative materials, students can come to cSpace between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. without Gold Card access if arranged ahead of time. Please reach out to Madeline Brooks at mbrooks@coloradocollege.edu to schedule access for your class.
Contact Madeline Brooks at mbrooks@coloradocollege.edu to learn more.
Stay tuned for information about cSpace opening date!
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