Knowledge and Creativity
A joint teaching initiative from the College of Arts and the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences. Knowledge and Creativity is an extra-curricular forum for students to explore the fundamental nature of research. This course engages a cohort of students from both Colleges in thinking about, and discussing the nature of creativity in research, the fundamental nature of knowledge, and other issues that will inform their understanding of the dynamic and creative processes that underpin successful research careers.
Why this Programme?
Teaching undergraduates tends to focus on supplying them with a thorough academic background to their discipline. But a high-quality undergraduate degree may not indicate aptitude for creative research. Indeed, many researchers, even to post-doctoral level, probably never really think about the fundamentals of what they are doing, its essentially creative nature, and the similarities in intellectual processes across the disciplines.
We will engage a cohort of Arts and Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences students in starting to think about, and discuss, the nature of creativity in research, the fundamental nature of knowledge, and other issues that will inform their understanding of the dynamic and creative processes that underpin successful research careers.
Programme Structure
Semester 1
Session 1: Tuesday 21 October
Introductory session
- Introduction from Deans of Research, Professor Dauvit Broun College of Arts & Humanities (CoAH) and Professor Gerry Graham, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS)
- The University Research Strategy, Professor Chris Pearce
- Importance of multidisciplinary in a knowledge generation, Dr Lisa Bradley
- Introduction to the ARC, Professor Andrew Tobin
Session 3: Wednesday 26 November
The Literature and Science of Dinosaurs
This session will be led by:
- Dr Will Tattersdill, (Arts – School of Critical Studies – English Literature) - Literature and Contemporary Fantasy Cultures Tattersdill@glasgow.ac.uk
This session will explore the images of dinosaurs are everywhere around us in popular culture. These images are impossible without two things: hard scientific facts, and detailed human imagination. In this talk, I'll describe some of the history of dinosaur images on both sides of the so-called Two-Culture divide, hoping to convince you that dinosaurs provide an opportunity to think beyond our native disciplines - whether we're in the arts or the sciences.
Semester 2
Session 1: Wednesday 21 January
Creativity in Research
Led by:
- Professor Kate Jeffery (MVLS, School of Psychology & Neuroscience)
Scientific research proceeds by a well-defined process, but that process involves interaction with the human mind (the mind of the scientist). It is thus as much of a process of creation as discovery, and the creative process is influenced by the biases and expectations we bring with us as scientists. Many of these are unconscious and thus hard to know about. will explore the myriad ways in which our minds do not present us with reality, but rather with an interpreted version of it. What we are “discovering” therefore is not what we think we are discovering: this realisation should lead us to a position of humility.
After the talk, Professor Jeffery will present the following questions for discussion:
- Can you think of a time when you made a perceptual or judgement error due to an unconscious bias? What happened?
- What can we as scientists do to minimise such errors in our own work?
- How can we teach awareness, to children, of their own internal processing biases and heuristics, and encourage them to be more self-sceptical?
Session 2: Wednesday 11 February
The Nature and Value of Creativity
Led by:
- Professor Adam Carter and Dr Emma Gordon (School of Humanities and Philosophy)
Creativity is almost universally praised and encouraged in research, in education, in life. Bur what actually is creativity? And should we really value it as much as we do? This session introduces students to the philosophical methodology by examining these deceptively simple questions,
We'll begin with the 'standard view' that dominates both philosophy and psychology: the idea that creativity is disposition to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable. If this definition is right, then creativity would seem to be straightforwardly good, the more creative, the better. But is this account correct? We'll examine powerful objections to this standard view, including cases where highly creative individuals produce work that is original but worthless, or even harmful. We'll then consider an alternative account that replaces value and imagination as the core of creativity, and explore four conditions this account proposes: originality, imagination, fertility, and motivation. Is this a better theory? What are its limitations? Through critical evaluation of these competing accounts, students will develop skills in philosophical analysis while gaining new perspectives on a concept central to research across all disciplines.
Sessiona 3: Wednesday 25 February 2026
Creativity in research individual or can teams be creative?
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This session will be led by:
- Dr John Davies, College of Arts and Humanities, Innovative Arts Labs Projects
Keeping the human at the heart of interdisciplinary research
Generative AI is changing the way interdisciplinary research is done. How can we adapt to rapidly changing knowledge systems while keeping human experience and ethical scholarship at the centre? John Davies looks at examples from the University of Glasgow, ArtsLab, the Cross-College initiative, and the Advanced Research Centre, to show how physical and conceptual spaces, ethical teamwork, and creative approaches can support thriving research communities. Instead of framing interdisciplinarity in combative terms, he argues for a focus on hospitality, care, and the human at the heart of collaboration.
Entry Requirements
We invite applications from any UG (year 3 & above) and PGT students in Arts and MVLS. We intend to ask interested students to send a brief CV plus a paragraph outlining why they should be considered. Entry to the course will be based on this application and not ongoing exam performance. The maximum capacity for the ARC lecture theatre is 140. We would enrol up to 100 students, leaving 40 spaces for academics or visiting professionals to attend individual sessions of interest.
Benefits for Students: HEAR Reports
Students who participate in the initiative can have their HEAR certificate credited provided they have attended at least 2 scheduled events per semester.
Summer Projects
We will offer up to 6 summer scholarships each year. These scholarships will allow College of Arts & Humanities students to pair up with College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences students and experience research in the sciences and vice versa for College of MVLS students who will be able to gain arts and humanities research expertise. We shall ask students to propose projects based on discussions with appropriate supervisors. Students will have time to meet with researchers to discuss and develop these projects.
Project Development
We shall ask for a project report and for students to present at the next year’s meeting. We may also ask for a short video diary or video report.