“Thinking is an action. For all aspiring intellectuals, thoughts are the laboratory where one goes to pose questions and find answers, and the place where visions of theory and praxis come together. The heartbeat of critical thinking is the longing to know -- to understand how life works” -- bell hooks, 2010 I'm been impressed by the insights you've shared about the creativity-empathy connection and an new ...

Maybe not.  Maybe we do suffer from an "empathy deficit." But if we can learn what teacher Shelley Wright calls "the gift of empathy; the power of understanding and imaginatively entering into another person's feelings" then we have a chance, a good chance of stirring everyone to move beyond feeling to action -- action in a participatory culture where empathy is expressed in creativity and justice. For a bi ...

Taking time to pause and reflect at MidTerm is vital for students and instructors.  I do it for every course I teach but consider it even more important when it's the "shakedown cruise" for a brand new course. I'll briefly list the questions and results here with a few notes about those that seem really helpful. Question 1:  Progress toward goals Everyone seemed to think they were making at least some progr ...

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know that place for the first time. – T. S. Eliot A mobiius strip brings us back around to where we began, and often, as T. S. Eliot reminds us, we come “to know that place for the first time." MidTerm is a good time to “come back around.” It’s a good time to do a bit of critical reflection. I’m shari ...

Spring break was a oasis and now I'm refreshed and ready for the long ride ahead. Could we be beginning our exploration of our fourth creative aptitude -- metaphor?   Dan Pink didn't include metaphor in his list of six creative aptitudes but I think it's a vital one.  "We think in metaphors and learn through stories," is a favorite quote from anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson.  I've been thinking a ...

The theme for our "This Creative Life" Internet Radio Program is “Eating Around the Triangle — Burgers and Food Trucks We Love!” One team is telling stories about the best burgers in the Triangle and the other about food trucks. So is anyone surprised that both radio teams came up with a food-related theme?  Wonder if there's research to support that grad students think more about food than most people? Wit ...

STEWART: In doing press for this most recent release, "City of Refuge," you described your writing process as evolving and that initially it was a very private thing. So how is it going, evolving from that very private solo space into the rest of the world? WASBURN: I've noticed that the more I open up, the more I learn. So I'm incredibly grateful for that. But I'm - I'm not going to lie. I can feel really ...

Kevin Allison, storyteller extraordinaire, is performing in Carrboro this weekend for the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival. I'm not that cool to make it to the conference but I heard him on UNC-Radio's "The State of Things" and really appreciated what he had to say about his love for storytelling, and, in particular, storytelling in the oral tradition. "There's an intimacy that you get; the theatre of th ...

Our Daily Creates came in with a boom -- our best air guitar performances -- and went out with a . . . banana. From Preference's list with the "mommy perspective" to Courtney's "fruit fly bait," Meredith's "bath soaps," and my "banana handle IQ test," we had lots of creative suggestions for "List 20 uses for a banana." I'm as modest as John (Cris winks). For some of you, this may be the last Daily Create yo ...

Thanks to Courtney for bringing the first-ever unicorn avatar to the Bookhenge -- in a formal, too. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the Bookhenge for Studio Time, Thursday, January 17th. Courtney, Joanne, John, and Meredith have earned their wings! ...