We are proud to announce the return of the Emerging Creatives Student Summit in 2022 after a one-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, the event will be cosponsored by two leading companies from the private sector, Steelcase Learning and CannonDesign, in partnership with a2ru founding partner institution Virginia Tech. The Summit will take place March 9-11 in Washington, D.C. at Steelcase’s WorkLife Center.

This year’s theme “Learning in Liminal Spaces: Transformative Visions for the 21^st Century” reckons with a profoundly altered educational landscape as we emerge from the pandemic. Old models of learning are undergoing seismic change. We have been living with reordered routines in a time between times, learning in liminal spaces of asynchronous and hybrid instruction. Yet in this in-between time and space we now inhabit, we are freer to imagine new opportunities to access, participate, and thrive in learning. Exploring our human capacity for change in the wake of crisis, we can create more equitable and diverse learning spaces to fulfill our creative potential.

The a2ru Emerging Creatives summit will bring together students from the a2ru network in Washington DC at Steelcase’s WorkLife Center for workshops, skill building, and expert input from leaders in design, architecture, and engineering. Students will work in teams to create collaborative, transdisciplinary projects that explore how we can own these liminal, speculative, transdisciplinary spaces and transform how we learn together.

Nominations and Applications

Due to space restrictions and COVID-19 protocols, and to maintain the interdisciplinary nature of the event, participation will be limited to two students from each a2ru member institution: one student from an arts-based discipline and one student from a non-arts discipline. More details on the nomination and application process will be emailed to members in November. Please contact a2ruconnect@umich.edu with any questions.