From July 14-17, Southern Oregon University hosted its Creativity Conference, boasting some of the biggest names in our field for keynotes, seminars, and on-on-one interactions. Saybrook faculty, students, and alumni showed strong representation at the conference.  

 A Gathering of Creatives 

I was honored to present “Across the Spectrum of Creativity and Contemplative Inquiry” alongside my colleague and friend Dr. Gina Belton at the conference. At first glance, our collaboration on the topics may appear to be at different ends of a spectrum in that they utilize creativity through different lenses, but it came together through thought and application of a variety of creative and innovation models in tandem with Saybrook’s schools of humanistic/existential and transpersonal psychologies. Our aim was to keep the presentation effectively grounded, offering some new “food for thought” for participants.  

 Additionally, Saybrook community members hosted stellar seminars throughout the conference, including:  

  • Dr. Marina Smirnova, faculty in the Department of Humanistic Psychology: Unveiling, Retrieving, and Redeeming Creativity and Creative Living in Midlife: An Inward Gaze  
  • Jeannel King, Roxanne Hornbeck, and Elaine Blasi, students: Creativity at Work: An Invitation to Systemic-Change in the Workplace  
  • Jeffrey Mims, alumnus, Experiential Capacity & Music  
  • Dr. Ruth Richards, adjunct faculty in the Department of Humanistic Psychology: Creativity and Who We are: A New Normal  
  • Carol Barrett, adjunct faculty in the Department of Humanistic Psychology: Hugging the Shore: Poetry’s Contribution to Environmental Consciousness  
  • Melinda Rothouse, alumna: Getting Lost and Finding your Way Through the Creative Process  
  • Gayle Byock, student: Creative Writing with a Surprise Ending  

Members of the Creativity Studies program very much want to honor the important contributions made to the conference by Saybrook community members.

Starting Creative Conversations 

The conference facilitated dialogue on the most critical issues of the day and how creativity plays an integral role in solutions and innovations in response to them. For example, surviving the pandemic took creative  imagination to get kids in front of their computers, to pick and choose where to go while considering exposure to COVID-19, and to navigate questions that arose from the Black Lives Matter movement, to name just a few. As Saybrook moves forward with its own Creativity Studies Specialization, it is imperative to stay informed of both the current thinking in the field and how this might effectively inform our curriculum and research areas of interest.  

Our students offered insights from their various cutting-edge research interests and their successfully defended dissertations. This was a critical opportunity to navigate public, hybrid, and virtual presentations in the professional arena. Many of our students come to us with skill sets firmly in place in their current careers, but being able to collaborate in live sessions with academics whose work they are most interested in is invaluable. Marc Runco, Michael Mumford, Ruth Richards, and many others who were present at the conference are our seminal authors in the field of creativity. 

Many thanks! 

 We want to thank our current students Lyza Fontana, Amy Murray, and Katie Keller for their assistance in preparing for the conference and Katie and Lyza’s efforts to make Saybrook’s presence at our sponsor table both unique and alluring to passersby. Our table was informational and interactive for conference attendees, allowing them to participate in our “Creativitree” to share their thoughts, experiences, and insights about their conference attendance. 

 We lastly want to thank our admissions and marketing teams (Karyn Lee and Itzel Gonzalez) for supporting our efforts through a sponsorship at the conference. This allowed us to share detailed information about the Creativity Studies Specialization and Saybrook University.  

  About the Author: Robert A. Cleve, Ph.D., Creativity Studies (CS) Specialization Coordinator 

Dr. Cleve has been the coordinator of CS at Saybrook since January 2022. His background is in academia, research, and art, with a focus on stained and fused glass. He earned his Ph.D. from The Chicago School in International Psychology with a focus on Organizations and Systems. 

Stay tuned for more information in future blogs about our students and our creative endeavors. For more information about the Creativity Studies Specialization, contact Creativity Studies Specialization Coordinator Dr. Robert Cleve. 

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