Creativity Cluster

The Creativity cluster comprises archaeologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, geographers and writers. All are interested in questions related to how humans create and how the creative process works. A common myth is to see important creative ideas emerge from the work of a lone genius, but what of the influence of community, colleagues and wider social interaction? Is it possible to stimulate and encourage creativity and if so how best might it be done? In the past, what is the role of material culture and objects in shaping the brain and human behaviour and society?

Cluster members bring their insight from different disciplines to understand the nature of creativity and the creative process in terms of the origins and development of human cognitive processes, the mapping of the brain and its disparate parts and the artistic, political and anthropological aspects of the creative process. Creativity is a crucial aspect of the human condition and fundamental to understanding the human experience, both past and present. By bringing together top thinkers from different disciplines the cluster aims to develop a more detailed understanding of the crucial process of creativity. Recent cluster speakers in the regular Creativity discussion meetings have included Baroness Susan Greenfield and Professor Robin Dunbar, and topics have ranged from creating cyborgs to the underlying neuroscientific basis of the creative process.

The 2012 Creativity Lecture Series is currently underway.  For more details, see the events pages or  the attached Creativity Lecture Series information sheet.