Instruction Mode: In-Class
Professor: Multiple Professors
Resource(s): | Type | Description | Required | Other | --R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation' (full text e-book available through Sheridan Library) |
Applicable student group(s): Degree Breadth
Course Details: MODULE 1: Conceptions of Creativity
Unit 1 – Introduction to Creativity
Topics:
-Course overview and requirements; personal expectations
-Creative climate: introduction to framework of person, process, product and press
-The purpose of studying creativity
Required Reading:
--R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 1- Introduction (SLATE)
Unit 2 – The Evolution of Creativity and Creativity Studies
Topics:
-Creativity, evolution, and human history
-History, background and development of creativity and studies in creativity
-Creativity as a multi-disciplinary object of rigorous research
-Creativity as a multi-faceted, global phenomenon
Required Reading:
--R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 2- Conceptions of Creativity (SLATE)
Recommended Reading:
-Spivey, Nigel, ‘How Art Made the World: A Journey to the Origins of Human Creativity’, Chapter 2- The Birth of the Imagination (Sheridan Library)
-Guilford, J.P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5 (9), 444 – 454.
-Roberts. Albert & Marc A. Runco, 'Creativity Research: A Historical View' (SLATE)
MODULE 2: The 4 P’s of Creativity
Unit 3- Creative Product
Topics:
- Defining creativity and characteristics of the creative product
-Different levels of creativity (e.g., mini-c, little-c, pro-c, big-C)
-Psychometric tests and assessments of creativity vs. creative achievement across domains
Required Reading:
-R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 3- Defining Creativity Through Assessment (SLATE) and Chapter 11- The Sociology of Creativity
Recommended Reading:
-Derek Thompson, ‘Why Experts Reject Creativity’, The Atlantic, 2014
- Cortes, R. A., Weinberger, A. B., Daker, R. J., & Green, A. E. (2019). Re-examining prominent measures of divergent and convergent creativity. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 27, 90-93.
Unit 4- Creative Process
Topics:
-Spontaneous and deliberate creative processes
-Stages of the creative process
-Analogies in creativity
-The research and study of the creative process
Required Reading:
-R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapters 5-7- The Creative Process (SLATE)
Recommended Reading:
-Lopata, J. A., Nowicki, E. A., & Joanisse, M. F. (2017). Creativity as a distinct trainable mental state: an EEG study of musical improvisation. Neuropsychologia, 99, 246-258.
-Gable, S. L., Hopper, E. A., & Schooler, J. W. (2019). When the muses strike: Creative ideas of physicists and writers routinely occur during mind wandering. Psychological science, 30(3), 396-404.
Unit 5- Creative Person
Topics:
-Personality and creativity
-Intelligence, talent, knowledge, flow, and creativity
-Creative styles/preferences/dispositions
Required Reading:
-R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 4- The Creative Personality (SLATE)
Recommended Reading:
-Kaufman, S. B., Quilty, L. C., Grazioplene, R. G., Hirsh, J. B., Gray, J. R., Peterson, J. B., & DeYoung, C. G. (2016). Openness to experience and intellect differentially predict creative achievement in the arts and sciences. Journal of personality, 84(2), 248-258.
- Michael Michalko, 'Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of the Creative Genius,' lntro (SLATE)
Unit 6 -Creative Press/Environment
Topics:
-Elements of the creative press (physical and social-psychological)
-Enablers and barriers for creativity in organizations and society
Required Reading:
--R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 13- Organizational Creativity and Chapter 14- Culture and Creativity (SLATE)
Recommended Reading:
-C. Delistratry, ‘How Environment Can Boost Creativity’, The Atlantic, 2014
-Atchley, R. A., Strayer, D. L., & Atchley, P. (2012). Creativity in the wild: Improving creative reasoning through immersion in natural settings. PloS one, 7(12).
Evaluation:
Personal Reflection (20%)
Test 1 (25%)
MODULE 3: Creative Mind and Brain
Unit 7 –Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity
Topics:
-Evolution of the creative mind and brain
-Cognitive psychology and creativity
-Neural correlates of divergent thinking and creative insight
-Representation and processing of information in the mind and brain
Required Reading:
--R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 10 - Cognitive Neuroscience and Creativity (SLATE)
Recommended Reading:
-Beaty, R. E., Benedek, M., Silvia, P. J., & Schacter, D. L. (2016). Creative cognition and brain network dynamics. Trends in cognitive sciences, 20(2), 87-95.
-Barr, N. (2018). Intuition, reason, and creativity: an integrative dual-process perspective. In The New Reflectionism in Cognitive Psychology (pp. 99-124). Routledge.
-Liane Gabora and Scott Barry Kaufman, 'Evolutionary Approaches to Creativity' (SLATE)
Unit 8 –Neurodiversity, Anomalous Cognition, and Creativity
Topics:
-The relation between mental illness/neurodiversity and creativity
-Neuropsychology and creativity
-Drugs and creativity
Required Reading:
-R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 9 - Biology and Creativity (SLATE)
Recommended Reading:
-Nancy Andreason, ‘Secrets of the Creative Brain’, The Atlantic, 2014
-R. Douglas Fields, ‘Creativity, Madness and Drugs’, Scientific American, 2013
-Snyder, A. (2009). Explaining and inducing savant skills: privileged access to lower level, less-processed information. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1399-1405.
MODULE 4: Creativity and You
Unit 9- Creativity in the 21st Century
Topics:
-Creativity in the Anthropocene/Fourth Industrial Revolution
-The relation between technology, the extended mind, artificial intelligence, and creative thinking
Required Reading:
-R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 8- Computer Simulations of the Creativite Process (SLATE)
Recommended Reading:
R. Bidshahri, How Technology is Leading Us Into the Imagination Age, Singularity Hub, 2017
West, D. M. (2015). What happens if robots take the jobs? The impact of emerging technologies on employment and public policy. Centre for Technology Innovation at Brookings, Washington DC.
Palti, I. (2017). Could creativity drive the next industrial revolution? World Economic Forum.
Unit 10- Enhancing Creativity
Topics:
-Overcoming barriers to creativity
-Living a creative life and everyday creativity
-Diversifying experiences and creativity
-Creativity and persistence
Required Reading:
-R. Keith Sawyer, 'Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation', Chapter 22- How To Be More Creative
Recommended Reading:
-Scott Barry Kaufman, ‘Why weird experiences boost creativity’, Psychology Today, 2012
-Brian J. Lucas & Loran Nordgren, ‘Giving up is the Enemy of Creativity’, Harvard Business Review, 2015
-Ruth Richards, 'Everyday Creativity: Process and Way of Life-Four Key Issues'
Evaluation:
Final Report (30%)
Test 2 (25%)
Unit 11 -Course Wrap-up
Topics:
-Synthesizing and evaluating the term's experience
-Return of student work