Honors Seminars Spring 2012

Say "creativity"and most people think art, music, dance, or literature. What is creativity in the context of the sciences? How does it differ and how is it similar to creativity in other fields? In this course, we will develop an understanding of scientific creativity through readings in the history of science, in the psychology of creativity, in original scientific papers, in biography, and in memoirs. We will consider representations of scientific creativity in films and literature. Students will conduct interviews with scientists, artists, musicians, and humanists, and report on how those individuals define creativity. We will explore the social context of creativity: how it can be fostered (or crushed) by institutions. We will consider strategies for fostering creativity within ourselves.