‘Conversations at the Intersection’ will Discuss the Nature and Facets of Creativity

Creativity is essential in art, science, and technology. These three areas of human endeavor rely on the creativity of new ideas to add new elements and conceptual thinking to their domains. How is creativity in these three areas different and how is it similar? How do different fields debate and incorporate new ideas? Do they each have different underlying creative processes or are there lessons that can be applied across fields? Are there benefits by crossing boundaries? In what ways do these different areas could intersect and enrich one another? 

A new McCormick School of Engineering series called “Conversations at the Intersection” aims to provide broad audiences a glimpse of the creative process across fields, inspiring ongoing discussion about the differences and similarities of creative fields. 

Each session features a different scholarly panel composed of intellectual leaders from different backgrounds – art, architecture, writing, philosophy, engineering, science, filmmaking, design, and many more – that will discuss, debate, and articulate different viewpoints on the nature of creativity and explore what art, science, and technology can teach us about insights and creative progress. There will be opportunities for broad audience participation.

Conversations at the Intersection is free, open to the public, and does not require registration. The next event will take place at 4 p.m., Wednesday, November 12 in the ITW classroom in the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center on the Evanston campus. The panel will include:

Larry Booth, member of the Chicago Seven, the first-generation of postmodern architects in Chicago. He is the Richard C. Halpern/RISE International Distinguished Architect in Residence and director of the Architectural Engineering and Design program at McCormick and the principal and founder of Booth Hansen Associates, a Chicago-based architecture, planning, and interior design firm.

Sandy Goldberg, professor and chair of the philosophy department at Weinberg. His research is in the areas of the theory of knowledge, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mind. He is particularly interested in the use of language the relevance of social factors to the communication, production and dissemination of knowledge, and the relationship between language and thought. 

Jeanne Dunning, contemporary artist and professor of art theory and practice in Weinberg. Her photographic, sculptural, and video work explores humans’ relationships to their own bodies. Her art has been shown across the United States, Europe, and Australia.