Creativity, an increasingly valued aspect of life and work in college and beyond, is the subject of an innovative new program at Vanderbilt University offered through its Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy.
The Curb Program in Creative Enterprise and Public Leadership was launched this fall, funded by the university and a multi-year gift from the Mike Curb Family Foundation. “Vanderbilt is excited to be the first university to offer a scholarship program for undergraduates that explicitly focuses on cultivating creativity and leadership,” said Bill Ivey, director of the Curb Center and a national expert on arts policy.
Five first-year students and one junior are currently serving as Vanderbilt’s first Curb Scholars. In addition, 15 undergraduate Residential Fellows are participating in a creative campus living-learning experiment in the Barnard and Vanderbilt residence halls. The Curb Center, launched in 2003 with a $3.5 million gift from music executive Mike Curb, is administering the program.
While new courses and summer internships are focused on Curb Scholars, it is anticipated that the scholars and fellows will act as cross-campus sparkplugs, initiating projects to make creativity a larger part of the experience for everyone at Vanderbilt.
“Part of the creative campus vision is to cultivate an environment where the normal routines of campus life are disrupted – where spontaneous creative projects can happen in the classroom, the dining hall and on the quad,” said Steven Tepper, associate director of the Curb Center and a leading scholar on creativity, culture, and society. “We know that discovery and insight come from making new connections, seeing things differently, and from surprise and serendipity. If we are successful, these experiences will become key components of a Vanderbilt education.”
Creative people possess the ability to generate multiple solutions to problems, to think metaphorically, to make connections between seemingly unrelated problems and strategies while working in collaboration with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
In addition to classroom work, Curb scholars participate in a monthly salon, intimate talks delivered by successful creative leaders. Guests this fall have included Vanderbilt alumnus and violin virtuoso Daniel Bernard Roumain and experimental visual artist Oliver Herring. Curb Scholars are also producing and publicizing events on the Vanderbilt campus. The first campus-wide project is a Nov. 17 public conversation with Eran Egozy, developer of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games.
“One of the things we’re keeping in mind is that this is about doing, not observing,” said Ivey, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “So we’re not just focusing on learning, but on internships and projects that will hone the skills of creative practice through work.”
The Curb Center is developing a core curriculum for the Curb Scholars and other students that will offer a concentration in creative enterprise and public leadership. A fifth-year master’s program is in the works, and the Curb Center is structuring Creative Campus relationships with other universities with which the Mike Curb Family Foundation has sponsored educational initiatives.
The Curb program includes internships in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles scheduled between the scholars’ junior and senior years. It’s the third-year internship that most excites Curb Scholar Branden Sanders.
Sanders, a freshman from New York City, has been writing and recording music since the age of seven and interned for noted producer Salaam Remi, working on one of Remi’s successful collaborations with singer Amy Winehouse.
“I would definitely take another internship like that, but I’m ready to stop serving coffee and start making music,” said Sanders, whose interests lie in rap, techno and pop. He is working with other Curb Scholars to establish a music studio at the Curb Center, and is eager to collaborate musically with other Vanderbilt students.
A Creative Campus Task Force composed of faculty from multiple departments has been meeting regularly, charged by the dean of the College of Arts and Science with exploring creative programs and innovative courses that will bring the classroom component of the Creative Campus Initiative to the broader Vanderbilt student body.
The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt is a research and policy center focused on the American system of creative enterprise, expressive life, and the relationship of art and art making to the public interest. In addition to the Curb Scholars Program in Creative Enterprise and Public Leadership and multiple research projects, the Center serves senior federal government career staff through its Washington-based Arts Industries Policy Forum.
Media Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu