When reviewing the course listings for next semester, I was surprised that there were several courses listed with the words creative in either the title or the description. Because I was curious about these courses, I took the time to review many of the descriptions in great detail. Prior to taking this course, I would have agreed that these courses sounded creative and that they were accurately labeled. When considering the definitions that we read about, created, and discussed during this course, I am less inclined to agree with the accuracy of this context. The word that I feel would be more appropriate might be unique, artistic, or maybe unusual. The word was usually referring to thinking about a topic from a specific perspective (ie:different culture etc). I would argue that this is more unique than creative. I encourage others to look at the use of the word creativity in many areas regularly seen and to evaluate the appropriateness of the context.
Suggestions for the class December 17, 2006
Looking back on the past semester in this class, I am very happy with how much information I learned. When considering how the class could be improved, I have several suggestions. First, I think that the discussion boards are useful; however, sometimes it was difficult to respond to two people’s entries because people tended to say similar things. Often I felt like I was really struggling to find something to respond to. In addition, I think it would be neat if instead of blogs people were allowed to represent and relate their knowledge from this course in a less structured way. This would allow for more “creativity” in this course. They could do it visually or act it out or something. Lastly, I think if the culminating experience was planned earlier in the semester it would allow for better organization and turn out.
Role of this course in my life December 17, 2006
Despite the daunting syllabus and Stacy’s proclamation that she is a very demanding teacher, I decided to procede with this class (nervously). Although the syllabus remained comprised of time consuming and difficult assignments and Stacy did end up to be every bit as demanding as she had warned, I am very glad that I made the choice that I did. In reflecting on all that I have learned in this course, several things come to mind as being particularly enlightening. I definitely think that the understanding I gained of what creativity truly is and how to differentiate between artistic and creative is very significant to me. As an art major, this probably is the one piece of information that truly changed my views on creativity. In addition, the ideas of group think, dissention, collaborative thought, and divergent thought all helped to explain group dynamics that I have experienced first hand. I know that I will continue to explore creativity and to analyze different situations in life looking for the role of creativity in each of them.
Misuse of the term creativity November 10, 2006
I posted earlier on the topic of creativity verse being artistic and what the differences are. The more I considered the idea that people misuse creativity in instances where artistic is more appropriate, the more I desired concrete evidence to support that idea. In one of my smaller classes that only has about 25 people, I did a presentation on gifted and talented children. During this presentation I posed this question to the other students in the class: what is the most creative thing that you ever done? Of the 25 students in the class, 21 answered with some form of the arts and in a context that I would use artistic rather than creative. The other 4 answered with acts that involved innovative thinking such as starting an organizaiton, club, or business and creating a game. I was amazed at how many people seemed to be unable to differentiate between the words artistic and creative. In the end, I defined creativity as it is defined in our book and people realized that they perhaps misidentified artistic acts as creative. I thought about why this confusion might take place and I think that as children the words “create” or “creative” are used primarily in conjuction with the arts. This leads me to pose this question to you: Is it necessary to correct this misuse of the word creativity and if so, how can that be done?
Creativity in medicine November 10, 2006
As most of you probably know, I have been really sick this semester. I have spent a great amount of time visiting student health, specialists, and the hospital. I have seen many different kinds of doctors, all with different outlooks. To be a doctor, one does not necessarily have to be creative. Some doctors simply listen to the symptoms and then come up with remedies to treat each symptom individually. They are more concerned with symptom control than an actual diagnosis and fixing the cause. Then there are the creative and innovative doctors. The doctors that go beyond their basic symptomatic knowledge and are able to look at the big picture. They take the time and effort to dig deeper and utilize their creativity to come up with diagnostic tests and possible causes. These are the doctors that make a difference. These are the doctors who use small c creativity every day to better the lives of their patients. These are the doctors that you want working for you.
Cultural views on creativity November 10, 2006
I have spent a lot of time recently considering what different cultures view as creative. I’ve done a good amount of traveling and have been all over Europe, to Africa, and all over the United States. I was born in Scotland and lived there until the age of 5. My parents are both Americans and my brother who is 3 years older than me was also born in the United States. When my parents moved to Scotland they brought their American celebrations and traditions. For Halloween, my parents would throw a huge Halloween party for my brother and me and all of our friends. We lived in a flat in the middle of downtown Edinburgh. We lived on the first 2 floors, our landlord who became a very close family friend lived on the 3rd floor, and some college students rented the 4th floor. In the lobby of the flat, my parents rented a giant moonwalk, had face painting, and asked all of the kids to dress up for Halloween. Many viewed this practice as extremely bizarre, so much that our Nanny at the time quit on the spot and said she could not handle how “American” we were. Our friends and their parents were so impressed with my parents creativity and inventiveness; however, we were simply celebrating a holiday that most people in the United States celebrate daily. That said, society greatly dictates what is thought of as creative. Because our American cultural activity was not known in Scotland, we were considered to be highy creative.
Pictures October 3, 2006
Since I talk about them so often, here are some pictures of my puppies and my fiance.
Hope (my 8 month old golden retriever):
Maddie (my 8 week old puppy- not sure what kind exactly):
Joe (My fiance):
Creative or Artistic? October 2, 2006
We have spent a great amount of time defining creativity in class as well as reading about expert’s definition of creativity. In thinking about these definitions and all that we have discussed as being creative from music to art to theater to scientific discovery, my view of creativity has grown. People that I know have always called me extremely creative. From an early age, I showed advanced skills in art and dance. My teachers, friends, and family would praise me and my exceptional “creativity.” I never doubted or questioned their praise until I started taking this class.
I think that our society has a huge amount of difficulty differentiating between having creative abilities and being artistic. I can replicate a painting or learn and perform a dance fairly well; however, I would not call this creative. I am simply acting out or putting someone else’s creative ideas in motion. I am not creating a unique or novel work nor am I utilizing any real thinking skills. Thus, I would argue that I was simply good at art.
I am interested to hear what others think of the way that many use artistic and creative interchangeably. I know that there are people that I deem creative that are not artistic, but are there people that are simply artistic and not creative? I would argue yes.
Instances of creativity in “non-creative” people/ self-assessment of creativity October 2, 2006
My fiancé would argue that he is one of the least creative people he or I have ever met. I would disagree and say that he is “selectively creative.” Before I go in depth, I’ll offer some basic information about him so that you can better understand and know him.
My fiancé’s name is Joe and he is 24 years old. He graduated last December from University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL) with a degree in secondary education and teaching certification for math and science in middle school. He has always loved kids and when he was younger worked as a counselor for the YMCA for about 5 years and at Toys-R-Us for 3 years. We met when I came to college and got engaged in July.
When talking to Joe about this class and creativity, he made several comments. First, he said that kids are definitely more creative than adults which was something we had discussed in class and has been addressed in our reading. Secondly, he argued that girls are urged to be more creative than boys from a young age. Lastly, he said that everyone can be creative and inventive if put into a situation where they are “forced” to be creative.
When probed to give more information about the first two claims, he said that kids are uninhibited and therefore better able to let loose and think abstractly. When I suggested that scientists and entrepreneurs are creative, he argued that they are trained to think a certain way and that it is not actually creativity but utilization of skills that they are programmed to have. I am not sure exactly what to think about this, but I tend to think they utilize their knowledge in creative ways. In reference to the gender comment, he said that girls are more often placed into more “creative” activities at a younger age such as dance, art, and drama which foster and promote the growth of creativity. I would disagree and say that sports and typical “little boy” activities offer a degree of creativity in regards to strategizing. I also think that elementary schools do a semi-decent job of exposing all kids to different activities by mandating art, physical education, music, and drama. Perhaps others have opinions on this topic?
The last idea that when put in a situation where it is significantly advantageous to be creative, most people will be was the most interesting to me. This was something that when attempting to come up with a test for creativity in class, my group discussed. We had a lot of difficulty finding a test that would accurately measure creativity because of the need for motivation. Joe says that this is the case with creativity in his life. He says that there are two aspects in his life where he feels compelled to be creative: at work and in our relationship.
Joe’s love for kids and teaching inspire him to be creative. He wants to engage his students by being interesting. It is because of this that he has come up with class activities such as educational joke Friday- he tells a joke and then encourages his students to tell school appropriate jokes. In addition, he makes class projects that are unique and interesting to the kids. The idea that he would be creative in his work was not particularly surprising as I know most people use some extent of creativity in their career in order to be successful.
I was more surprised that he felt compelled to be creative in our relationship. He explained that guys feel a great deal of pressure to be creative in dating. When I heard this, I automatically assumed he meant that at the beginning of relationships, guys need to make an effort to show a girl a good time in order to win her affection. Contrary, he said that the longer that we have been in a relationship, the more he feels the need to be creativity. In the beginning, simply going to dinner or a movie was a great date, but he says now that we have routinely done “typical” activities, he feels like he really has to use his creativity to keep me happy and excited. I thought about this and I think that this is very true. He has taken me to pick apples at Eckert’s farm, boating in Wisconsin, to little country carnivals, and many more original, fun places. In addition, he says that he constantly looks up new unique recipes and finds ways to jazz up typical meals to make our nights at home more fun for me. On top of this, he suggested that the time when our society suggests that a man should be most compelled to be creative is when asking a woman to marry him. He explained the steps and the creative process that he had to undergo:
1. Choosing a ring- When selecting an engagement ring, a guy must first educate himself about the 4 C’s of picking a diamond. In addition he must carefully consider what he knows about his girlfriend’s preferences and also her personality. Then utilizing this information, he must select a ring that is the “perfect” match. This involves making sure the ring is not too common as to suggest that he did not spend his time and energy in selecting it; however, he must also consider that if it is too unique, it may be very far from what she had in mind. This involves balancing all of these components in making a decision.
2. Deciding How to propose- Our society and the media portray and encourage romantic, creative proposals. A man must think of a unique, romantic way of proposing in order to make his girlfriend feel special. Joe explained that while the night we got engaged may have seemed like just a night (granted a very important, special one) to me, it was the result of months of careful consideration and planning on his part. After deciding how to propose, he has to plan and arrange the proposal.
3. Proposing- Deciding what to say when asking a woman to marry him can be very difficult for a man. He does not want to sound cliché; however, he must still make sure to include the typical I love you and such in the proposal. In our society, it is no longer acceptable for a man to simply ask a woman to marry him, but instead he must be creative in what he says.
I never considered the pressure placed on men to be creative in relationships. After discussing this with Joe, I definitely do believe that motivation is a big, if not the biggest, component in creativity. Because of the society that we live in, men and women expect this type of creativity in their relationships. Romance and creativity seem to go hand in hand. In other cultures, the whole idea of romance and creativity is a non-issue. Thus, I believe that society plays an enormous role in dictating the creative endeavors that each of us encounter.
Song lyrics/Creativity in songs October 2, 2006
First, I’ll tell you that I do not spend too much time listening to the radio because I get very annoyed about over played song. My fiance is am middle school teacher, and we were chaperoning the middle school dance last Friday. I was listening to the music, some of which I hadn’t heard. I noticed a new trend in popular rap songs that I found to be creative and interesting. Three songs were played at the dance that were all based on nursery rhymes. I can only recall two of them so that is what I will share.
#1: We all know the nursery London Bridge is Falling Down. Well, now Fergie has created the song London Bridge. For those who might not have heard it, here is an excerpt from the lyrics:
“When I come to the clubs, step aside
Pop the seeds, don’t be hating me in the line
V.I.P because you know I gotta shine
I’m Fergie Ferg
And me love you long time
All my girls get down on the floor
Back to back drop it down real low
I’m such a lady but I’m dancing like a ho
Because you know what, I don’t give a f**k
So here we go!
How come every time you come around
My London London Bridge wanna go down
Like London London London
Wanna go down like
London London London
Be going down like”
#2: Most kids also sang the song “Do your ears hang low.” Now, St. Louis Rapper Jibbs has written the song “Chain Hang Low.” Here is an excerpt from lyrics:
“Do it wobble to da flo,
Do it shine in da light,
Iz it platinum, iz it gold?
Could you throw it ova ya shoulda,
If you hot it make you cold,
Do ya chain hang low?Iz that yo chain?
Bout 24 inches
Iz how low I let it hang,
Hop out the ride and let the diamonds
Smoke off the range,
Just bought a chain,
You can tell a big kid
Do his thang,
You kno the name”
I would say that this is a creative way to build off an already existing idea. I’m not sure who the first was to do this, but I would definitely call that creative. I do not necessarily think all of the artists who chose to use this method after it had already been done would be considered creativity, but perhaps. Either way, this creativity is very catchy because almost everyone in this country knows these nursery rhymes and the familiarity when heard in these songs is definitely an attention grabber. These songs also seem to be very popular as they were the most requested at the middle school dance and almost every child new the lyrics.
