In Creative Theories of (Just About) Everything Dutch theorist Jeroen Lutters hails creativity as “the driving force and most important skill of the 21st century as a power to be taught, understood and deployed on all levels of society”. In a research context, creative practice at UTS makes a significant contribution to how we develop, understand and communicate knowledge alongside, and in collaboration, with more traditional scholarly research practices. UTS has recognised the importance of creativity through its Research Outcomes Capability Framework and the highlighting of creativity as one of 8 key characteristics of research at UTS.
RES Hub: Creativity Module
After a challenging year of unrelenting disruption in 2020, UTS is launching a new RES Hub physical space that’s designed to support UTS researchers through audio visual technology including video recording facilities, virtual collaboration spaces and dedicated small theatre. With staff and students starting to return to campus, the space is designed to enable remote collaboration and interaction, supporting research practices and dissemination to broad audiences.
A key component of the re-launch is a set of digital resources developed by the UTS research community designed to both showcase research practice and support skills development for researchers at UTS. These online resources are each be housed within Canvas courses targeted to the research community including our Higher Degree Research (HDR) students.
Associate Professor Alex Munt has led the development of the ‘RES Hub: Creativity Module‘, focused upon the role of creative practices in the research environment. The course draws together a range of research practices that situate creativity within a concrete set of research agenda and tools. The module has been designed as a ‘conversation’ on creativity and speaks to those working within this space – and includes models of interdisciplinary and HASS-STEM research collaborations.
Multiple perspectives
Each of the 10 modules offered in ‘RES Hub: Conversations on Creativity’ describes a case study drawn from the experiences of researchers, research teams and HDR students. Loosely themed through the interconnected strands of: story, visibility, sustainability and sound. The module is designed as a self-guided experience where participants can delve into components that catch their attention or relate to current or future projects. The Creativity Canvas course serves the dual functions of both disseminating exemplary research practices to the broader UTS community, and supporting UTS researchers to build skills in creative practices in a research context.
RES Hub physical launch event
The associated event, taking place on Monday 3rd May as part of next week’s RES Hub launch, features contributors in a panel discussion including renowned Australian film director Samantha Lang and 2021 Blake Prize winner Leyla Stevens. Come along to hear more about creativity in research at UTS! Register here.
Feature image: Samantha Lang, still from Brown Lake (Boumiera)