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Visual Notebooks
In June, Creativity & Innovation Faculty Fellow Kris Stanec began a research project on how the use of Visual Notebooks enhances learning outcomes for students. This fall, she collaborated with faculty in eleven classes to run pilots that tested the effectiveness of Visual Notebooks.
Creativity & Innovation provided faculty members and students with a notebook, materials, and a series of PowerPoint slides. At the start of each class, students used their notebooks to respond to a mark-making prompt developed by Stanec, Jane Hilberry, and participating faculty.
Through her research and the pilots this fall, Stanec discovered that Visual Notebooks (VN) offer a way of learning that decolonizes traditional methods of education by valuing many ways of knowing, including intuition (alongside logic) and embodied understanding. Significantly, using Visual Notebooks in classes creates an inclusive space where students feel comfortable using their own languages (linguistic, metaphorical, and symbolic), lived experiences, and modes of learning.
The Visual Notebook (VN) Project serves outcomes related to:
- Institutional Antiracism Commitment: by introducing modes of learning that have been excluded from traditional, colonial-based academic inquiry and centering diverse and multiple identity perspectives as assets.
- Course Content: by providing space to process ideas and/or reflect on questions so that students can become reflexive learners, a practice that involves connecting the course content to their lived experiences and prior knowledge.
- Creativity & Innovation: by learning to move fluidly between diverse ways of thinking and knowing, practicing lateral thinking skills, and finding strength within vulnerability.
Eighty-five percent of students who used VN this fall in a CC course agreed that using Visual Notebooks contributed to their learning process and recommended they be used in other courses. Many students commented that Visual Notebooks increased their ability to focus and reduced their stress at the start of class. Here’s more of what they have to say.
The exercises definitely helped my learning process. I thought about not just what I was writing but also how I was writing it. This allowed me to have an easier time recalling the information because I could picture it on the page.
Visual Notebooks in class pushed us to think deeply and learn rather than perform academically.
They helped me visualize and better understand class material that could not be well articulated through only words.
The notebooks helped the class deconstruct traditional ideas of how to be in a classroom, specifically the very strict ideas of governing your body to indicate that you are paying attention. As someone who is neurodivergent, I appreciated that I felt I could do what I needed for myself and my body (doodling, fidgeting, etc.) and still be seen as a good student.
I also found it a nice, calming way to begin the day during a hectic first month of college.
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EN286: The Moving Line
Taught by CC Professor of Creativity & Innovation Jane Hilberry &
Visiting Artist and Professor Barbara Bash
By: Keiko Ito
The Moving Line is a life-changing class. It gives you permission to play, explore, express, hesitate, run free, and self-reflect. This class will encourage you to learn about how you operate as a human being and apply that knowledge to different situations. What limits or constraints do I need? What does my intuition say? I believe that gaining more of that self-awareness is at the heart of a true education.
From a book I borrowed from Jane, there was a quote that perfectly described the value of a class like The Moving Line. It goes,
“We often make the mistake of confusing education with training, when in fact these are very different activities. Training is for the purpose of passing on specific information necessary to perform a specialized activity. Education is the building of the person. To educe means to draw out or evoke that which is latent; education then means drawing out the person’s latent capacities for understanding and living, not stuffing a (passive) person full of preconceived knowledge. Education must tap into the close relationship between play and exploration; there must be permission to explore and express.” (Stephen Nachmanovitch from Free Play, pg. 118)
Many classes at Colorado College provide training that is very helpful in preparing for a future in academia or other professions. But the Moving Line prepares you for any future creative endeavors, whether or not it’s related to your major.
One of my favorite assignments from The Moving Line was the big brush practice, where we used large brushes (the size of your head!) to discover the mind-body connection of creativity. You sit in front of a large white piece of paper, pick up the heavy brush, plop it down, and let it move intuitively. During this embodied practice, I felt a sacred aliveness emerge. Throughout the block, I returned again and again to this practice. All too often, we tend to identify most with our minds instead of our bodies. But through the daily meditations and mindful calligraphic practices in this class, one can access creativity, not from intellect and angst, but from embodiment. I learned that art could be a practice of appreciating the present moment. I realized that being in my body is fun. When I truly sink into “the now,” the smell of Sumi ink, the eye contact with peers before making a huge stroke, the sound of the brush hairs, the stillness inside … a deep, resounding joy makes my heart skip a beat, and my eyes shine.
However, it wasn’t always easy for me to access this joy. In the past, I struggled with anxiety when it came to art, which is why I wanted to join this class. Being in such a supportive, exploratory environment chipped away at my cautiousness. Jane and Barbara’s genuine feedback helped me see my own value and step into what feels right. Even now, I feel more excited about signing up for arts and crafts workshops on Summit instead of the pressure to be perfect. I started to create more, and I found myself making drawings, bookmarks, and poems for my friends. Once you take this class and learn from it, that knowledge is yours, and it stays with you.
As a bonus, the Block Plan allows the class to go to the beautiful Baca campus for several days, where you can take a break from campus and go on impromptu hikes or make unlimited s’mores. The class ends with a final project where you can essentially create whatever you would like, another opportunity to explore freely.
All things considered, this class is not just for the trained artist––it is for everyone. All you need is curiosity on how to better connect to yourself and an open mind. It is for the inner child who has a half-lit fire inside, yearning to be seen, timidly waiting.
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Cards for Club Q
By: Sophia Hartt
What was the Club Q table at the Fine Arts Center and the Craft Sale about? Who organized it? What was it for?
Amy Hill, Director of Campus Activities and Student Orientation, suggested that the campus come together to make cards for Club Q. She circulated a post from Club Q inviting people to “send cards and respect to the survivors, employees and families.” The club reported that they had begun to receive outpourings of global support: “As we continue to grieve we can feel the love of the world.”
Working with staff at the Fine Arts Center (FAC) and Arts & Crafts, Creativity & Innovation provided two opportunities for card making, supplying materials for collage, painting, and drawing at the Fine Arts Center and the Craft Sale.
For those who wondered what to say to survivors, Alie Ehrensaft (‘12), Manager of Museum Education at the FAC, created a list of prompts to help people find the words to express their solidarity with those who are grieving. For example, she suggests,
I am so sorry for your unimaginable loss.
Sharing in your grief as we remember…
Daniel Davis Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump, Raymond Green Vance
You are here, you are human, you are loved.
Creativity & Innovation has set up a table on the main level of Worner Center that will stay there until the end of the block so students can continue to express their support to Club Q.
What are some ways that CC students, staff, and faculty can show support to those affected by the tragedy?
Make a card. Stop by the table in Worner and simply make a postcard to show your support for the Club Q community. Sometimes we think we have to make a huge gesture or bring about change on a large scale, which can be overwhelming and paralyzing. Nothing is too small. A card makes a difference to someone grieving a loss. Making a card might also help you process your own feelings and responses to the shooting—the act of creating is healing in itself.
If you want to do more, you can contact the Butler Center for information about LGBTQIA+ programming and initiatives they sponsor.
Or, write to your representatives in Congress about gun control. Find your representatives here.
And Colorado Springs has a great organization that supports LGBTQIA2+ youth called Inside Out Youth Service. Donating time or making a financial donation is a great way to let young queer people in Colorado Springs know they are valued.
More broadly, the work is simply to love the people we encounter every day and not to lose sight of how deeply we are all connected.
What impact has the tragedy of the Club Q shooting had on the community?
The effect is devastating. To know that simply being who you are can subject you to violence—that’s a terrifying thing. The outpouring of support is beautiful to see, and the Club Q community is very strong, but lives have been taken, and those losses can’t be restored.
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Experiencing COP27
By: Cecilia Timberg
During Block 3, ten Colorado College students attended COP27, the UN annual climate change conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. They attended the COP with an anthropology class titled Ethnographers in Egypt*. Each student wrote their ethnographic research question, which they spent the two weeks in Egypt answering. Besides conducting research, the students also attended negotiations, participated in press conferences, ran a booth in the negotiation space, and explored the city of Sharm El Sheikh.
As one of the students who attended COP27 with CC, every time I am asked, “How was Egypt?” I am left fumbling for an answer.
“It was so much … so much learning, so much newness, so overwhelming, so rewarding, so incredible to watch,” is my typical answer. How do you capture an experience like that into a 30-second answer?
Most mornings started around 6 am when I woke up and went with classmates to swim in the ocean. We would then have breakfast at our hostel before getting on a bus to the COP. At the COP, I would first source coffee and then spend the day attending side events, meeting people, staffing our exhibit booth, and attending the negotiations. Sometimes the negotiations would go late into the night. At some point, after the sun had disappeared completely, I would get on the bus back to our hostel. I would then go out with friends to get dinner. Afterward, we would go dancing or get ice cream from our favorite ice cream man. We would collapse into our beds late at night and then wake up to do it all again the next morning. I was exhausted but did not want to miss out on anything that a new country, culture, and experience had to offer.
Each student had a different research question that guided their time at COP27. The questions ranged from studying the role of youth in the negotiation spaces to the division of public and private spaces around the COP.
I was researching the role of journalism and storytelling in disseminating information from the COP. In an effort to understand my question, I created many forms of media, including a traditional journalistic article, a story-driven piece, poetry, and water coloring, in an attempt to capture the nuances of the experience of attending COP27. It was grounding to have a question to pursue in the space of such chaos.
Ultimately, the most rewarding aspect of the course was the people. Every person I met had an incredible story and passion for protecting the climate. It was enlightening to learn about the different initiatives that were happening globally in pursuit of mitigating and adapting to climate change. The local Sharm El Sheikh residents and my fellow students made it some of the most rewarding days of my life.
*Student participation in COP27 was made possible in part by a generous donation to Creativity & Innovation’s program funds.
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Innovators in Residence and
Creative Conversations Speakers
Academic Year 2022-2023
Since its inception in 2016, the Innovator in Residence program has become one of Creativity & Innovation’s signature initiatives. The program welcomes creative thinkers from all disciplines into the Colorado College community to offer opportunities for students to practice creative thinking. Although diverse in their professional experiences, disciplinary training, and personal backgrounds, Innovators share the characteristics of flexibility, curiosity, and the desire to work collaboratively.
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Spring Semester Innovators in Residence Include
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Myra Jackson
Dynamic Half-Block, Blocks 5 & 6
Myra Jackson, often described as a Renaissance woman, has enjoyed a diverse array of hefty careers as an Electrical Engineer, Organizational Development Professional, Systems Thinker, and Master Trainer. She has lived abroad and studied many of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions in service to her lifelong fascination with the belief structures and cosmologies that captivate people and inform their lives. She holds the title of Diplomat of the Biosphere, awarded by the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Linking local and global policy-making, she is a founding wisdom council member of the Gaiafield Project and Subtle Activism Network. She is also a senior advisor on Whole Earth Civics and Focal Point on Harmony with Nature with Geoversiv Foundation. As United Nations Permanent Representative in New York, Myra serves as the focal point on climate change for the Commons Cluster of NGOs. More information about Myra and her work can be found here.
During half-block, Myra will teach Innate Mindfulness: Exploring our Inner Ecology for Thriving on a Changing Planet. In this course, she uses nature to facilitate the understanding, experiencing, and activation of innate mindfulness. The course will work through the three steps of mindfulness:
- Self-care
- Group care
- Earth care
This year, the course will focus on mindfulness’ role in global policy work to create coherence around challenges. Myra was thrilled to watch this process happen at COP27 with the inclusion of climate reparations in the COP27 agreement.
She wants to highlight mindfulness as a tool for maintaining, and in some cases, returning to, our human connection with the Earth and each other in a global community.
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Shodekeh Talifero
Creative Conversation Series
“Cultivating Polymaths: Developing Innovation Diversity for the 22nd Century”
Wednesday, February 8, 2023, at 4:00 pm
Taste at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
Shodekeh Talifero is a groundbreaking beatboxer, vocal percussionist, and breath artist who pushes the boundaries of the human voice within and outside the context of hip-hop music and culture. His exploratory collaborations encompass a wide range of traditional artists. He has toured with the globally renowned Tuvan throat singing ensemble Alash and is featured on their recent Smithsonian Folkways recording. He collaborates with Silkroad Ensemble and recently performed his piece, Vodalities: Paradigms of Consciousness for the Human Voice, in collaboration with Sō Percussion at Carnegie Hall. He currently serves as the Innovator in Residence at Towson University’s College of Fine Art & Communication. More information about Shodekeh and his work can be found here.
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Erin Elder
Blocks 6 & 7
Erin Elder is an artist, curator, and writer guided by interests in land use, experimental collaboration, and non-traditional modes of expression. Her research-driven projects take highly participatory forms to bring audiences into a direct experience of particular places. Underscoring Erin’s work is a commitment to the creative process and direct support for artists. From 2009–2013, she cooperatively founded and directed PLAND, an off-the-grid residency program near Tres Piedras, NM. From 2012–2015, she was the Visual Arts Director at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, where she curated more than 50 exhibitions and many public programs. Under her direction, the program worked directly with artists on exhibitions of new work designed specifically for the unique gallery spaces at CCA. With an MA in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts and twenty years of experience in the art world, Erin operates Gibbous, a consulting service that supports artists’ career development. Erin is contributing faculty at several universities and colleges. More information about Erin and her work is available on her website.
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Anne Zimmerman
Block 7
Anne Zimmerman is an attorney with an MS in Bioethics from Columbia University and is Editor-in-Chief of Columbia University’s online journal, Voices in Bioethics. She founded Modern Bioethics, a purpose-based project to promote critical thinking in bioethics. She serves as Chair of the Bioethical Issues Committee of the New York City Bar Association. Before pursuing her MS, she researched legal issues surrounding criminal justice reform, mass incarceration, elections, and racial discrimination. She spent years providing nutrition advice and consulting as a nutrition counselor focusing on policy surrounding access to a healthy food supply. In addition to being certified in health coaching/nutrition counseling by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition / SUNY Purchase, she holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell. Her recent book Medicine, Power, and the Law: Exploring a Pipeline to Injustice was released in 2022. More information about Anne and her work is available here.
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Kathryn Hamilton
Block A
Sister Sylvester (aka Kathryn Hamilton) makes work that occupies the territories between art and science. Passionate about both but tethered to neither, Hamilton’s investigations into the processes, histories, and ethics of science challenge norms and invite audiences of all backgrounds to risk stepping outside of their intellectual comfort zones. Her essayistic performances, which often include first-hand research and found documents, invite disruption into both the performance and the scientific process. She works with animals and technology to make cross-species collaborations and cyborg theatre. She has a BA from Cambridge University (2005) and an MFA from Columbia University (2009). She is a 2019 Macdowell Fellow and Yale Poynter Fellow. More about Kathryn at her website.
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