April 20, 2011
Symposium aims to raise profile of arts, creativity at research universities
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Higher education administrators, educators, business leaders, journalists and artists from around the country will come to the University of Michigan May 4-6 for a symposium exploring an expanded role for the arts and creativity in research-oriented universities.
The symposium, "The Role of Art-Making and the Arts in a Research University," is an innovative and unprecedented exploration of a new frontier in the unfolding digital age, whereby the marketplace of ideas and technology continue to transform culture and the ongoing national discussion about values, knowledge and the role of higher education.
More than 40 universities from across the country will be represented at the conference, including schools from the Ivy League, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast, Southeast, South and Pacific conferences. The symposium is held at a time when most universities are facing difficult financial circumstances, and funding to arts programs and arts education is declining.
"We need to recognize creativity is the gateway to innovation in all disciplines—from the visual arts to business, engineering, law, medicine to the natural and physical sciences," said Theresa Reid, executive director of ArtsEngine, a consortium of U-M's arts and engineering units that integrates "art-making" into the traditional curriculum and produces courses, student groups, competitions, symposiums and events to foster collaboration among faculty and students in different academic disciplines.
Symposium speakers include:
• Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton University, who will deliver the May 4 keynote, "Universities in the Service of the Imagination." The address will discuss the institutional and societal value of bringing the creative and performing arts into the mainstream of university life.
• Don Randel, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, who will open the May 5 session with an address that explores how art-making and the arts add value to the research university.
• Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Syracuse University, who will open the May 6 session with an address that investigates different models and metrics for incorporating the arts.
Participants will contribute to the formulation of a comprehensive action plan and propose specific ways to advance the role of art-making and the arts at U.S. universities. The findings will be available within weeks after the symposium.
"This isn't merely a higher education conversation, but an emerging national discourse about how the United States can compete more effectively in the global economy and cultivate a deeper and more meaningful culture," said U-M's Reid.
"The Role of Art-Making and the Arts in a Research University" is organized by U-M's ArtsEngine, which includes the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; School of Art and Design; U-M Libraries; School of Music, Theatre and Dance; and College of Engineering.
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