• Minor

The undergraduate minor in Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation offers a coherent academic sequence through which to explore theory and practice at the nexus of the arts (i.e., music, literature, dance, theater, visual arts, storytelling, digital art and broadcast media, architecture, conceptual art and folk expressions of all kinds); creativity; and social change. It challenges students to engage in, and reflect on, various modes of knowledge creation, including aesthetic, interpretive and analytical, as well as different modes of presentation, including creative, written, oral, and performative. It introduces them to a range of creative social change practices and the theories of change that are implicit in them, and encourages them to grapple with the ethical dilemmas inherent in the field. The minor supports students to imagine careers and vocations that link their talents and their interests both in the creative arts and social change with the needs of communities and issues of social justice. They will learn how artists, cultural workers and other change agents support communities to cultivate, restore and strengthen the capacities required to live creatively, sustainably, non-violently and ethically.

The minor in Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation will create a community of inquiry in which students and faculty members explore theories and practices at the nexus of the arts and cultural work, justice-seeking and peacebuilding, and creativity. Students will be introduced to a range of theories of change that link creative engagement with strategic thinking; acquire skills to think critically about artistic and cultural interventions; and begin to develop capacities to design, assess, enact, document and/or facilitate creative projects that contribute to more just and less violent communities.

Knowledge

The minor in Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation offers students an overview of recent interdisciplinary thinking about the nature of creativity and the conditions that give rise to it. In addition, they explore how movements for economic, racial, gender and environmental justice as well as initiatives to transform violent conflict have incorporated the arts and cultural work, both in the United States and globally. Students consider the range of contributions of the various art forms (music, theatre, dance, literature, poetry, visual arts, film, etc.) and cultural institutions (museums, theatre ensembles, festivals, radio stations, etc.) to more just, more resilient, and less violent communities throughout the world. They engage in, and reflect on, various modes of learning, including both aesthetic and analytical.

Skills and Capacities

Students will learn to:

1. Identify theories of change implicit in social movements and in creative practices.
2. Think critically about the possibilities and limitations of various artistic and cultural approaches to social transformation.
3. Analyze case studies of arts-based and culturally informed social change initiatives, articulating the relationship between aesthetic quality and socio-political efficacy, risks of doing harm, and other issues of ethics and impact.

Students will begin to develop capacities required to design, assess, enact, document and facilitate creative projects that contribute to more just and less violent communities. In addition to whatever artistic talents students may bring or cultivate through coursework, these include capacities to:

1. Inquire with multiple disciplinary frames of reference and multiple modes of knowledge-seeking and meaning-making.
2. Collaborate with teams of people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines.
3. Become aware of oneself as a listener and listen with qualities of presence that elicit difficult-to-tell stories.
4. Identify sources of resilience.
5. Combine analytic insights with creative acts.
6. Cultivate one’s own and others’ creativity.

Social Justice

Students will consider social justice within the larger frame of ‘social transformation’ including theories and practices from peacebuilding, development, restorative justice, non-violent social change, reconciliation, etc. Within the minor, students will:

1. Learn about, witness the works of, and engage with courageous and creative leaders of social transformation initiatives as well as socially engaged artists whose works explore themes of social transformation and inspire action toward social justice.
2. Explore the relationship between aesthetic excellence and socio-political efficacy. Students will be offered opportunities to express their own commitments to social justice in creative ways.

Rigor

Students enrolled in the minor will be expected to engage in a multifaceted but coherent inquiry in a rigorous fashion. As outlined below, the content of the introductory course, the distribution of the electives  (one of which must be a core elective, strongly bringing together creative practice and critical thinking), and the recommended practicum, taken together, embody our understanding of rigor for an undergraduate minor in this field. Students should demonstrate:

1. Awareness of, and increasing capacities to act in accordance with, the ethical sensibilities required to engage communities in creative processes, including an understanding of ways to minimize risks of harm and awareness of one’s self and social positions in relation to the dynamics of the context.
2. The ability to bring into relationship aesthetic, analytic and strategic modes of knowledge-production with different modes of presentation, including creative, written, oral, performative, etc.
3. The ability to link theory with creative practice.
4. Knowledge of historical and culturally diverse perspectives on the public and communal functions of the arts and cultural production, including on how artists (of all genres) and cultural workers have engaged communities and contributed to social, economic, environmental and restorative justice, and to the creative transformation of conflict.

The program is open to all Brandeis undergraduates. Students should take the core course, CAST 150b Introduction to Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation, as early as feasible in their student career, preferably in the first or second year. Because this minor requires students to integrate different modes of knowledge-generation and meaning-making, students are strongly encouraged to apply for the minor before the end of their junior year, by meeting with the Undergraduate Advising Head. In consultation with the student, the Undergraduate Advising Head will assign each student an adviser, chosen from affiliated program faculty, who will assist the student in structuring a coherent course of study.

Toni Shapiro-Phim, Chair, Undergraduate Advising Head
(Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation)

Cameron Anderson
(Theater Arts)

Elizabeth Bradfield
(English)

Jen Cleary
(Education, Theater Arts)

Emilie Diouf
(English)

Dorothy Kim
(English)

Robin Feuer Miller
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)

Kristin Parker
(Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts)

Fernando Rosenberg
(Latin American and Latino Studies)

David Sherman
(English)

Faith Smith
(African and Afro-American Studies and English)

Ilana Szobel
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)

Sabine von Mering
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)

Completion of the minor in Creativity, the Arts and Social Transformation requires the successful completion of 5 courses.

1. The core course, CAST 150b Introduction to Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation. Ideally, this should be the first course taken for the minor, since it offers students an overview of the contributions of arts and cultural work to social justice and to the creative transformation of conflict, and frameworks that will help them bring subsequent courses into relationship. In any case, students are urged to take this course as early in their academic program as feasible.
2. Four elective courses, according to the following distribution: 
   1. One course from the creative arts.
   2. One course from the humanities.
   3. One course from the social sciences.
   4. One additional elective from any of the three schools associated with CAST (CA, HUM, SS). Note that at least one of the four electives must be a "core elective." Core electives are courses that strongly link theory and practice and are offered in all of the three schools. See Courses of Instruction below for the elective listings.
   Students may take two approved 2-credit electives to satisfy an elective requirement.
   
   In addition to the 5 courses required for the minor, CAST students are encouraged to take at least one course in disciplines such as Creative Writing; Film, Television and Interactive Media; Studio Art; Music; and Theater Arts that engage students in 'hands-on' art-making in any genre. CAST students are also encouraged to take one or more additional courses in critical paradigms relevant to CAST, including but not limited to courses in conflict analysis and intervention; critical race studies; postcolonial studies; feminist, LGBT, and queer studies; disability studies; environmental studies and movements; immigration and refugee studies; histories of radical thought and social change movements; human rights; urban planning; and the politics of representation in various media. Particularly when offered by CAST affiliated faculty, and facilitating sustained attention to the role of art and creativity in analyzing, critiquing, and transforming social structures, power relations, conflict, and/or violence, such courses will be considered for substitution toward the four elective courses required for the minor.
   
   One CAST internship or directed reading course, supervised by a member of the CAST affiliated faculty, can count as an elective towards the minor.
3. Minors are strongly encouraged to take CAST Capstone Project and Community Engagement, as the culmination of their program. The capstone provides opportunities for minors to reflect on and integrate learning from their elective courses; to propose, design, and implement projects in the field of arts, culture, and social transformation; to work in and engage community ethically; to provide and learn from peer feedback; and to develop skills in documenting and evaluating projects.
   
   1. CAST Capstone Project and Community Engagement should normally be taken after completing the core course, CAST 150b Introduction to Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation, and ideally as a capstone experience. 
   2. CAST Capstone Project and Community Engagement is a core elective for the minor and fulfills the Creative Arts distribution requirement for the minor.
   3. Students enrolling in CAST Capstone Project and Community Engagement are required to speak with the instructor prior to enrolling in the course to discuss a potential project.
4. Students wishing to complete the requirements for the minor with a course other than one listed below should petition the Undergraduate Advising Head for permission to substitute a different course for one of the electives.
5. No course with a grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the minor requirements in Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation.
6. No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements.
7. Students may normally fulfill one CAST elective with transfer credit. Students wishing to transfer a second course toward the minor should petition the Undergraduate Advising Head, demonstrating the relevance of the course to their program of study.