CCA Faculty Unite in Cross-Disciplinary Sensemaking Series to Envision Future of Arts Education
This spring, faculty across ߣߣƵ University’s College of Creative Arts (CCA) participated in a multi-week “Sensemaking” series to collaboratively rethink the CCA student experience. Facilitated by the Howe Center for Writing Excellence, the workshops focused on identifying shared values like collaboration, curiosity, empathy, and community engagement.
CCA Faculty Unite in Cross-Disciplinary Sensemaking Series to Envision Future of Arts Education
This spring, faculty from across ߣߣƵ University’s College of Creative Arts (CCA) came together for an ambitious and imaginative experiment in change-making. The initiative, titled “Sensemaking Series for Writing and Thinking in the Arts,” brought together artists, designers, performers, and educators for a multi-week series of collaborative workshops designed to rethink the CCA student experience, strengthen curriculum, and amplify the value of creative work for stakeholders inside and outside the university.
Guided by facilitators from the Howe Center for Writing Excellence (HCWE), the series emphasized second-order change: deep cultural transformation through shared ideation, rather than top-down mandates. Participants explored in a scaffolded way what makes CCA distinctive, what creative graduates bring to the world, and how to better communicate and demonstrate the division’s collective strengths to the university’s leadership and public.
Making the Invisible Visible
Early workshops focused on surfacing shared values and challenges. Using sticky notes, group activities, and even AI-generated summaries of their ideas, participants identified recurring themes across disciplines: collaboration, curiosity, process, empathy, and community engagement. These values, faculty agreed, form the foundation of a CCA education and must be more clearly communicated to prospective students, families, and university leaders.
Many expressed frustration at how the creative work of students is often undervalued or misunderstood—seen as “just for entertainment” or “not a serious pursuit.” As one summary put it, faculty want to shift that narrative and “make the invisible visible,” especially when it comes to the rigor, collaboration, and innovation required in arts education.
Imagining New Models
As the series progressed, participants split into working groups focused on communication strategies, shared capstone experiences, and e-portfolios. One group proposed a public-facing PSA-style video campaign titled “Creativity is America’s Advantage,” featuring short testimonials from students, alumni, and faculty that link creative practice to real-world impact.
Another group proposed building toward a collaborative, interdisciplinary capstone experience for CCA students—perhaps culminating in a public event like Sparkfest—that would showcase creative problem-solving and community engagement. Because ߣߣƵ’s current curriculum structure limits team-taught courses, the group is exploring ways to link existing classes across departments through shared themes and deliverables.
A third group is proposing to expand the use of student e-portfolios across the division. These would serve both as tools for student reflection and as dynamic, visual artifacts of student learning and achievement—an invaluable resource for recruitment and advocacy.
All three of these efforts will be supported over the next six months, through the CCA Dean’s Office, the Office of Liberal Education, and the Howe Center for Writing Excellence.
Investing in Human-Driven Innovation
At the heart of the Sensemaking series was a shared recognition: CCA graduates are uniquely equipped to lead in a complex, rapidly changing world. Through interdisciplinary collaboration, ethical risk-taking, and iterative, process-based learning, they model a kind of human-driven innovation.
As one facilitator summarized: “We’re not just preparing students to survive in a world shaped by automation—we’re preparing them to shape that world with creativity and purpose.”
The Sensemaking series sparked lasting relationships, seeded future projects, and demonstrated the power of faculty-led innovation. And as participants continue to develop and refine their ideas, they’re poised to carry forward a bold new vision for CCA—one that celebrates creativity as both a personal and public good.
