A School of Education Seminar hosted by the Learning Sciences Research Institute, presented by Professor Mark d’Inverno, Professor of Computer Science and Pro-Warden (International) at Goldsmiths, University of London (with Arthur Still, Durham University and Matthew Yee-King, Goldsmiths).

There is a constant buzz around the word creativity. Reference to it has spread prolifically since the 1950s within and beyond academia, associated with novelty, value, imagination and innovation. What could be wrong with that? Plenty, we argue.

Indeed it has become so ubiquitous across education, sport, marketing, politics and everyday use that it has become to mean very little more than which we approve of. We challenge the extensive and expansive use of this term – both in and out of academic – and propose an alternative terminology that regains a meaning and currency for the kind of activity we want to teach in schools and universities. We use the term “creative activity” in opposition to “creativity” and through the lens of recent research and teaching innovation at Goldsmiths, look to answer the following key questions:
1. What is human creative activity?
2. What pedagogy should we use for teaching creative activity?
3. How can we frame AI research to inspire human creative activity rather than replace it?

We look to respond to these by drawing on backgrounds in music, education and AI research.

About the speaker
Mark d’Inverno is professor of computer science and Pro-Warden (International) at Goldsmiths, University of London. He holds an MA in Mathematics and an MSc in Computation from the University of Oxford, and a PhD from University College London: “Agents, Agency and Autonomy”. He was Pro-Warden Research and Enterprise from 2013 to 2016 and Head of the Department of Computing from 2007 to 2011 which pioneered interdisciplinary research and new programmes (Digital Arts Computing, Music Computing and Creative Computing) at the interface of technology and creative practice leading to a new online BSc in Computer Science will launch next April in with University of London Worldwide and Coursera. He has led a range of research projects at the intersection of computer science and artificial intelligence with creative activity, design, music, culture and learning and has published extensively. He is Chair of the Advisory Board for the EPSRC Programme Grant FAST (co-led by Nottingham University), co-founder and member of the UK’s Practice Research Advisory Group (PRAG UK) and a member of the REF 2021 Interdisciplinary Research Advisory Panel. In 2015 he was co-chair of the Special Track on AI and Arts at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence. He is a critically acclaimed jazz pianist in the UK and over 30 years has led a variety of successful bands in a range of different musical genres such as the Mark d’Inverno Quintet.

About Goldsmiths
Goldsmiths is one of the world’s leading institutions for the Creative Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and is currently in the top 50 institutions in the world for a range of subjects including performing arts, art and design, media, anthropology and sociology. It has a rich heritage of producing alumni that have had a significant and lasting impact on the UK’s Creative Industries with alumni including Mary Quant, Steve McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Anthony Gormley, Adrian Sutton, James Blake and Damien Hirst.

This event will take place on Tuesday 22nd January, 16.00-18.00 at C49 Dearing Building, Jubilee Campus.

For further information, and to book your place, please visit the event page.