Creativity is heavily appreciated at Manhattan University.
MANHATTAN.EDU / COURTESY
Erioluwa Akin-Salami, Staff Writer
As artificial intelligence continues to advance, opportunities for creative expression remain important to students. Manhattan University (MU) students shared with The Quadrangle which courses they believe offer the greatest creative freedom and enhance their university experience.
One such student is Camila Frias, a senior English major with minors in digital media art and film studies. When asked by The Quadrangle to rank her courses based on creative freedom, Frias placed Creative Non-Fiction Writing first, citing the opportunities for creative expression the course provides.
“Professors at this school show genuine interest in what you have to have to say and write,” Frias said. “Because of a lot of professors, I have been able to take myself seriously as a writer, and that is why I am really thankful for the course I am taking right now.”
Frias expanded on her sentiment that MU provides her with enough creative liberty both in and out of class. She shared with The Quadrangle one of the projects this school has encouraged her to do.
“I finished writing a cultural criticism essay, which required us to take something that you participate in but at the same time are critical of,” Frias said. “I ended up writing about pregnancy and how people equate it with womanhood when that is not the reality for everyone.”
Sarabella Finder, a sophomore special education major, is currently also taking Creative Non-Fiction this semester. Finder shared with The Quadrangle that she appreciates this course in the midst of more creative courses being cut at MU.
“Less and less creative courses are being offered, especially for my major.” Finder said, “This course provides me a way to dabble in writing in a way other courses offered right now do not.”
Adam Koehler, Ph.D., professor of English, has taught Creative Non-Fiction Writing for several years. Koehler emphasized the importance of giving students a break from traditional academic writing and allowing them to explore creative avenues that can help shape their identities.
“Creativity is essential,” Koehler said. “I would make everyone take some sort of creative writing. If we do not practice connecting ourselves with an audience as human beings, we miss out on how our relationship with ourselves, our cultures and our environment can underline true scholarship.”
Koehler noted that students are less likely to use artificial intelligence in courses that allow them greater creative freedom.
“What is interesting about the creative writing classes is that those students are self-motivated,” Koehler said. “They don’t want AI to do the thinking for them.”
Bob Coleman, professor in the communication, sound & media art department, teaches a class called Digital Print Design where students aim to create an original magazine from start to finish.
Coleman echoed Koehler’s emphasis on originality as a source of student motivation, adding that creative opportunities help students develop practical skills they can apply in their future careers.
“Students may graduate and not even use the degree, and they may use that degree but still need once or twice versatile skills from outside their field,” Coleman said. “Recently for Halloween, I was able to make posters using Adobe, a software I teach students to use in my class, and this is an example of situations where these skills can be useful in everyday life.”
Coleman also discussed how he incorporates creative opportunities into his coursework to encourage student engagement.
“I do not grade the first project students do,” Coleman said. “Instead, I use that project as a class contest in which the winner gets a prize. This way students are eager to put effort into the project, and many times they carry that eagerness with them throughout the rest of the course.”