Creativity Symposium 2009

by Cierra Graham

The Meredith Monk performance was an experience unlike any other. When entering what looked to be an a-capella concert, I expected to hear something similar to opera. After listening for a few moments, I realized that this performance was much more than your average concert. Meredith Monk utilized singing in a creative manner where she turned the sounds of her voice into a language of its own. During the performance, I closed my eyes and heard instruments of various sorts instead of a voice. This kind of creativity has made Meredith Monk a leader in this kind of vocal performances. Through a search on YouTube, I was able to uncover examples of others that have mimicked her music. Performers like Meredith Monk harness creativity without any resources besides those naturally given. By using her voice in this way, she gives way to natural creativity, an avenue often explored by most entrepreneurs.

by Cierra Graham

David Edwards, a professor at Harvard University lectured about the theme in his book surrounding the translation of everyday ideas into an “idea impact” space. The concept of “idea impact” is defined as the cultural, social, and economic impact that one has on his/her surroundings. He goes on to state that everyone’s impact is as the individualistic manner in which we live our lives.

Creative thoughts are a process that is common across cultures and disciplines in different forms. The fusion of ideas “from a blank page” with everyday methods to deduce a common conclusion is the foundation upon which his project, Le Laboratoire, is founded upon. In his book, “Artscience”, emphasizes the similarities in different areas of concentration when creativity is at work. Le Laboratoire is a place where a handful of experiments are conducted each year by artists and scientists working at the cutting edge of science to create a final product. An example of one of these products was a vegetable man.

Edwards emphasized the serial entrepreneur in each of us. We think, play, dream, believe, and behave in an innately creative manner and allow the transmission of culture. He stated that institutions employ the kind of specialization that spawns disciplinary barriers that block innovation.

By introducing the idea of culture as creativity, he shows how everyone, despite their attendance to an institution or not has the ability to express their innate creativity.

He defines culture as what is left to say after all obvious things have been spoken. This outburst of creativity is speculated to be the result of the resolution of a particular crisis. The concept of “idea impact” offers a crisis-resolution opening for those with cultural, social, and economic differences.

by Cierra Graham

School bus yellow signs with blue tape plastering them to poles, sidewalks, and doors at every turn. They’re all over campus and it’s nearly impossible to walk by them without a quick glance at the outlandish statements written on them. These signs are provided by the Lilting Banshees. The source of these The Lilting Banshees is Wake Forest’s own comedy troupe that offers uncensored laughs and crude humor to entertain its audiences. Started in 1993, this organization highlights the humor in seemingly serious university matters. The show I attended Wednesday night showcased the creative talents of the troupe in subjects ranging from fraternity traditions to campus policies. Their witty creativity is displayed before the show through yellow posters with statements too taboo to be announced aloud. They use profanity and offensive statements to make bold suggestions about things relevant to student life.

After arriving at the sold out performance, the audience viewed more of these creative slogans in a slide show before the start of the performance. The show consists of various skits with random dancing in between. It was entertaining for its creative qualities as well as its comedic renditions of everyday occurrences. My favorite skit was the skit about seemingly unfair policies on campus. The skit showed exaggerated snapshots of parking management in action, the lack of value in the alternate meal options, and the un-sport-like qualities of ultimate Frisbees.

This form of creativity is outside of the norm in that it takes a comedic approach to creativity. The players in this production are students wishing to display their talents and express their opinions about campus life, academia, and the world around them. By expressing their creativity in such an open manner they invite the creative thoughts of others. The world of creativity has many facets and the Lilting Banshees presented creativity in a way outside the ordinary.

by Cierra Graham

How do people understand the world? How does the world come to us? David Bornstein has dedicated his creative energies into answering these broad questions. By answering the unanswered, Bornstein aims to change lives. The central theme of his speech was social entrepreneurship as a means to change the world. The trend of non-profit organizations emerging in the U.S. and abroad is growing and acts as a means of influencing the behavior of businesses and governing bodies therein. Mr. Bornstein began exploring this type of entrepreneurship after he found himself disappointed with his line of work. However, his job stationed in Bangladesh allowed him to see a need that he wouldn’t have witnessed otherwise. The incapacity of the society in the villages of Bangladesh was very severe. He used the phrase, “incapacity of society” to describe the situations where the villagers had the necessary ideas for new ventures without the necessary financial support to carry them through. Although these people had little of material substance, they were able to utilize their tools to create products. Through further understanding of the villagers, he came to the conclusion that a poor villager was similar to a Bonzite tree planted inside a pot; her creativity will only grow as large as the pot she is planted in. By providing these people with necessary resources through social entrepreneurship foundations, he is able to better this society and cultivate their talents. He went on to show how social entrepreneurship has shaped our society here in America. By citing historic icons like Harriet Tubman, Mr. Bornstein explained how people like her solved entrepreneurial dilemmas by creating and executing successful ventures. These People like Harriet Tubman solved entrepreneurial dilemmas by creating and executing successful ventures. In other words, social entrepreneurship is a product of our past, present and future.

by

Noelle Schonefeld, Wake Forest Class of 2009

Creativity is about seeing beyond. It’s about making connections where connections aren’t always made. What I’m discovering through my art major and outside experience is that everything is connected, but what seems to have happened is that we have separated everything into categories and assigned degrees of divergence. I recently had the chance to see a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit where small scale models were built of his machines. The exhibit also examined his artwork and the ways in which he approached painting and perspective scientifically. For da Vinci, science and art were one and the same, whereas today they are most often considered to be on opposite sides of the spectrum.

All areas of study are very much related and all boil down to our perception of the world. When we separate these fields of study in our mind, the result is that we have a much harder time seeing the connections and thus a much harder time being creative. Da Vinci’s life was an exploration. Da Vinci the artist, da Vinci the anatomist, and da Vinci the engineer were not separate parts. Each of these aspects da Vinci was employed toward satisfying his endless curiosity in linking together and making sense of the wonders of the world. He pulled knowledge from all of the now disjointed areas of study that served to augment his previous understanding. He also understood the importance of collaboration. He didn’t come up with these ideas all on his own but worked within the framework of a time of scientific and artistic freedom and collaboration. Da Vinci and his contemporaries [maybe a bit more specific on the “they” mentioned here…worked together, explored together, and discovered together.

Collaboration and curiosity, to me, are the two most important fuels of creativity. Collaboration is essential to the full creative process because it allows us to work from individual experience and knowledge to create fuller and more collective, more universal understanding of the connections or differences that are among groups or individuals. To me, collaboration is the meaning and message of the symposium, Creativity: Worlds in the Making. The purpose of the symposium is to bring people together, embracing differences of thought, interest, and points of view to create a heightened creative atmosphere where exciting opportunities are bound to present themselves. When you get creative people together and tell them to be creative, the possibilities are innumerable. The symposium will hopefully start a dialogue of the great advantages of a collaborative effort and experience.

Curiosity also has to be a component of creativity. People with endless curiosity are the most eager for knowledge and for discovery. In school today, this is what I find is missing most from the classroom. I’m not suggesting that curiosity is not encouraged in schools. I can see in many professors’ faces the desire for their students to care and want to learn, but we need an environment where curiosity is unavoidable [maybe “necessary,” “essential,” or “inevitable,” instead?. Curiosity must become so essential to the classroom environment that students cannot do anything without it. Once someone stops being curious, he/she stops learning because he no longer seeks out knowledge. Classes need to be relevant to be interesting, which again is where connection is important. When we draw connections from the classroom to the physical world and humanity itself, learning means much more. It serves a purpose of true understanding.

As an artist, I have to see the whole picture, otherwise it doesn’t fit together. In the issues or questions I deal with in my artwork, I have to explore every facet of understanding about the subject, otherwise, the work is incomplete. This way of understanding should not only be applied to artistic endeavors but to all areas of study. For me, the goal of the symposium is to take a look at the whole picture and to see that all areas of study are creative, they inform each other, and they need to be talked about together, in one place.

By Tripper Smith

Meredith Monk’s performance was both unique and exciting for me to witness. I went into this performance with a relatively closed mind, but was blown away by the performance. Her physical appearance in photos portrayed her as a somewhat “strange” individual, and after hearing some of her music in the “extra credit” class, I had already been very briefly exposed to her work. However, my opinions were completely reversed, and I loved the event.

She began by telling a little bit about her work and the motivations behind it. After a very brief introduction, she was ready to perform, and she stood in an almost meditating position to gather the focus and energy necessary before she began her work. Her music is, in short, creative. The first song was similar to the one I had heard before, but I had a completely different view upon hearing it in person rather than through a television speaker. She is extremely talented, and it is certain that she must discipline and practice herself on a daily basis in order to achieve the talent level which she possesses. She performed the songs “to a T,” complete with various “choruses” which would be repeated throughout the work and could be identified by the listener.

After the first event, she explained how the voice is flexible like a body part, and that by using her voice correctly, she may create art from it. She expanded on this idea by indicating that she could “paint” landscapes or simulate bodily movements through voice inflections. I was astounded, probably because I had just experienced what she was then explaining to me. My closed-minded point of view had been broken down, and from this point on I was able to view the show in an entirely new light, and I greatly enjoyed it.

The show ignited a multitude of emotions, feelings, and even “daydream” type images. During her songs, “Insect,” she very well replicated the noises which may be heard in nature by various insects – she was almost annoying at times, similar to a mosquito or a gnat at a barbeque. I was able to understand some of the images she was attempting to send across to the listener – or at least I thought I was able to understand them. During one of her songs, I had a strange calming sensation, as well as a mental image of somebody canoeing down a river. This varied from the “Ghost” song she sang, which was even eerie at times.

This show definitely opened my eyes to the extent that I will be more open-minded to such creative talents. She truly does possess a gift, and she has creative a new realm of art, where the voice is the powerful instrument. When she and her partner worked together, I truly understood that she was not simply “making noises,” but that she had created songs by replacing words with sounds and emotions. I feel as though I gained a great deal of knowledge both about myself and about creativity from this event. Since participating and viewing her, I have recently been on YouTube in order to view some more of her works, as I really do appreciate the art-form she has created. This was my favorite of the keynote events, and I think she is one of the most creative minds I have ever witnessed.

By Ryan Dunn

Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director/choreographer and creator of new opera, music theater works, films and installations. She is known for her interdisciplinary performance that fuses music and movement, image and object, light and sound. Monk has expanded the boundaries of music composition and is an avant-garde in what is now called “extended vocal technique.”

Monk was different from the other keynote events in that hers was a musical performance and a form of self-expression unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. She started out by singing her ‘Songs from New Mexico,’ which were interesting to say the least. The songs had no words, and consisted of what seemed to be a collection of random utterances, yelps, and short outbursts. However, I soon realized that there was no randomness at all to Monk’s musical compositions and performance; she has internalized the essence of their structure, proportion, and form through years of rehearsing and performing these pieces. This process goes back to a major theme prevalent throughout the creativity symposium, which is that incremental change (or conditioning) can bring about monumental change (end result). Her songs also involved her whole body moving, rising and falling with the notes.

At first, my impression of her music was that it was weird and not very spectacular, but after hearing her ‘Insect Songs’ I really started to appreciate and better understand her music. Again, these songs had no words, but this time consisted of utterances and noises that were exceedingly reminiscent of the sounds insects make. Monk started doing body movements to coincide with the sounds she was producing, conjuring up images of a fly or cicada; this synthesis of music, movement, image, and object was particularly impressive as it touched on new modes of perception.

When it comes to modern art and contemporary performance, some people are dismissive and say “Oh I could’ve done that…what’s so novel about it?” The difference between those people and Meredith Monk is that she went out and actually did it. We can talk and talk, and come up with ideas, but unless we go out and do it and see the realization of our ideas, there can be no idea translation, no creation, no innovation, and no contribution to the world. What I largely took away from the creativity symposium and plan to incorporate in my final project is how to express what matters to us and the many different ways of communicating this; everything is interconnected and what we do today will either affect us individually or others tomorrow; and finally incremental change brings monumental transformation.

By Paco Saldana

My Future Worlds experience was very therapeutic, almost Zen-like in it’s application. I was set to help anyone who came by and translate Bboying techniques into circles on the wall, so I tried a few different tactics to begin with. One of which was to do some footwork, and then the other members there would say stop randomly, and try to create circles in the position I was in. It wasn’t my suggestion to begin with, because I knew the outcome: the positions I was holding weren’t very easy on the body to just hold for any long period of time without allowing the body to become accustomed to it, so each move didn’t last long, and although I could’ve stayed there for a while longer, I had a better idea. Within basic footwork, there is a crucial part where the hands will switch in order to allow the feet to do the same, while maintaining balance. It’s a very specific motion that is used consistently throughout almost all footwork. I translated this onto the wall using both hands, creating a sort of double-circle transition image. During the creation of this icon, it started off wavy and unsure, but took shape after a little bit. It became very second nature and, although not machine-like, very natural to continue. Like the focusing upon nothing or one thing of meditation, I entered a ‘no-place’ after a short while – very enjoyable.

The second part of my experience with Future Worlds came a few days after the symposium finished: the destruction of the worlds, you could say. This involved me repainting over walls where the previous circles and worlds were. This felt to me like a cleansing. Not nearly as meaningful or able to be interpreted as the actual event itself (since this one could be drawn to ‘work’ very quickly), but it was a nice feeling to see the walls completely clean and barren of what had taken place.

Although my time for the event was early in the morning (8:30am) and not many people stopped by, it was still rewarding. If anything, it was an experience unlike any other I’ve had at Wake Forest.

By: Afton Vechery

Wed. Mar. 18th, David Bornstein on ‘How to Change the World’, 7:30 pm and Roundtable Discussion with select students from across campus

One of the main concepts that has stuck with me from my interactions with David Bornstein lies within my trust of his analysis of the successful entrepreneurs he has been around. He said that the social entrepreneur is good at three things; they have a vision they can articulate, they believe without others believing and they are able to recruit others. The creation of meaning is what motivates others so emotional intelligence and empathy is “70% of the battle.” An important part in figuring out the most effective way of communicating a cause and winning a worker, an opinion or respect for your work involves mastering these concepts and understanding emotional empathy.

It is very interesting to me that when I try an think of all the major causes in this world that have motivated a lot of people and constructed effective (or sometimes ineffective) change- more commonly than not I am able to remember the entrepreneur associated with this change. This successful entrepreneur has to have had some key characteristics that allowed this concept to develop, recruit followers and become successful and I am under the honest opinion that emotional empathy when dealing with others is most effective when the entrepreneur has a true and sincere belief in their cause that they are able to articulate. This is the root of social entrepreneurial excellence. David Bornstein worded this very well and truly captivated the key characteristics of the most effective leader.

The next concept that I found very intriguing was addressed during the roundtable with

Mr. Bornstein. One of the concepts I have been struggling a lot with at Wake Forest (especially upon returning from Kenya) has been to what extent should the colleges student be involved? Is it better to devote a lot of time and energy to a cause now before I have a family and other people who are dependent on my time and resources? Or should I concentrate on my education now and prepare myself for the world to the best of my abilities so I will be able to give back that much more later in life? What is the ideal balance? How can I morally justify not giving back to the extent of my abilities and simply putting my calling or passion on hold until I are “ready”? What does ready mean? I tried to culminate all of these concerns into a question and asked David Bornstein if he thought that anyone would loose sight of that drive if they did not choose to pursue something directly related to social entrepreneurship after college. Right now the collegiate dynamic is incredibly conducive to social entrepreneurship and empowerment. I was very curious to find his view on if once removed from this environment if he believed that this inner drive would lessen or would be a constant part of them and calling as they progressed through all phases of their life. He responded that he thought that this drive would always be there and he never foresaw it decreasing.

The follow up question to this was more specific and targeted what we could do as college students in addressing the battles of this world. David Bornstein response was very specific- I assume he has been asked this before! He begun by saying that we needed to find the most impactful organizations. I agree with this statement. Learn by example. One must find who is doing it best and then join them or mimic their ways. Why repeat a failure or invest your time in resources in something that is being done somewhere else more effectively? You need to make sure you are maximizing your time and effort in creating the most value. This essence of value is different for everyone, so different people may prioritize or favor certain methodologies but I agree that current organizations need to be assessed before one is to create his or her own or even join another. The next step is figuring out “what I can do” and transforming. In this step, the student must make their efforts “deep” and utilize the “combinational aspect.” By being in this amazing collegiate atmosphere, we as college students have access to a wealth of information and (especially in the unique liberal arts environment of WFU) have all of these different thoughts and philosophies going through our minds and surrounding our lives at every moment. We need to encompass and embrace these differences and ultimately create and develop new levels innovation which can lead to effective change. One way this has been done is with the rap session for inner city kids trying to write college essays. The epitome of creativity and innovation. The search lies in finding one thing you are totally thrilled about and then honing into this passion. Mr. Bornstein found this passion. He quit his job and went to Bangladash just to do it! To what level will you take a risk? How do you differentiate risk and living?

One of the other things that Mr. Bornstien mentioned was that it was very hard to do something motivating and then just go back to the norm you are accustomed to. I really think this applies to all realms of life. Once you know what it feels like to be in shape, there is that drive to keep it up. Once you know what it feels like to succeed, you develop vigor and strength to persist and confidence that you can beat the odds. I am very interested in the neural root of motivation and its ability to be affected by nature and nurture and how this plays into social entrepreneurial motivation and commitment.

Another concept that I was exposed to through Mr. Bornstein’s keynote was that your 20’s is your time to play. You have to just jump at things that come along! In our culture I think there is a lot of emphasis placed on going to high school, getting good grades, taking the SAT’s, going to college, getting good grades, and getting a job, working , retiring, donating to a few charities…. But is that really living? It really made me question where I obtain the most passion and value in life. Where am I happiest? Do I want to live in Africa and donate my life to that cause? Do I want to start a business here sleeping every other night for a couple hours, engrossed in my work to the extent where I forget about other realms of life? I want to maximize my life and live it to my fullest potential so the concept of having my 20’s to “play” makes this challenge slightly more attainable. I have to see what is “vivid in [my] life –it is a creative challenge to see how [I] can maximize [my] engagement.” Thank you, Mr. Bornstein, for such insightful words.

“To live is to be slowly born.” I don’t remember who said this, but I feel that every day should be filled with these new experiences and every day should make you appreciate being here to a larger degree. Every day should expose you to ways you can maximize your own engagement, and help to your utmost potential. Mr. Bornstein’s insight on the most effective way to do this was inspiring.

Thurs. Mar. 19th Meredith Monk’s Secrest performance at 7:30  pm

This was quite an international night for me! I arrived at the performance after having Thai Curry downtown and my experiences and enlightening conversation from the previous hour was perfect preparation for the unique and captivating performance put on by Meredith Monk. I have never experienced a live opera and certainly never been fortunate enough to see anyone with such immense talent. I did not know it was humanly possible to have such artistic and accurate control over vocals. The manipulations ( that were even somewhat comical at times) that Meredith Monk was able to perform had me in a trance. I have never heard such an expressive art form be performed so vividly with such flawlessness.

My favorite part of the performance was when Meredith Monk and Tho Bleckmann performed a duo together. The way their voices echoed one another’s in anticipation yet the timing was placed so perfectly that it had the essence of a verbal dance. I went back to my room to finish an essay after the performance and found the live version of the performance and played it on you tube for the next two hours. The lull in each of their voices is so relaxing and beautiful and when combined creates a whole new level of creative empowerment.

Although I enjoyed the slightly more abstract pieces that mimicked emotions and sounds, I found that I preferred the more light hearted pieced that utilized beauty of the voice instead of vocal “tricks.” Although these tricks and manipulations of the vocal cords to another sense was impressive and true art, I found that in terms of appreciation AND enjoyment, the actual musicality was what fascinated me the most.

David Edwards on ArtScience, Thurs. 8:45 am the 19th

David Edwards (and his Le Laboratoire in Paris) is essentially the epitome of my interests- together and really is just everything culminated into one place. He was able to articulate exactly what I have been thinking about in terms of why I became involved in the sciences in the first place. The quote that really made it for me was when David Edwards said, “Science cannot fully describe reality—science offers only a veil. Art and spirituality is the leap.” I could not think of a better way of saying this. It today’s society I feel that everyone can get so wrapped up in all of their endeavors and become so consumed by a particular project or even though process that they forget to look at the whole picture and what their efforts will actually translate to. Life is a beautiful thing. You loose sight of life when you become too engrossed in something, and then you never achieve your full potential. At Le Laboratoire in Paris, Dr. Edwards makes the leap. He applies science to life and approaches them in a way that is creative and innovative and is able to achieve new levels of discovery and ultimately value.

On the website, I think the way that Dr. Edwards describes what he is trying to do is truly poetic:

“Art, like science, is an experience, and, yet, we encounter art and science in our museums more frequently as outcome. Process, of course, is hard to define, to classify or to curate. It can seem beside the point. Sometimes, however, it is not. Occasionally, processes of exploration, discovery and innovation matter more than any result these processes ever produce. What is this creative process? Idea evelopment in culture, industry, education and society can be conceived as a kind of experimentation, where the catalyst for change, for movement – for innovation – is a fusion of those creative processes we conventionally think of as art and as science. This fused process is the basis of Le Laboratoire. Our public is invited to experience the creative process as a fusion of art and of science producing tangible – if transient – art and design outcomes. These outcomes or “works-in-progress” result from experiments conceived of and led by leading international artists in collaboration with leading international scientists. Le Laboratoire is a kind of off-Broadway, or pre-museum, aiming to catalyze change in culture, industry, society and education with partners who invest in the exploration process more than in the guarantee of any outcome this process might produce.”

His keynote continued to amaze me with his articulation of concepts using scientific terminology. It clicked. I really just got it. And then I was inspired. “Each molecule is an idea of impact. Each is a different type and they are translated as they move.” I love this analogy. It reminds me of how my own brain works. I feel like every one of my thoughts is a molecule, moving at the speed of light slightly confined by the outside factors (just as sleep or even the environment of innovation I am in- for the Symposium it was very high). I imagine every one of my ideas as a molecule, bouncing off the walls, wanting to get out, yet my outer shell holds htem in and is reinforced by their velocity. Yet these molecules hit each other too. They hit these other ideas and they merge. They come together and create new ideas and an even stronger outer shell by working together. This was a beautiful concept to me.

The next part of the keynote that fascinated me was Dr. Edwards understanding of culture. He said, “Civilization promotes institutional preservation of culture yet fosters disciplinary barriers that block innovation.” After describing this, he mentioned that “Culture is what’s left to say when the obvious things have been spoken. It’s creative. It’s experimental.” Wow, I could not think of a better way to articulate this! I really feel that my trip to Kenya was captivated in these two realizations. I am fascinated by culture and cross-culture translations, especially the influence of civilization on happiness and overall life. It amazes me to see its progressions and step back from life and really see the essence of creativity mankind is capable of.

The quote that I believe is appropriate for the end of my David Edwards reflection is one that he used to describe art. “Art is sleepless, frustrating and glorifing.” I get the most glorification out of accomplishing the impossible. When one is able to create value beyond the constraints of normal human activity, when they are able to encompass sleeplessness and frustration, I believe a new level of innovation, a new level of Art develops.

The Embodied Brain-

This breakout session was fascinating. It combined my love for dance with my passion for neuroscience and gave me some very interesting things to think about. In this session, the theme was that “creativity is not located in any one part of the brain, but emerges from kin-aesthetic resonance with people and things.” The session tied neuroscience to how our thoughts, feelings, intentions and actions are have root within the body and mind.

One of the most interesting parts of the presentation was the interface of art. Professor Batson showed a video of the Chinese Ballet Circus and their quite unique abilities and it created a fascinating medium for conversation.

The main concept of the lecture was to “just act as if.” It talked about how behavioral exercises completed with the brain actually were able to have visible physical effects that translated into mental wellness. This is an absolutely amazing concept. One patient was actually able to watch tennis and imagine herself playing it and had actual muscle development. For my neuroscience book clubbing I have been reading “The Brain That Changes Itself” that deals with brain plasticity and the ability of the brain the rewire itself based on intensive behavioral exercises. Professor Batson gave many other examples of this happening and really emphasized the importance of the body and its true connection and ability to be translated into the body. After the lecture I was thinking about the importance of the connection between mind and body.

At the beginning of the semester I had to deal with a body trauma that severely inmpacted my brain. Yet, I was able to manipulate my body to heal my brain and was able to see immidate results. I would have never noticed this without this trauma so it was very interesting so see the connections. I feel that if I had not had this trauma, I wouldn’t have discovered the magnitude of this link. Maybe the medical community is in a similar situation and that is why this connection has not been explored to the extent necessary given the dramatic results. I think this would be a fascinating field of research.

I think one of the most beautiful things about this session was that I wrote this entire reflection without looking back at my notes until after. I thought I was just going to start and then reference them, but I found the material so interesting that I was able to remember specific examples and key parts of the lecture many weeks later. The creative combination of arts with science creates something truly memorable and different that sticks with the listener. Creativity is really inspiration and its true meaning can be understood by its ability to transcend time.

Lunch Keynote- Emil Kang

The lunch keynote speaker, Emil Kang was very interesting and actually quite hilarious to listen to. For me, this was a great experience to hear about the amazing things going on so close to WFU. The creative campus movement is involved with developing a performing art series at UNC. Emil was quite the entrepreneur and has developed an amazing product, and I’m sold! He talked about his background and how he was able to develop the series and the selection process for determining artists. I visited the website ( http://www.carolinaperformingarts.org/ ) and would love to have tickets and see a show at some point. Potential field trip? UNC students can purchase tickets for only $10.00. I think that the concept that Emil has developed is very similar to the Seacrest series except our students can go for free!

In evaluating the success of a entrepreneurs venture, often the core of the entrepreneur must be assessed. Emil had immigrant parents and deviated from the expected norm but did so in a way where he was able to accomplish what he was passionate about. He became the youngest and the first Asian-American to hold a top administrative post of any major symphony orchestra.  He has been the artistic director of UNC for the past 6 years and due to his work, UNC has been able to host huge names. His convincing abilities and nature encompassed the key qualities of an entrepreneur that Mr. Bornstein described above.

Student Entrepreneurial Ventures

I was very impressed with the end result of the Student Entrepreneurial Venture presentation. Each student entrepreneur put a lot of thought into his or her display table and was able to articulate his or her vision and concept to conference attendees. I think it really helped to create the entrepreneurial ambiance of Benson and I know I personally enjoyed learning about all the ventures and explaining Terrafinity Inc. to everyone passing by and many of my peers that did not know about it before.

Practice of Existence- Larry Lavender

It is very hard to find words that described the culmination of what I felt while watching the movement. I had been sitting at the Terrafinity Booth and all of a sudden noticed people congregating around the banisters overlooking the ground floor circle of Benson. I went over to see what the commotion was and I was slightly confused to what I was watched but I was in a trance and couldn’t look away!

It was people that seemed to be exploring their core tendencies and reminded me of the primitive human days and exploration of self and others without verbal communication. They made sounds that conveyed more words and emotions then traditional speech. They were able to visibly experience the scale of human emotion and convey those perceptions to onlookers in a very unique way.

I think one of the most amusing aspects was watching people enter Benson that had no idea what was happening. It was interesting to see that some of them stayed for quite a while. Creativity attracts.

OvErALL

**The creativity symposium was probably the highlight of this semester for me. As I referenced above it really put a lot of the thoughts I have been having into communicable verbiage and I was fascinated, intrigued, and enlightened by every speaker. I am so excited for the internship that I have thanks to the amazing networking I was able to partake in during the symposium and feel truly blessed. Creativity unites and inspires and I feel that I have developed in many ways after both hearing all of the speakers and then being able to reflect on my experiences with the brilliant professors and students I am surrounded with at WFU. Thank you.**

by Alyssa Welsh

Provost Tiefenthaler started off David Bornstein’s introduction by mentioning that the goal of the Creativity Symposium is to show how we can use creativity to transform both academia and society. Mr. Bornstein’s keynote address focused on how to change the world.

Bornstein opened by quoting Walter Lipman who said, “the way we imagine the world will determine what we do with our lives.” Bornstein started out by asking himself: how do we look at the world? How do people really understand what’s going on around the world? He mentioned the emergence of millions of organizations across the world over the last 10-20 years that address social problems in different ways. In 1992 he went to Bangladesh to learn about the bank there. He had landed a very good job at a computer company, but took a 1 year trip and backpacked around the world. When he came back he realized he wanted to do something where he could have a lens into the world and learn about the world every day. It then occurred to him that journalism approaches societal change by pointing out everything that is wrong about the problem at hand. He then quit his job at Newsday and went back to computer company to save up $5,000 and went back to Bangladesh. With that funding he went to a village with a translator and noticed different businesses that people started there (i.e. making popsicles, repairing radios). Bornstein then wondered how Bangladesh managed to create a banking system that could support all of this.

The concept of luck that we have seen in some of our other speakers also came into play with Bornstein. Having breakfast led to him being able to write a book for 3 years with funding. Fabio Rosa from Brazil said “it’s crazy to ask poor people to pay for all of their electricity up front.” He then created a business model and said that his biggest problem is batteries. He explained that if a battery loses its charge completely it never again gets its charge. In Fabio Rosa’s system people stopped paying when this would happen so he wanted to help protect the battery. He then went on to create a special platform to get the battery off the ground to avoid the humidity. He then put a saint at the top of the battery in order to treat battery as sacred so their children would have light at night to study and so the family could have a future. After using this creative approach they no longer had a battery problem. He did this by making the battery deeply meaningful. Bornstein said that he wonders how closely Rosa must have been listening to the people around him in order to realize their needs.

During the last 3 years Bornstein has visited the states across the US and interviewed people who are solving social problems. He mentioned that social entrepreneurship is a “hidden history.” Effective problem solving organizations are solving every major social problem in the United States. He then went on to mention that the problem of our health system is that we do not take into consideration the social restraints of health. A young woman named Rebecca decided to get in touch with a man in charge of one of Boston’s public hospitals. She asked if she could help him out and he said yes so long as she came for 6 months. She then asked patients if they had a housing problem or if they “heat or eat” and if so asked to see them. She then went on to help these families solve their landlord disputes and the path of help was almost immediate. She set up Project Health which spread organically and became one of the most popular social service programs in every university it has spread to today. This success is due to the immediate impact that the volunteers can see in the people they help.

Yet another program involved a putting a green blanket on floor for the kids to sit on and then they have a mother bring in a baby. The idea is to help the children take the perspective of the baby. Doing this helps create empathy amongst the children; they lay their head on the floor and see what the world looks like when you can’t lift your head. This turned out to be the most effective anti-bullying approach ever tried at a public school.

The most influential part of his speech for me was when he discussed what he recommends for us college students. These included: taking a year off after we graduate to explore the world (if you can’t afford it try and find an internship in an area you care about), offer your unique talents to these organizations, think about what risk is and get to know it so that you can take advantage of opportunities that you really love.