Academic Focus: Drexel University’s MS in Creativity and Innovation

Drexel University has launched a new Master of Science in Creativity and Innovation.  The 45 credit graduate program provides a strong foundation in creativity and innovation. There degree requires 33 credits of core courses and 12 credits of electives. From their website:

The Online Master’s in Creativity and Innovation is designed to develop student’s abilities to recognize problematic situations within various settings (e.g., corporate, educational, military, etc.), and generate a sufficient number of plausible, creative and innovative solutions to address them. Students will acquire the skills to conduct a methodical analysis of these creative solutions and devise and implement the best possible solution to problematic situations.
Upon successful completion of the Master’s in Creativity and Innovation program, students will:

• Identify their own creative strengths and areas they wish to strengthen.
• Generate a sufficient number of plausible and creative solutions to identified problems.
• Select and implement the best possible solution to a given problematic situation, following methodical analysis of a menu of creative solutions.
• Provide a translation of the latest research in creativity and innovation to academic and corporate settings.
• Participate in research where emerging creativity scholars come together on site or virtually for sharing of ideas, for collaborating, and for seeking and receiving help in literature review, methodology, and grant writing.
• Enable their worksite to develop in-house expertise to foster creative environments and identify creative problem solvers within their workforce.

What is most impressive about this program is the diversity of courses around the core theme of creativity and innovation.  Topics range from the essentials such as innovation skills to more advanced areas of creativity research and leadership.  My favorite course, if I could take only one, would be the History of Creativity: Pre-1500 to Present.  Anyone in the innovation space should take the time to read and learn the classic literature around creativity to fully understand where we are today.  Here is that course description:

Trends and interactions of creativity and innovation are examined from pre-1500 to present. Emphasis is placed on understanding how the notion of creativity has evolved overtime and its influence on modern workplace and educational environments.

Here is the full offering of courses:

• Foundations in Creativity
• Tools & Techniques in Creativity
• Creativity in the Workplace
• Creativity & Change Leadership
• Research & Assess Creativity
• Global Perspective on Creativity
• History of Creativity: Pre-1500 to Present
• Current trends in Creativity and Innovation
• Problem Solving & Creativity

The program concludes with a two-course capstone program where students demonstrate achievement in their concentration and develop a creative portfolio.