AUCA 140 -- Creativity: The Dynamics of Artistic Expression
This course brings the riches of the University's professional programs in art, music, architecture, and theater to students from majors outside the arts. Students might find themselves turned loose in the darkroom making rayograms with a photographer of international stature, performing a "Found-Object" Symphony under the direction of an innovative composer from the Hartt School, designing a ski shelter under the eye of a professional architect, or chasing the poetic muse with a New England Poet of the Year. In their individual projects, students are encouraged to seek originality of conception. More than technical skill, instructors reward students for the courage to explore new ways of seeing, share ideas, take risks, express individuality, and contribute to the growth of other students. Follow-up discussions, projects, and response journals are designed to "prime the pump" and tap into individual reservoirs of imagination. And for those students who claim they are "not creative and have never been," the basic premise (proven by the track record) is that creativity can be learned.