{"id":21390,"date":"2022-01-06T16:39:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T16:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=21390"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:23:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:23:00","slug":"creativity-courage-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences","title":{"rendered":"Creativity, courage and consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To succeed in their field of study, students often hear they must be smart, studious and disciplined. Rarely are they told they must also be creative. In fact, students are commonly instructed to weed out their imaginative thinking and to instead follow instructions, stick to rubrics and avoid bias. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Black
Gary Carpenter, creativity scholar and lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gary Carpenter, lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, is on a mission to turn that line of thinking on its head. \u201cWe are facing unprecedented global challenges that cannot be addressed through isolated industries or fields of study,\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cThere is a pressing need across all industries and disciplines for people who think creatively.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, Carpenter used his imagination to design and produce a Discovery Core Experience<\/a> class at the University of Washington Bothell called Creativity, Courage & Consequences. Through the course, students examine the growing and urgent need for innovation and ingenuity while developing personal approaches to expand their own creative practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Core classes aim to help first-year students transition to academic life. In this class, they use creativity to explore why they\u2019re in college and what they hope to accomplish \u2014 in school and after graduation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art across disciplines <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While creativity has always been a fascination of Carpenter\u2019s, he said that as a student he was surprisingly STEM oriented. \u201cI loved the steady rules of math and science. I was always trying to apply it to the arts, trying to find the formula for creativity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt took me years to finally realize, and accept, that it just doesn\u2019t work that way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time he spent in both disciplines now benefits the undergraduates he teaches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-year student Janani Rajagopalan is an aspiring STEM major who plans on pursuing a degree in Computer Science & Software Engineering. She was drawn to Carpenter\u2019s class because of its broad problem-solving approach, which she said is an important skill to have in the sciences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talked a lot about how in society, we often say, \u2018Leave the science to the scientists and the art to the artists\u2019 \u2014 but it actually seems like we should look at science through an artistic lens and vice versa,\u201d Rajagopalan said. \u201cThe class made me realize that art can be, and often is, a tool that can educate, inspire and encourage people to solve issues innovatively. It is much more than just masterpieces hung on gallery walls.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Carpenter, that\u2019s the whole point: getting students to think across disciplines. \u201cIt has been proven that the arts enhance learning in the field of STEM,\u201d he said. \u201cIt broadens how we tackle challenges and vastly improves learning.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playfulness in class <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unlike most syllabi that students come across in their academic career, Carpenter\u2019s includes the term \u201cconstructive play.\u201d It ties back to the idea that in university, students are expected to study and be adult-like, not do something traditionally thought of as childish, such as play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, Carpenter is breaking the \u201crules.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes that \u201cplay is highly underrated in creative endeavors because as a society, we feel play is for kids and therefor lacks rigor,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhile play can be enjoyable and undirected, it can also be constructive and used to gain a specific outcome if properly directed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carpenter said there is a need to be playful with ideas because, if we are too literal and only focus our attention narrowly, we significantly limit our range of ideas. \u201cAnd, if we do so trying solely to isolate the \u2018right\u2019 answer or the best outcome, we limit our willingness to explore many options at all,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, when we enter into idea generation with a playful mindset, we begin thinking more broadly and less literally, which simply generates a richer body of ideas.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that said, it\u2019s particularly difficult to teach this way, said Carpenter, because the educational system has focused for so long on right answers and the fastest path from point A to point B. \u201cEven on six-week projects, students feel compelled to arrive at \u2018the\u2019 answer to the task at hand within five to seven minutes \u2014 literally. It takes a very scaffolded approach to instill these practices, but the payout is significant,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Break-through ideas <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Students practice creative play in the classroom in multiple ways, including doing icebreakers that can help break down barriers and help students feel more comfortable simply exchanging ideas. The play often focuses on low-stakes exercises that have no correct answers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carpenter scaffolds these throughout the quarter not just to increase students\u2019 collaborative abilities and willingness to invite playfulness in but also to model the behavior for their future creative endeavors, whether it\u2019s writing a paper, creating an experiment or inventing a new toy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of constructive play was particularly impactful for student Preston Rafael Leon. He says this class has completely transformed his understanding of creativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI now see it as a way of coming up with different ideas to solve an issue. When I think about how I can use what I learned in this class, the possibilities are endless,\u201d Leon said. \u201cWith a more open brain, you can consider what before may have seemed irrational. When we constantly censor what we are allowed to think, it can inhibit our creativity and inhibit the solutions that we come up with.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can the critic <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, what Carpenter refers to as \u201cour inner critic\u201d tends to coincide with creative play. He describes it as \u201cthe voice that might suggest our ideas are unreasonable, silly, embarrassing or simply wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inner critic initially can prevent a free exchange of ideas simply by being too critical. \u201cHaving students understand that we can always invite the critic back \u2014 and that they will need to eventually \u2014 often frees them up enough to set it aside initially. And, once they experience the benefits of this practice, it becomes a habit relatively quickly,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carpenter finds simply engaging students in play to be the best way to illustrate the benefits to them. \u201cThey feed off the responses from the most innovative outcomes of their classmates to inspire themselves to push the boundaries even further on the next round,\u201d he said. \u201cThe difficulty is in doing these exercises regularly despite the precious class time they require. It always pays off.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And indeed it does, particularly for student Ayden Lee Sharpe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe discussions we had about the inner critic is what stuck with me most,\u201d he said. \u201cThey made me realize how much I doubted my own creativity, and now I am taking the steps to be less critical of myself and my work. They helped so much I actually wrote a rough draft of a book that I plan to publish in CLAMOR, the UW Bothell literary and arts journal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis class has really improved my self-esteem,\u201d Sharpe said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variety of creations <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For their final project, the students participated in Community Reads, a program of the UW Bothell and Cascadia Campus Library that uses books to cultivate productive discussions in the campus community around equity, social justice and diversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These conversations used to take place in person. In 2020, they were moved online with a series of prompts. Participants respond with a variety of creations \u2014 paintings, drawings, collages, digital media, poetry and even music. To bring the lessons of the quarter together through an area of personally engaging research, Carpenter\u2019s students each responded by writing an essay and creating a work of art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Community Reads programming in fall 2021<\/a> revolved around the book \u201cUndrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals\u201d by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Carpenter believed it fit particularly well with the class because \u201cGumbs, the author, beautifully presents her research through her own lenses rather than a neural, academic approach that attempts to remove the author from her work.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the book, the assignment asked students to incorporate research to ground their projects but also encouraged them to prioritize their own lenses as they did the research with the hope that it would inspire a different way of thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe it\u2019s our differences rather than our similarities that make our exchange of ideas so rich, informative and inspiring,\u201d Carpenter said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strange, profound connections <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Student Gavin Richard Garrison painted a beluga whale. When he was only a month old, he stopped breathing and for a short period of time, he lingered between life and death. \u201cWhile this was long ago,\u201d he said, \u201cI am reminded by how important breathing is when I think back to how different that outcome might have been.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Abstract
Abstract painting by Gavin Garrison, a beluga whale submerged in a sea of shades of blue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Abstract painting by Gavin Garrison, a beluga whale submerged in a sea of shades of blue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He connected to the beluga whale because of its ability to adapt and survive, just as he had to 18 years ago. \u201cBy reading the book, I learned that the beluga whale can hold its breath for twelve and a half minutes, and that its ability to let out a breath helps with the carbon cycle of the planet,\u201d Gavin said. \u201cJust by breathing, it helps other living things survive \u2014 and to me, that\u2019s pretty inspiring.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carpenter said he is inspired and proud of the work students have done, both for the project and in the class. The students\u2019 work can be viewed on the Community Reads website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing their progression has been really rewarding as a professor,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope that students know their experiences and perspectives matter a lot, and those differences are what makes them unique and valuable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the students took away from this class certainly exceeded my expectations for the quarter.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To better prepare students for successful careers, UW Bothell Lecturer Gary Carpenter uses his decade-long research into creativity to teach students how to think across academic disciplines. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,229,204],"tags":[],"school":[],"class_list":["post-21390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-faculty","category-students"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Contact Us","email":"test@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-1234","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nCreativity, courage and consequences - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creativity, courage and consequences - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To better prepare students for successful careers, UW Bothell Lecturer Gary Carpenter uses his decade-long research into creativity to teach students how to think across academic disciplines.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-06T16:39:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-08T18:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1-1024x683.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Creativity, courage and consequences\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-06T16:39:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-08T18:23:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences\"},\"wordCount\":1632,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1-1024x683.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Campus News\",\"Faculty\",\"Students\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences\",\"name\":\"Creativity, courage and consequences - News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1-1024x683.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-06T16:39:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-08T18:23:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1.png\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1067},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Creativity, courage and consequences\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News\",\"description\":\"Just another UW Bothell site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/author\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Creativity, courage and consequences - News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Creativity, courage and consequences - News","og_description":"To better prepare students for successful careers, UW Bothell Lecturer Gary Carpenter uses his decade-long research into creativity to teach students how to think across academic disciplines.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences","og_site_name":"News","article_published_time":"2022-01-06T16:39:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-08T18:23:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1-1024x683.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Creativity, courage and consequences","datePublished":"2022-01-06T16:39:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-08T18:23:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences"},"wordCount":1632,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1-1024x683.png","articleSection":["Campus News","Faculty","Students"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences","name":"Creativity, courage and consequences - News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1-1024x683.png","datePublished":"2022-01-06T16:39:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-08T18:23:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/Hands-1.png","width":1600,"height":1067},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2022\/01\/06\/creativity-courage-consequences#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Creativity, courage and consequences"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/","name":"News","description":"Just another UW Bothell site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/author"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21390"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28947,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21390\/revisions\/28947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21390"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=21390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}