UD to offer nation’s first certificate in creativity

Max Filby

Max Filby

The nation’s first academic certificate focused specifically on applied creativity at the University of Dayton, school officials announced today.

The certificate in Applied Creativity for Transformation will be open to undergraduates in any major. It introduces students to the creative competencies that today’s job market demands.

“This certificate will propel a student’s education into the specialized and make them unique to the marketplace or workforce they are entering,” said Brian LaDuca, director of the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT). “It will add to their academic pursuits with a focus on developing a personal mission, using transdisciplinary learning and humanity-centered design.”

Education for innovation and adaptive leadership is an element of the strategic vision for the university unveiled by President Eric F. Spina on April 4. Spina challenged the university to become “the first university in the country in which every student will take at least one course on innovation, humanity-centered applied creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking.”

The certificate program, sponsored by the School of Engineering and housed in the university’s IACT at ArtStreet, is a first step to achieving that vision.

Junior biology major Karly Michel is among the 22 students currently enrolled in a pilot of the program. Michel, who plans to attend dental school after graduation, said she wanted to pursue the certificate to make the best of her time at UD, and to learn as much as possible to apply to her future career goals.

“The certificate is a tool for us to use in various fields and is a way we can better the world by approaching problems and solutions on a more personal and human level,” she said. “It will allow me to see the problems and tasks at hand in dental school differently than my peers.”

The first cohort of 10 students is expected to graduate with the certificate in May 2018.

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