Commentary: On Making Things to Explore Identity

By Natalie Morris
Media Reviewed:

Representing Identities: February 26, 2008
A short introduction to research where we ask people to make things as part of the process; with particular focus on the Lego identity study.

I believe as an individual that every human being has the capability of making a change through the use of creativity. However, to discover our creativity one has to appreciate his or her own individuality and recognize ways in which to express it. "Representing Identities part 1" by David Guantlett uses a method by which people make things as a way of exploring one's identity or experiences. He uses visual methods, such as drawings, videos, collages, etc. to get the brain working in a different way. David feels as if at any given moment people are thinking of several things at once. He offers a creative way for how people can create a meaningful dialog or narrative picture of one specific thing. He suggests using creative methods by which people can create a meaningful response to sum up their identities.

I found it interesting that he used Legos as a way of exploring one’s individuality. The study conducted involves having participants become familiar with the idea of using Legos to create an idea of thinking and building in metaphors. Then the participants actually build their identity physically, but in a metaphoric way. I love it -- an individual can use this creative method to track patterns of behavior they want to change or behavioral pattern in others. David uses Legos so that the individual can actually sum up their life as a whole. The participants also were asked to create things that influenced them. One of the things I like best about this study is that it has people from all walks of life who participated.

Participants felt as if the experience was revealing and emotional. I shall try it myself, for I might find out something I never knew about my self. This creative method can be used to show how people really feel in a particular environment. It can be used to understand one’s life. It is very interesting and I suggest anyone also try it. You might even come up with a creative method of exploring your own identity!

Commentary: On Creativity and Food

By Michelle DAiuto
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

[CLIP]

Occasionally, I would show up at school and eat lunch with my child. What did I find? Pizza, chicken nuggets, fruit in a cup, and his favorite, French toast sticks and sausages.

Was there cooking in my local elementary school? No, they just reheat what was being sent from a central warehouse.

I remember as a young girl going to the cafeteria and watching the big machines mix the food. It wasn’t exactly homemade but better than today’s fare.

Food feeds the body. The body holds the mind. How can we as parents send our children out to eat things that are both toxic to the mind and body?

As we left the public school system and entered the private sector, we noticed a difference in the food being served. Foods were freshly prepared and a salad bar was offered. Even if our school system couldn’t afford great cuts of meat for everyone, fruits and salads should have been standard fare.

Only now do I realized what a disservice I was doing to my child, as well as my community. With the hurried life of Americans, we must stop and observe what our children are putting in their mouth. The school my son eventually went to for sixth grade had mid-morning snacks of apples and milk and a 15-minute break to burn off excess energy and that was the norm up to ninth grade. Sometimes kids get hungry and restless. When this happens, how are you to engage a child.?

Some parents might not believe it, but your child’s education does depend on the food that we feed them, whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner. We, as parents, need to speak up and affect change because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Commentary: On Creative Economies

By Michael Vinci
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Creative Economy Association of the North Shore
We are Massachusetts' think tank for greater creative and economic success. CEANS supports the growth of the creative economy in the North of Boston Shore Region, and the individuals who work within creative fields.

This video is a surprisingly miniature version of the Connecting Creative Communities Conference. There were people who wanted to promote creativity in their area. This video briefly profiles the Creative Economy Association of the North Shore (CEANS) of Massachusetts. They really just want their neighborhoods to make money (which is great!). People can find ways to draw people into their communities using creativity and that is good for everyone. Unfortunately, some people may think that their communities are not creative. Take for example:

• Waterbury, Connecticut, which is home of the Timex watch company. If the people there had not been creative then we would not have the styles of watches we now consider to be classic and timeless (no pun intended).
• New Britain, Connecticut, was and still is to some degree the home of Stanley Works. If not for the creativity of the people who worked in the factories we would not have many of the machining techniques we now have today.
• In Hartford, Connecticut, the insurance capital of the world, many principles and guidelines for writing policies were no doubt developed.

The bottom line is that there is something everywhere that makes any specific community unique. People had cows and used their milk for many, many years, but until the creative Louis Pasteur thought about how he could make that milk safer and last longer the world did not have the technique of pasteurization.

People everywhere are creative in their own ways and it is always showing. We just need to see it!

Commentary: On Creativity and Food; and Movement and Play

By Suhely Sanchez
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Food Fight
Stefan Nadelman, based in Portland, has made this beautiful classic: Food Fight is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression.

Sia: Clap Your Hands
Kris Moyes and Sia reunite to try out a touch of puppetry in this promo for Clap Your Hands.

Commentary:
I focus here on a couple of the subjects that we have spoken about throughout this semester: food and creativity, and the topic of movement and play. Throughout this course, we have gotten the chance to learn more about food than just its nutritional value. We have considered its value and its creativity, along with its link to issues within the U.S. such as obesity (fast food vs. health food, or mass production vs. independent farmers, etc). I found two extraordinary videos that each individually address each subject in ways that are beyond any norms.

The first video, “Food Fight,” created by independent film director Stefan Nadelman, is beyond the word creative. The film is based in Portland and the director used food to act out a shortened version of the history of American war, from World War II until the present day. The story is told through the foods of the countries in conflict. The ironically gruesome battles are displayed between countries through “Food Fight” as they all strike each other for world domination.

I found the director's creativity and visual effects of this film to be beyond fascinating. Not only did the video use food to represent each nation, but it also told a story of history in not only odd, but also imaginative, ways. I find it paradoxical that in many ways we all like to think that food brings nations together, but in this film it clearly segregated every nation through its representation. I choose this film due to it’s out of the box methods of expressing a long life of war between different nations. This film took the topic of food to an entirely different level, while giving an entirely new meaning to the statement, “Food Fight.”

During this semester, we have learned that movement and play within children can help their development, all the way through adulthood. The second video I choose is a music video directed by Kris Moyes for the Australian soulful, jazz-styled pop singer and songwriter Sia. I decided to use this video to display the importance of imagination and creativity even throughout adulthood. The use of puppets and faces mended together with bright colors and music definitely took the music video scene to an entire different level. Kris’ endless amount of out of the box ideas makes his style instantly recognizable -- there are the intensely colorful animations, while a preoccupation with geometry.

Throughout this course I have learned that creativity may seem random, and completely awkward, but overall creativity is what sets us all apart from ordinary. As the famous Marilyn Monroe once said: "Imperfection is beauty, Madness is Genius, and it is better to be absolutely ridiculous, than absolutely boring." Creativity helps us express ourselves, find solutions, and open gateways for new ideas, while pushing through the walls of boundaries and barriers that at times hold us back from being able to prosper, or to even find the simplest and most obvious forms of solutions.

Commentary: On Making Every Day Earth Day

By Elizabeth Roberts
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

NASA Climate Report on Global Warming, including interview with Professor Gerald Dickens (associate Professor of Earth Sciences, Rice University, USA) on carbon dioxide being released from oceans. Highlights the latest findings that the Arctic ice could almost be all melted by 2012. Includes teleconference with Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Excerpt from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s lecture "Save the Planet at All Cost International Gathering August 8, 2009

Commentary:
Let’s make EARTH DAY ... every day!

The 40th anniversary of Earth Day was this past Tuesday, April 22, 2010! By now, it’s no secret that we should all take action to help our planet. It is often overwhelming to think about how we can change our lifestyles to better our environment. However, we can all take steps (even small ones) to participate toward making every day Earth day.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the following are the top environmental issues to be concerned with:

• Water
• Air
• Climate
• Wastes and Pollution
• Green Living
• Human Health

Polluted water can harm our ability to use water in our homes, for recreation, and in business/trade. It also harms other kinds of life. We need to work to protect water in all its forms: on the ground, underground, and coming out of the tap.

Polluted air comes from a variety of places and has many disastrous effects. It hurts the earth and other living things. We need to improve the air to breathe!

Our Earth's climate has changed many times during the planet's history according to the EPA. From ice ages to lengthy periods of warmth. Volcanic eruptions, the Earth's orbit, and energy from the Sun have all impacted our planet’s climate. However, the Industrial Revolution has extrememly changed the atmosphere!

Waste needs to be reduced. Waste destroys our water, air and land! We spend tons of money trying to clean up pollution. Let’s work harder to prevent too much waste! Preventing pollution is better. Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Green living is the way to start loving our selves and our planet!

Human health is a product of “going green.”

Visiting Web sites like the EPA’s can often contribute to overwhelming feelings. There is so much that needs to be done and so quickly. Although it’s extremely important to continue to recycle, it is just a start. Not only do Earthlings need to worry about waste materials such as plastics, we also need to take a closer look at other types of waste and what we are producing. Other important areas to investigate are chemicals and our daily diet. If we can narrow in on what personal actions can make the biggest impact, we can achieve greater success!

By “going green” we can become aware of the harmful, processed food we often digest. We can take the extra step to shop for healthy produce and utilize farmers markets. Most importantly, Americans need to reduce the amount of meat we eat on a weekly basis.

Scientists have determined that eating less meat may help save our planet and our health! Not only does consuming less meat reduce the chance of a heart attack, but if we can reduce the amount of meat we eat by 30% the industry could “slash its emissions!”

Happy Earth Day!

Commentary: On Creativity in the Workplace from 'Just Shoot Me'

By Lissette Rios
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Just Shoot Me: Blush Gets Some Therapy

Commentary:
Communication is extremely important in our life. We need to have excellent communication skills at work, school, church, home, etc., in order to succeed. There are many people who know how to communicate well; others have bad or poor communication skills, while still others have no communication skills at all.

The video clip that I chose is from the sitcom, “JUST SHOOT ME.” This show is about a fashion magazine so you know that the screen writers always need to be creative when writing the episodes. In the video clip, we see that the employees are having a group dynamics session with a therapist. There was miscommunication within the staff so the owner of the Blush magazine decided to address the issue with the help of a therapist.

My opinion about this clip is that the originality was excellent. I love the therapist’s group dynamic and how he addressed the bad communication within the group. He said, “Today we are a car” and asked each one of the members to make a noise that resembles a car. The team started to make the noise, which sounded terrible. Then, he said, “That’s how it is when we communicate badly.” The exercise made the point across the team. I believe that this type of creative activity helps people to recognize their issues without pointing fingers. Once again, creativity is important in our life.

Creativity helps us to address a negative quality of someone without making the person feel bad or uncomfortable. Like the video clip showed (and we learned in class), these types of creative activities do not depend on age, length of employment, type of work, level of education, etc. In the process of any particular activity, we could learn to be non-judgmental. That did not happen on that episode, but hey, each character in “JUST SHOOT ME” has his or her personality, and sarcasm sometimes makes us laugh. It’s a great show, if you want to have a good laugh you ought to watch the reruns.

We should have creative exercises like this one in the workplace; especially for this particular issue, COMMUNICATION. I did a research on creative activities for the workplace and communication and came to the conclusion that they can be used as icebreakers or warm ups before a meeting. They aer simple, inexpensive and most of all, FUN. I will be doing one at work and I’ll ask everyone to provide their honest feedback because in our last pulse survey, communication was one of our weaknesses. The activity that I am planning on doing (see below) will cover the other side of communication which is, “good listening.”

Paper-Tearing Exercise
Time Allocation: 5 minutes
Materials: Blank 8 ½-by-11-inch sheets of paper for each participant

Instructions:

1. Tell the participants the following: “We are going to play a game that will show us some important things about communication. Pick up your sheet of paper and hold it in front of you. Now, close your eyes and follow the directions I will give you—and no peeking!" Participants cannot ask questions.
2. Give the following directions, carrying them out yourself with your own sheet of paper and pausing after each instruction to give the group time to comply:
   “The first thing I want you to do is to fold your sheet of paper in half. Now tear off the upper right-hand corner. Fold it in half again and tear off the upper left hand corner of the sheet. Fold it in half again. Now tear off the lower right-hand corner of the sheet.”
3. After the tearing is complete, say something like, “Now open your eyes, and let’s see what you have. If I did a good job of communicating and you did a good job of listening, all of our sheets should look the same!” Hold your sheet up for them to see. It is highly unlikely any sheet will match yours exactly.
4. Observe the differences. There will probably be much laughter.
5. Ask the group why no one’s paper matched yours. (You will probably get responses like “You didn’t let us ask questions!” or “Your directions could be interpreted in different ways.”) Then, lead into a presentation on the need for two-way communication in the workplace.

Imagination Conversation Set for Connecticut, April 19 in Hartford

CONNECTICUT TO EXPLORE CRITICAL ROLE OF IMAGINATION AS KEY TO FLOURISHING SOCIETY ... Connecticut Imagination Conversation is Part of 50-State Effort to Raise Awareness of Imagination: Why It Matters and How to Develop It in Our Lives and in Our Communities.

On April 19, 2010, the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination and the University of Connecticut, in affiliation with Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (LCI), will hold an Imagination Conversation at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus.

The Conversation will bring together leaders from an array of fields -- government, business, science, education, and the arts -- to explore the ways they experience and promote imagination in their work and communities. The goal of the Conversation is to present imagination as a key cognitive capacity, one that leads to creativity and innovation; and to help build awareness of imagination as a key skill in work and in life.

It is LCI's contention, as well as that of numerous scientists, government leaders, and educators, that imagination must be taught to children in our schools and nurtured in our communities. Applying imagination is crucial if Americans are to not only compete in the 21st-century marketplace, but create positive, flourishing communities that continually engage every citizen's creativity, imagination and ideas.

The Imagination Conversation will be in the auditorium of the Library Building at the University of Connecticut Greater Hartford Campus, 1800 Asylum Ave., West Hartford, Conn., 06117. The event begins with networking at 6 p.m. and the Imagination Conversation at 7 p.m. More details, along with parking and registration information, are available at:
http://www.appliedimagination.org

The Imagination Conversation is open to the public and will be recorded for broadcast on WNPR's Where We Live on Friday, April 23, at 9 a.m. WNPR's John Dankosky will moderate the Conversation with guests Steven Dahlberg and Scott Noppe-Brandon. Dahlberg is head of the New Milford, Conn.-based International Centre for Creativity and Imagination (ICCI) and teaches "Creativity + Social Change" at the University of Connecticut. Noppe-Brandon is executive director of Lincoln Center Institute and author of "Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility." Artists John O'Donnell and Ted Efremoff will visually map and document the Conversation while it happens. Students from the "Creativity + Social Change" class, invited participants from diverse sectors across the state, and the general public will also be involved in the Conversation.

This Conversation will focus on the role of imagination in education, creative community and economic development, and creative leadership in organizations. It seeks to build a relevant imagination-fueled agenda for the state to pursue. ICCI will coordinate follow-up action that emerges from this conversation, as well as additional future conversations.

“Creativity and imagination matter in every aspect of society,” says Dahlberg. “Imagination matters for engaging students and teachers in meaningful education. It matters for bringing new ideas into reality to improve the economy. And it matters for helping people express their creative capacities in their work and their communities. We hope to help connect people who want to tap into more of their imagination and apply it for creating positive change across this state.”

Imagination Conversations are expected to take place during the next two years in each of the 50 states. All of the Conversations will be documented and final proposals for nationwide educational reform will be made at a national Imagination Summit in New York in the summer or fall of 2011. At the Summit, Imagination Conversation findings and an action agenda will be presented to public policy makers, educators, legislators and the media in an effort to make cultivation of imagination a key element in our schools.

"Imagination can be described as having the ability to visualize new possibilities and the ability to ask, 'what if ...?'" says Noppe-Brandon. "Developing students' imaginations and teaching them to proceed from imaginative thinking to creative action is vital if they are to meet the challenges of today's world. If the United States is to maintain its position at the vanguard of innovation, it needs a workforce capable of finding fresh solutions to challenges and inventing groundbreaking products and services. LCI understands that imaginative learning in schools will produce such a population."

ICCI is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. It promotes imagination and creativity through public events such as the monthly Creativity Networking series; professional development training for educators and business people; advocacy for creativity topics in local, national and international conferences; dissemination of creativity ideas through writing and commentary in various media; and teaching and guest lecturing at various universities.

The University of Connecticut's Bachelor of General Studies Program encourages imagination, collaboration and democratic participation through its Public and Community Engagement-themed courses in Storrs and Hartford and online.

Having recognized the global importance of imagination early on, LCI has established itself as a leader in the implementation of a method by which imagination is introduced into classrooms and used across the curriculum. Through the hands-on study of works of art, students develop their capacities to think imaginatively and critically, which serve them in all subject areas. With its programs reaching an estimated 390,000 students per year through its partnerships with schools across the U.S. and abroad, LCI is making an impact on the direction of education not just in New York but all over the world.

ABOUT THE HOSTING ORGANIZATIONS:
About Steven Dahlberg and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination:
Steven Dahlberg is director of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He teaches "Creativity + Social Change" in the Public and Community Engagement theme at the University of Connecticut. He has nearly 20 years of experience in this field, and has worked with Yale University, Guggenheim Museum, Yahoo!, Americans for the Arts, Danbury Public Schools, UNESCO, Louisiana's Office of the Lt. Governor, New Economics Foundation, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, World Knowledge Forum, City of Providence, 3M, Aldrich Museum, State of Connecticut, and Rhode Island College, among other organizations. He has helped toy inventors launch a creativity consulting business, directed an international creativity conference, and taught an undergraduate creativity course for incarcerated men. Dahlberg edits the Applied Imagination blog, authored the foreword to the book, Education is Everybody's Business. He is particularly interested in creative community building, creative education, local food and sustainable agriculture, and creative aging.

About Lincoln Center Institute (LCI):
LCI is the educational cornerstone of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., and is the model for arts education programs across the U.S. and abroad. Founded in 1975, the Institute is known for its inventive repertory, and brings music, dance, theater, visual arts, and architecture into classrooms in the New York City area, across the nation, and around the world. In more than three decades of outreach, LCI's approach has reached more than 20 million students, teachers, administrators, parents, community members and professors of education worldwide. The number is projected to increase in the next few years, thanks to LCI's highly successful professional development programs and Internet presence.

In What Ways Might Imagination Improve Society?

206 IDEAS GENERATED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT 'CREATIVITY + SOCIAL CHANGE' STUDENTS ON 6 APRIL 2010 - HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

What's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.

1. Communicating
2. Open communication between groups
3. Stop cancer
4. Stop juvenile diabetes
5. Stop crimes within the same community
6. Feed the world
7. Improve living conditions
8. Respect people's sexuality
9. Discover or create new ways to safely and effectively mass produce food and other products
10. Lead to more openness, diversity, tolerance and integration of differences
11. Encourage creative conversations
12. Invest in creative education
13. End child abuse
14. Education will become an adventure that children will crave - no more dropping out
15. Tell them that you are happy with imagination, then they will join you
16. Teach the youth manners and morals so that they can grow
17. Create tolerance
18. Stop hunger
19. Celebrate diversity
20. Neighbors of the community care for each other more
21. Stop poverty
22. Be positive
23. Stop hate
24. Appreciate or accept people stepping out of the norm
25. I can use my imagination to encourage prisoners
26. Think before you act
27. Treat one the way you want to be treated
28. Providing ideas with individuals in society to solve problems
29. Teamwork or brainstorming in a group
30. Clarity of mind and soul
31. Respect life as a whole
32. Read other people's minds
33. Work with other people's strengths
34. Help those who need us the most
35. Fight racism -> open mindedness
36. Peace with others
37. Improve self-esteem
38. Encourage more active, positive citizen engagement
39. Encourage others to join organization
40. End homelessness
41. Creative ways to be healthy, maintain health, regain health, defeat disease
42. Show the society how important they are, then they will accept it
43. Through education
44. Team work
45. Talking things out
46. Appreciation of different types of beauty
47. Fly to new, livable planets
48. By laughing
49. Build a healthier place for my kids and other kids
50. Open-mindedness
51. Make a commitment
52. Love the curvalicious
53. Travel to new dimensions
54. Travel through time and space
55. I can use my imagination to help my own community
56. End frivolous spending in government
57. To infinity and beyond - explore the universe within and without
58. By coming up with different solutions for different issues
59. Helping neighbors, taking care of each other's children, watching out for one another
60. Allowing expression through art, music, theater and dance
61. Reading books
62. Give importance to all animals
63. Have a moment of silent (regrouping)
64. Live life ... one life, one blood, one love
65. Make batteries that never have to recharge for my cell phone and laptop
66. Make batteries that are environmentally friendly when disposed or recycled
67. Eliminate existing regulations against farmers in Connecticut
68. Open new doors
69. Greater-good technology
70. Warm, nurturing environment to support the development of great ideas
71. Through education, broadcasting
72. Through billboards
73. Playing a game on team building
74. Promote trust among individuals
75. "The world can live as one"
76. Live forever - never die
77. Don't be afraid of death
78. Stop discrimination among us
79. Say no to Botox
80. Play
81. Get kids to be more physically active and healthy
82. Move
83. I can use my imagination to improve the unemployment rate
84. Creative community building - creating jobs
85. Build magnificent cities - buildings, gathering places, parks, museums, schools, etc.
86. Make sufficient information available to the community
87. Visiting the sick
88. Helping those in need (homeless)
89. Believing in yourself
90. Make veggies taste better
91. Build places that encourage creativity, instead of limiting it (i.e., Billings Forge and the G. Fox Building, respectively)
92. Encourage kids to continue with school and get educated
93. "Imagine there's no hunger, I wonder if we can"
94. Plant a tree
95. By communication
96. Travel to the past
97. Help third world countries
98. Bring out technologies that do not already exist. Similar to how real technologies can follow the imaginative, fiction-based technologies proposed in science fiction. How culture and arts can "invent" technology.
99. I can help the youth thing critically and explore their creativity
100. Creating meaningful jobs, reducing unemployment
101. Create/implement ways to care for and preserve the earth for generations to come
102. Make creativity a learning tool for society
103. Live Love Laugh
104. Have a social gathering
105. Love your neighbors
106. Less serious
107. Downloadable intelligence and knowledge (like in the Matrix)
108. It could give us new games to play
109. Share more with people in the community
110. Living for today
111. Spread the word by gathering with others or making a Web site for a fundraiser.
112. Interact with others more
113. Imagination can improve society through additional ideas being deposited into the "idea bank" and when there are more options, it can lead to more solutions to problems
114. Decrease the crimes among teenagers
115. Increase ideas among everyone (not just children)
116. Educate children to be creative
117. Spread the love
118. Encourage uniqueness
119. Marketplace of ideas
120. I can bring peace to the world
121. End drug abuse
122. Life will be interesting, stimulating, purposeful and a delight
123. Involve some stipends; it will bring people's interest
124. Ignite idea that would improve the community
125. Having dinner together - everyone likes to eat
126. Love like you haven't been hurt before
127. Humor - entertainment
128. Comedians will have better jokes and can make us laugh in different ways
129. Help people in the community to be more humble and to care for others
130. Open communication
131. Get some fresh air and fresh ideas
132. Live Love Laugh for a better me
133. Improve self-esteem and community confidence
134. I can use my imagination to create a farm
135. Improve or encourage people to eat healthier since one of my imaginings is about promoting organic food
136. Stop judgment
137. Improve the environment
138. Improve economy
139. Lead to healthier school lunches
140. Lead to healthier planet and humans
141. I can spread love throughout the world
142. Proper treatment of animals
143. Crime will decrease as there is openness, acceptance, a place for all
144. It will create jobs; many will participate
145. Share ideas
146. Hand shaking and hugging each other
147. Peace and love for every creature in the world
148. Stop greed and pointless want in society
149. Lead to society being more collaborative as opposed to individualistic -> solve problems together
150. Increase mental capacity about a problem
151. I can join different organizations within the community and help them resolve issues
152. Decrease unemployment
153. Accept each other
154. More advertisements/commercials
155. Through prayers
156. Listen to others
157. Less technology and more free play (outside)
158. "Imagine all the people, living life in peace"
159. Birth control that is 100% effective
160. Guns that are truly idiot-proof
161. Decrease healthy activities in kids in our community
162. Go shopping
163. By maximizing its potential
164. Establish better problem solving skills to introduce to children in school
165. By fostering problem solving potential in students and society's youth
166. My imagination can help encourage others
167. I can bring a sense of joy to others
168. Reduce teen drug abuse
169. Harmony and connectedness and unity among all cultures
170. Do it in many different ways, even in different languages, others will enjoy
171. Create something to challenge the community
172. Don't be judgmental
173. Challenge everyone to be the person they were meant to be; no judgment if that person turns out to be different than you expected
174. Open minded
175. Growth
176. Defer judgment
177. Improve existing ideas
178. Keeping a smile on people's faces
179. Decrease homelessness
180. Develop spirituality
181. Make known to the society why it is important
182. Be creative in arts and music
183. Develop strategies as a team or group
184. Dance
185. "No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man"
186. Never have traffic jams on the highway
187. Exploring new areas and investing tourist dollars in them
188. Focus on those young kids forgotten by parents and provide them with the love their parents don't give them
189. Free spirit
190. New ideas
191. Globalization
192. Defer judgment
193. Engage students more in their learning experience
194. Defer judgment
195. I can create a community organization to improve the community
196. Creative after-school programs
197. Being there for each other in neighborhoods
198. Keep kids out of trouble
199. Purpose and work for all
200. Do it with others, you will succeed
201. Go hiking with kids
202. Bring more family togetherness
203. The world is your family, embrace your diversity
204. Stop hate and war
205. Help globalize an economy while preventing the fall of local business
206. Care more for our elderly

# # #

67 IDEAS GENERATED BY THE RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE 'THE AMERICAN NONPROFIT SECTOR AND PHILANTHROPY II' STUDENTS ON 7 APRIL 2010 - PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

What's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.

1. By creating a bike trail that goes through the whole town
2. Clean-up crews for the community
3. Neighborhood closeness to reduce crime/increase community
4. Help community to produce better housing for diverse people
5. Imagination could show people parts of the place they live like they've never seen them before
6. Dig a deep, underground housing complex
7. Build better buildings
8. Make environment of community
9. More conducive to green technology - less polluted
10. Could add beauty to community art projects, music, opportunities to participate
11. Imagine ways to be more energy efficient
12. Have a community-wide BBQ
13. Creativity in finding solutions to health problems
14. Create dams and levies
15. Think out of day-to-day procedures -> fill someone else's shoes for a day (i.e., public/union workers and laymen)
16. Space travel
17. Off to civilization (arts, theater, etc)
18. Better public welfare systems
19. Improve different fuel sources
20. Renewable energy
21. New ways of communication
22. Improve transportation
23. Make community more fun to live in
24. Create another system in some part of space (zoning)
25. Better government system
26. Better transportation system
27. Better schools
28. Better cars
29. More ways to share resources
30. Increase social interaction
31. Thinking outside the box for creative solutions to common problems
32. Better land use
33. Imagining a better community - like better schools - imagine what we wanted schools to be filled with when we were kids - putting it into action
34. Children govern the adults as they have better grip on imagination
35. Offer community-wide movie showings
36. Improve arts
37. Find different resources - imagine possible venues
38. Better ways to share resources
39. More accessible buildings with less technology handprint
40. Provide creative ways for people to make social connections - community projects
41. Find new uses for the resources/food sources near you
42. Have a community garden to grow food
43. Improve environment
44. Create a center for the arts
45. Community cooking classes - take garden product and put in school lunches
46. To expand people's minds to new things
47. To expand the local business base of the community
48. Provide opportunities for people to be things they've imagined - musicians, painter, teacher ...
49. Have a town-wide pajama day
50. Improve opportunities for high school graduates
51. Healthier consumer products/food
52. "Own" a block for clean up and community pride
53. Time travel
54. Imagination can give a community a different perception of old things
55. Recycle old things into props; or add areas in parks with toy boxes or props
56. Have playgrounds on every block
57. Better ways toward health care
58. Create climate of creativity to problem solve as community
59. Get out of our houses and interact with people
60. Better transportation for people with mobility problems
61. New social interactions that are authentic, unplugged and involve storytelling
62. Have a community clean-up day
63. Creative activities in classrooms
64. Create a community center
65. Recycle end products to use waste in different ways
66. Just go clean up a neighborhood without asking for anything
67. Involve more people in volunteer projects for community

Commentary: On FRESH the Movie

By Tiffany Friedlander
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

FRESH the Movie
FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

Commentary:
I chose to write about this movie because it really struck me how the general public doesn’t know exactly what they are eating. Most of our fruits and vegetables are covered with chemicals and animals are being given so many antibiotics that they don’t need, it’s like we are poisoning ourselves. This movie shows us alternatives we can take to eat healthier and we can do this in our backyards. Also, it was a creative idea to share this movie with others and when I saw this, I saw it with my classmates and other people in the community. The point of this movie was to help people to think creatively to shift their lifestyles and to eat healthier.

I recall that in the movie someone said that there are people who want to eat healthy but there isn’t a place nearby where they can get fruits and vegetables. Will Allen, who used to be a professional basketball player, has his own farm and has many people come to visit to learn more about growing crops. He is involved in a program called Growing Power which brings the community together. This way he can show people how to grow crops in their own backyards, even in urban areas like where Will lives. I like the idea of how he uses waste as compost. The worms that are mixed in it turn it into compost. The point of this is to make sure people have access to fresh, healthy food. I also believe that it’s important for people to be able to obtain healthy food. We need to eat healthier and prevent obesity. It doesn’t appear that Will Allen uses pesticides on his crops. We don’t need that on the crops; if anything it is more harmful to us the more we ingest it.

Who ever thought how much antibiotics animals are given. I think it’s unbelievable how much they are given. This movie presents a long list of antibiotics that animals are injected with, which supposedly makes them grow faster and wards off low-grade infections. So, if we are eating meat with all these antibiotics in it and if we could get really sick, even if we try to take whatever medications to fight off the sickness it may not do anything because of how much antibiotics were given to the animals. This can cause some microorganisms that cause illnesses in humans to become immune to certain antibiotics. Overall, it’s dangerous for us to be eating many of the meats we buy in the grocery stores because of what the animals are given.

Watching this movie really made me think so much about what is in our food and what we are really eating. What can we do about this? I don’t think pesticides and other chemicals are needed in the things we grow. The animals we would be eating don’t need antibiotics at all. I found this movie to be inspiring. I want to learn more about where I can get food that won’t put my health in danger. This is a movie that I recommend to everyone to watch. I think this will put a shock to their system once they find out the truth behind food we buy. This is a movie that helps spread the word to others.

Commentary: On Playing for Change's 'Stand By Me'

By Josefina Tiburcio
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Playing For Change: Episode 2, "Stand By Me"
Four years ago while walking down the street in Santa Monica, Calif., the voice of Roger Ridley singing “Stand By Me” was heard from a block away. His voice, soul and passion set us on a course around the world to add other musicians to his performance. This song transformed Playing For Change from a small group of individuals to a global movement for peace and understanding. This track features more than 35 musicians collaborating from all over the world. They may have never met in person, but in this case, the music does the talking.

Commentary:
This class is about exploring “Creativity and Social Change,” which is why the video, “Stand By Me,” captured my attention from the minute I watched it. The people that had the bright idea of putting this video together are very creative and are making positive social changes in society, as well as in communities all over the world. Furthermore, the name of their Web site speaks for itself -- Playing for Change.

Based on what I experienced when I watched this, I strongly believe that the creativity in this video can touch our hearts and possibly awaken the feeling and emotions that many of us hide deep inside of us. It is amazing to see how all of the people singing in the video are connected by the same passion for the music and the sound of the different instruments. Some of them actually make very nice musical sounds with different objects they play -- possibly invented or created by themselves.

The possibility of being connected by similar emotional pains exists. These pains could be caused by different circumstances in life (homelessness, hunger, loneliness caused by separation or loss of loved ones, rejection from society, etc.), but in the end, lead people to feel similar emotional pain as reflected in this video.

Most importantly, this video can impact the viewers in a positive way by making them feel compassion toward other people in society, regardless of their origin, race, color, culture and social class. This compassion for others in society is what we need. It is the tool that can trigger our desires to make a change in the life of an individual, a community, society -- and mainly in ourselves.

For instance, the first person who sings in the video, Roger Riedly, seems to be a homeless person. At the end of the song, people from the community approached his bag and made a contribution. Also, there is a possibility that the doors to the music world open up for one or more people singing and playing in this video, as an individual or company seeking new artists may become interested in them either as a singer or instrument player.

Finally, I think the creative idea of getting all these people from different parts of the world together in a single video is amazing. There is no doubt that creativity can impact our lives a lot in a positive way. Creativity not only help us to be or become creative, but it also helps us to discover the gift of the creative mind some of us already possess, but have not yet discover. At the same time, it help us to better appreciate the ideas and creative thinking of others, as well as realizing that creativity can come from anyone and anywhere. After taking the "Creativity + Social Change" class, the term “underestimate others" becomes history for some or all the students that experience this class.

Commentary: On Eve Ensler's TED Talk ... Happiness in Body and Soul

By Tiffany Ayala
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED Conference: February 2004
Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues, shares how a discussion about menopause with her friends led to talking about all sorts of sexual acts onstage, waging a global campaign to end violence toward women and finding her own happiness.

Commentary:
I chose to watch this video from the TED Web site because it struck me as a piece that definitely steps outside of the boundaries. Throughout my years as a college student I have come to realize that there are many important issues where light should be shined upon. However, unfortunately the most important issues tend to be the most avoided ones. Diversity, for example, is such an important component for many students and parents when selecting colleges, but under this social umbrella of issues hang many injustices that don’t usually get addressed within the community. One of which is violence against woman.

While in college I was assigned to read The Vagina Monologues, by Eve Ensler, who is the woman in this video discussing how creative forms of art, such as creative writing and plays, have allowed her and others to spread awareness of women's sexuality and violence against women. The book was life changing and her lecture intriguing and moving. Although it is hard to accept, it does not surprise me that one in every three women will be beaten, battered or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. However, what is a pleasant surprise is the fact that through the creative art of performance and speaking out with women sharing their personal experiences, worldwide social change is possible—leading more women to share their stories while spreading the influence, providing others with hope and strength, and helping to find happiness within the body and soul.

As discussed in the course, Creativity + Social Change, there are many aspects of life in which the presence of creativity is beneficial. For example, in education, prison systems, and spirituality.

It was interesting to hear Eve Ensler make a connection to the topic of spirituality within her lecture. She referred to a Buddhist convention, which she had attended and where she was told that she would find happiness by the end of the program. Eve, on the other hand, thought the idea was obscene. She didn’t believe in happiness, and thought that only idiots were happy. How could one find happiness in a life filled with suffering and pain?

I, for one, could somewhat agree and understand Ensler’s opinion. Though at the same time, I wondered how she could say such a thing when all of those suffering women who were brave enough to share their stories with her, as well as the whole world, managed to lead so many other woman to escape; freeing themselves of the pain and suffering to then find internal happiness.

I was glad to hear Eve Ensler end her lecture referring back to the beginning where she referred to the concept of happiness. Throughout her journey around the world speaking to all sorts of women and hearing their stories she had finally come to terms with what she had come to understand as happiness—and for me to hear this was very comforting and inspirational. I would urge everyone, men and women, to think about this deeply, and consider it in your own lives, no matter who you are or what you are going through.

Ensler closes her lecture saying that happiness exists in action, through telling the truth, and giving away what you want most. Most importantly, she emphasizes that social change comes about when we give to the world what we want the most, and as a result, we heal the broken part inside each of us.

Commentary: On James O’Brien's PopTech Talk ... Hands-on Education

By Angela Hyde
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

PopTech: James O'Brien: Hands-on Education
2009 PopTech Fellow James O’Brien assembled a staff of like-minded educators to create BCAM – Brooklyn Community Arts & Media High School. The fledgling educational-innovation tank combines performance-based academics and professional training in media and arts to prepare teenagers for success in the 21st century.

The current education system in the United States is failing many of the young people it is meant to prepare to take their places as responsible, contributing members of modern society. The system as it exists is archaic, focusing on teaching knowledge and skills that are no longer relevant in today’s knowledge-based global economy. Many students are being totally lost in the system, missing out not only on personal fulfillment and growth, but also on the ability to become productive, engaged workers and citizens. Is there another way to approach how we educate our youth so that they are truly prepared to enter the world after high school? Is it possible to nurture and develop their innate curiosity into a lifelong love of learning that provides the foundation to become the problem solvers and innovators of tomorrow?

James O’Brien, principal and founder of the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School (BCAM), is building an environment at that school to tackle these challenges, employing unconventional methods and approaches. The mission at BCAM is to support and provide a relevant education to ninth through twelfth graders, preparing them for college and careers beyond high-school graduation. The challenge is heightened by the additional issues of daily urban life: student literacy capabilities that range from college-ready to third- and fourth-grade reading levels; a student population that feels alienated and unmotivated and that lives in an environment of violence, crime and gang affiliations.

To implement their goals, the innovative staff at BCAM developed a “21st Century Professional Preparatory Model Curriculum,” which uses a three-pronged approach to educating students: academics, creative arts as part of the core curriculum, and professional development. Mr. O’Brien discusses how the school meets students at their level and works with them to develop their talents and skills. Academics are steeped in the inquiry model, and students are taught to relate the lessons learned in academics with what is happening in their lives and to connect with their communities. Because in New York state all students are required to pass five Regent exams in order to graduate from high school, preparation for those tests is incorporated into the academics portion of the curriculum. Arts, which include fine arts and media arts, are required for three years to foster personal expression and creativity. To foster professional development, the school partners with professional organizations and businesses where students serve internships that involve them in the work world. Mr. O’Brien is pursuing paid internships, which would give the high school students added incentive to be truly “invested” in their work and futures.

While BCAM is still in its infancy, it is an example of how educators are going outside of the current education model to create vital, engaged education systems that address the needs of young people and their world.

For more information on the state of education in the United States and a look at how others are revolutionizing education, check out these Web sites/video clips:

• http://www.nctaf.org/resources/research_and_reports/nctaf_research_reports/documents/Chapter4.Carroll.pdf
• http://poptech.com/popcasts/dennis_littky_on_big_picture_ed
• http://poptech.com/popcasts/eric_dawson_peace_games

Commentary: On Ken Robinson's TED Talk ... Schools Kill Creativity

By Brooke Smith
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED Conference: February 2006
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. In this talk, he makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Background:
I watched a video presentation from the TED Conference. The ultimate goal of TED is to highlight, study, and show how one can use the gift of human imagination. The man giving the speech was Sir Ken Robinson. He grew up in England and moved to California later in life. The speech was easy to listen to and humorous. Sir Ken Robinson used to be a university professor but now writes and speaks about creativity and education. The speech took place in Monterey, California, in February 2006 during a four-day TED Conference.

Commentary:
This video relates to our class in many ways. Sir Ken Robinson spoke about the main goal of changing our education system and how we use this system to teach our young children. He believes that creativity is the backbone to every individual and that traditional education teaches children how to conform to become studious while losing their creativity. According to him, the definition of creativity is, "the process of having original ideas that have value." In class, we spoke about this exact concern with the educational system. I believe that teachers should modify the way they attempt to conduct their classrooms. According to the video, education was created before the 1900s to meet the needs of industrialization. The most useful subjects back then were reading, writing and mathematics. This time period began steering children away from things they enjoyed because there was no future in being a musician or a dancer. Instead, the goal was to force everyone to become academic and find careers that they may not enjoy but will obtain financial success.

Sir Ken Robinson said: "We have a huge vested interest in [education], partly because it's education that's meant to take us into this future that we can't grasp." I agree with this statement. Traditional education and the subjects it deems important have become outdated. The times have changed and it is time we revamp the goal, focus and purpose of education. If we do this, we can better prepare our children for the uncertain future and the necessary skills needed to be successful today.

The speaker believed that children "all have tremendous talents, we [adults and education] squander them." How do we create schools and education to stop dismissing creativity and talent? This question was asked in class. I do not believe that there is just one change that would fix the educational system. Instead, it is many little changes such as teaching style, use of technology, etc., that would help begin a new style of learning. Children are full of imagination and talent. This is the main reason I love my job. I go to work every day and learn more from the children than they learn from me. They may not know that they do this, but I love their innocence, imaginations, ideas and passion. Children are very passionate about most of the things they do. "Kids will take a chance, even if they don't know how to do something or why they are, they still try," Robinson said. It is only through our educational eystem and adults telling children "No" that we hinder and/or stop children's creativity.

I took down many interesting things that Sir Ken Robinson said. These are just a few of the quotes that stuck with me.

• Creativity is as important now as literacy.
• If you not prepared to be wrong we will never be original.
• The challenge is how to remain an artist, because we were all born as one. (quoting Picasso)
• Highly brilliant people and brilliantly creative people no longer think this way because of being STIGMATIZED in school.

This video was easy to watch and full of valuable information on why the need to change the educational hierarchy is necessary to adequately prepare future generations. Instead, we are setting children up for failure. A degree no longer holds as much value as it once did. Everyone has them now. Instead, you have to continue your education and obtain higher degrees like a master's degree or law degree. It is time for a change to our system. How can we as individuals begin this change? Will it help future generations if we do?

Commentary: On "New Biography Focuses on Einstein's Creativity"

By Edwin Hollenbeck
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Talk of the Nation: Science Friday - July 6, 2007
LISTEN TO AUDIO: “New Biography Focuses on Einstein's Creativity”
In his new biography of Albert Einstein, author Walter Isaacson argues that it was Einstein's creativity, not his mathematical genius, that led him to his great discoveries.

• Ira Flatow, Host and Executive Producer
• Walter Isaacson, author, Einstein: His Life and Universe; president and CEO, The Aspen Institute; former managing editor, Time magazine; former chairman and CEO, CNN

Related Readings:

Excerpt: 'Einstein' by Walter Isaacson, From Chapter 1: The Light-Beam Rider

The Einstein Factor: Proven Techniques to Boost Your Brain's Performance!
NOVEMBER 1995 SUCCESS Pages 55-62 [reprint]

Commentary:
In his narrative biography on the life of Albert Einstein, the two words that Walter Isaacson uses to describe the true success and ability for Einstein to develop his amazing theories comes down to freedom and creativity. He argues that it was not dependently the fact of Einstein’s great mind about science and mathematics that gave me such great insight into solving his greatest theories but it was the very way he perceives the universe that made him so different. But in a work of study that came several years before Isaacson’s biography, the question is begged if the traits found in Einstein were specific to his genius or if anyone could develop his or her own brain into being so wise and intuitive.

According to Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin and Einstein shared a trait of creativity. However, where Franklin excelled as an experimentalist, Einstein came up short. Isaacson explains that during a series of mental exercises Einstein was “driven by an imagination that broke from the confines of conventional wisdom” and that Einstein could “picture the underlying reality behind a mathematical equation.” These “thought experiments” were close to what the common layman might consider daydreams and delved Einstein’s mind into abstract curiosities. Einstein’s rise to fame came at a time when society was encouraging the breakage of classical bonds of conformity and celebrating figures like Picasso, Freud, and Joyce. His departure from conventional scientific methods was a welcomed jump from the stiff experiment-based science.

It wasn’t always that Einstein did not care for traditional science but that he was not very good at the typical learning methods. He thought more in visualizations than through “normal” written studies, which combined with his rebelliousness and creativity, allowed him to think of the universe as a puzzle more than a series of mathematical equations. His rebellious nature was against authority of many sorts and current limitations in scientific knowledge were no exception. His theories were so extreme and vast in topic for the time (relativity, energy, and space) it’s no wonder they captured the imagination of society.

An earlier work by Dr. Win Wenger (The Einstein Factor) suggests that Einstein was not born as a genius but trained his mind in a sense that allowed him to tap into these greater thoughts. When Einstein’s brain was autopsied there was no obvious difference between his own and a layman, but under further research it was discovered the true less obvious difference was the sheer number of neurological connections his brain encased. The higher the number of connections that your brain develops the greater an individual’s ability is to think. Through specific and not so specific types of interactions, Dr. Wenger suggests that anyone is capable of having such a genius mind if they, no pun intended, put their mind to it.