Tag Archive for: Creativity Conference

Session at an earlier Creativity Conference

SOU’s International Creativity Conference returns – virtually this year

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The third annual Creativity Conference at SOU will begin its four-day run on Thursday, July 8, with a slate of 170 presenters, including 46 from outside the U.S. The conference is expected to draw a total of about 250 presenters and participants ­– many of the world’s top scholars, researchers and practitioners in the field of creativity.

This year’s conference will be entirely digital and online, following the cancellation of the 2020 event and uncertainty that lingered well into the spring about the COVID-19 pandemic. Dan DeNeui, a conference co-chair and director of SOU’s Division of Social Sciences, said that both in-person and remote options were mapped out for this year’s conference and the online version was chosen to ensure an event that won’t be disrupted again.

“We made the decision in the spring to give us time to alert our speakers and guests of the virtual-only conference, and put our plans fully in place to make this conference a fantastic virtual experience,” DeNeui said.

This year’s keynote speakers include Ron Beghetto, a professor and director of the University of Connecticut’s Innovation House; and Ruth Richards, a professor at Saybrook University, a private school in Pasadena, California.

Beghetto is an internationally recognized expert on creative thought and action in educational settings.  He is the editor of publications including the Journal of Creative Behavior and has served as a creativity advisor for organizations such as the LEGO Foundation and the Cartoon Network. His keynote address at the Creativity Conference will be a 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 9.

Richards works in the areas of consciousness, spirituality, integrative health and creative studies. Her academic interests include the healthy benefits of the creative process. Her keynote address at the Creativity Conference will be at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 11.

Another big name at the conference will be its other co-chair, SOU Director of Creativity Research and Programming Mark Runco. He has produced a series of tests to measures creative potential and performance, and teaches both graduate- and undergraduate-level classes on creativity and innovation.

Runco’s deep background in the study of creativity is relied upon as keynote, featured and other speakers are chosen for the Creativity Conference.

“We draw speakers who are already well known in the study of creativity, and we also draw those who are actively working on new research and who are the ‘rising stars’ in the industry,” DeNeui said.

The event offers about 150 talks, panels and a feature that was well-received at the most recent conference in 2019 – 15-minute “boom talks,” typically about the current outcomes of active research.

The annual conference also provides opportunities for creativity researchers to collaborate and broaden their network.

SOU has adopted the goal of serving as Oregon’s “university for the future.” Its strategic plan – the university’s roadmap into the future – places an emphasis on creativity, innovation and other human skills that augment technical skills and are particularly valued by employers.

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Participants welcomed to Creativity Conference at SOU

Second annual Creativity Conference at SOU sets new benchmark

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This summer’s second annual Creativity Conference at SOU attracted leaders of the academic field and working professionals looking for ways to bring creativity into their work, and set a high-water mark in the process.

Last month’s four-day conference got kudos from participants for the breadth, depth and structure of its presentations.

“The first conference at SOU (in 2018) was a huge success – and 2019 improved on it,” said Mark Runco, executive director of the SOU Creativity Conference and the university’s director of Creativity Research and Programming.

Dan DeNeui, a conference organizer and director of SOU’s Division of Social Sciences, said the annual conference is building a loyal following.

“Many of our attendees (at this year’s event) attended last year’s conference, and a large majority of this year’s attendees indicated that they will likely return again next year,” DeNeui said.

Overall, this year’s Creativity Conference drew more than 240 attendees and presenters from a total of 25countries. It featured more than 180 talks, panels and posters on topics such as learning through creative play, creativity and well-being, creative problem-solving and the importance of creative spaces.

“Great range of presentations, styles and approaches to applying creativity in various areas of work, government and education,” one participant wrote in an evaluation of the conference.

Creativity Conference at SOUThis year’s keynote speakers were Teresa Amabile, a Baker Foundation professor at Harvard Business School; Dean Simonton, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Davis; and Torrie Allen, who will become the president and CEO of Arts Midwest this month.

Amabile’s work focuses on individual creativity and productivity, and organizational creativity and innovation. Her keynote address was presented by LEGO – which served as a corporate sponsor of this year’s conference, along with Scienceworks, OSF, SOU’s Schneider Museum of Art and six other companies or organizations.Creativity Conference at SOU

Simonton’s studies focus on human intelligence, creativity, greatness and the psychology that drivesscience. Allen, who takes over the lead position at Arts Midwest this month, was previously the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s director of development and has been a national arts leader for 15 years.

Runco said this year’s panel discussions were also popular, and participants enjoyed the “boom talks” feature. “The presenter has 10 minutes to share their most important idea – boom!” he said.

“One attractive thing about the SOU conferences is that they bring together researchers and practitioners – academics producing cutting-edge research – as well as individuals who have quite successfully applied creativity to business, the arts, counseling and education,” Runco said. “The conferences cover a huge amount of ground, but the format allows the audience to stay energized.”

Creativity Conference at SOUOther featured speakers at this year’s conference included Min Tang, director of the Institute for Creativity and Innovation at Germany’s University of Applied Management; Ron Beghetto, professor and director of the University of Connecticut’s Innovation House; Yael Katz, vice provost for academics at Canada’s Sheridan College; Jonathan Feinstein, professor of creative development at Yale University; Adam Green of Georgetown University, the founder and current president of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity; and Roger Firestien, senior faculty member and president of Innovation Resources, Inc., at State University of New York, Buffalo State.

“This was an exciting conference for me,” another conference participant wrote in evaluating the event. “I’m not a creativity researcher, but use the field’s research in my work. I appreciated the mix of research and practical application, the quality of research and other work presented, the energy level of everyone involved and the care taken in planning the event. It was terrific.”

The annual event also provides an opportunity for creativity researchers to collaborate and broaden their network.

SOU has adopted the goal of serving as Oregon’s “university for the future.” Its strategic plan – the university’s roadmap into the future – places an emphasis on creativity, innovation and other human skills that augment technical skills and are particularly valued by employers.

(All images by Michael D. Davis)

Creativity Conference at SOU     Creativity Conference at SOU

 

 

Creativity Conference at SOU

Second annual Creativity Conference at SOU to expand global conversation

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Southern Oregon University will expand the global academic discussion of imagination and ingenuity this summer by presenting its second annual Creativity Conference at SOU – a four-day event expected to attract hundreds of participants from around the world.

The conference – on the SOU campus July 11-14 – is intended primarily for those who study creativity, but will also offer insights for those who consider themselves creative and those looking to leverage creative thinking in their fields.

Presentations will cover a wide variety of academic specialties, and working professionals will be able to participate in applied workshops featuring hands-on activities for developing and using creativity in the workplace.

Last year’s inaugural SOU Creativity Conference drew more than 300 people from 28 countries, to participate in about 175 presentations.

“I have been immersed in this field for over 30 years,” said Mark Runco, executive director of the SOU Creativity Conference and recently hired director of Creativity Research and Programming for the university.

“I have never seen an event anywhere near the one we had at SOU in 2018 – and will have again in July 2019,” he said. “Heck, 28 countries were represented, and many ‘big names’ in the field were here, and will be again. There really has been nothing like this – ever, anywhere.”

Runco has served as an endowed professor and creativity researcher at the University of Georgia and a research fellow at the American Institute of Behavioral Research and Technology. He is editor of the Creativity Research Journal and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Creativity, and has served as president of a division of the American Psychological Association dedicated to art, creativity and aesthetics.

Keynote speakers at this year’s Creativity Conference at SOU are Teresa Amabile, a Baker Foundation professor at Harvard Business School; and Dean Simonton, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Davis.

Amabile’s work focuses on individual creativity and productivity, and organizational creativity and innovation. Her keynote address will be presented by LEGO, a corporate sponsor of this year’s event.

Simonton’s studies have focused on human intelligence, creativity, greatness and the psychology that drives science.

Other featured speakers at this year’s conference will include Min Tang, director of the Institute for Creativity and Innovation at Germany’s University of Applied Management; Ron Beghetto, professor and director of the University of Connecticut’s Innovation House; Yael Katz, vice provost for academics at Canada’s Sheridan College; Jonathan Feinstein, professor of creative development at Yale University; Adam Green, of Georgetown University, founder and current president of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity; and Roger Firestien, senior faculty member and president of Innovation Resources, Inc., at State University of New York, Buffalo State.

Dan DeNeui, a conference organizer and director of SOU’s Division of Social Sciences, said the annual event provides an opportunity for creativity researchers to collaborate and broaden their network.

“The conference (last year) was a great way to get together and talk about how we can use creativity to solve problems,” DeNeui said.

This year’s program has not yet been announced, but is likely to be wide-ranging. Last year’s presentations ranged from “Fostering Creativity Through Virtual Environments” and “Attitudes toward creative people and innovators,” to “Rumination and Reflection During Art-Making.”

SOU has adopted the goal of serving as Oregon’s “university for the future.” Its strategic plan – the university’s roadmap into the future – places an emphasis on creativity, innovation and other human skills that augment technical skills and are particularly valued by employers.

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