When students enroll in a civilization course, they likely count on learning about ancient cultures.

"I think of Rome, Greece and other ancient civilizations," said Valerie Wilde, a senior from Provo, majoring in marriage family and human development.

Civilization classes deal with ancient cultures by design, but one class covers the subject in a more creative way than the others.

History of Creativity, offered in the manufacturing engineering technology department, is a general education civilization class, but instead of teaching civilization by learning dates and names, the instructor teaches how different civilizations rose and fell by studying the creative accomplishments of each.

One difference between this class and other civilization classes is the creativity project that is worth nearly one third of the final grade, and which should take students 20 to 30 hours to complete.

"I'm a little overwhelmed," said Kristina Schroeder, a senior from San Diego, who is currently enrolled in the class. "But I like that we're actually doing what we're learning in class. I think it makes the class unique and helps me feel like I'm getting something out of what I'm studying."

The student's projects are displayed at the end of every semester in the Crabtree building on what is called creativity day. This year creativity day will be Friday. Projects will be displayed on the second floor of the Crabtree Building near the west entrance.

A new class is created

Brent Strong, BYU professor in the School of Technology, came up with the idea for this class more than 10 years ago while serving as the School of Technology's department chair.

"I had to write a study looking at the way the School of Technology integrated into campus," he said. "I found that we were pretty isolated."

It was then that Strong looked for a way to integrate the school with the rest of campus. He saw the civilization course and noticed any department that qualified could teach it.

"I said to myself, 'what is the integrating factor that ties technology to the arts, science and humanities?'" he said. "So I thought I will look at creativity as the integrative element."

Class Project

An important element of the class is a term paper/project that is worth almost one-third of the final grade.

Strong said he tried to think of a way for students to practice the creativity they learn throughout the semester.

"The creative project is the way to do it," Strong said. "I can teach the fundamentals of creativity and have students experience it this way."

Students can choose what to do their project on, as long as it applies to what the class has covered during the semester.

"I think I'm going to design a tomb that represents me," Kristina Schroeder said. "We talked one day in class about the rituals that the Egyptians had...and that you could go into different tombs and see each person's personality. I wondered what mine would be like."

Another student is planning to create a magazine for the Romans with classifieds and how to articles.

Strong said that one of the things that make a project really stand out is if it surprises or delights him, but that is not the most important aspect of the project.

"Another thing that's even more important is if I can see that it has changed the life of the student," he said.

History of Creativity is Unique to BYU

As far as Strong knows, no other university offers a course like this.

"Most schools don't offer the chance for any department to teach civilization like we do," Strong said.

Because most other universities don't offer a course like this, professor Strong had to write the book, pun intended.

Professors Strong and D. Mark Davis co-authored the course text. Strong said that he tried to write the book so that it wouldn't sound like the average history book. He wanted it to be a smooth, easy read.

"Mark took my class notes and wrote them into a prose," Strong said. "Then I took the prose and massaged it and worked it around so it had a consistent style and I added content where I needed to beef up areas."

One of the nice things about an instructor-authored the textbook is that it fits well with the course.

Meagan Lake, 21, from Wilsonville, Ore., who is taking the class, said she likes the book.

"It's not what you'd really think of for a civ. Textbook," she said. It pulls you in and you get to experience what's going on."

While the textbook may be an easy read, the course is still meant to try the students that take it.

"I haven't heard students say 'I think I'll take it because it's easy,'" Strong said.

The class will continue

History is important in all civilization classes, but teaching it through creativity makes this class unique.

This year two professors teach the class, but to ensure that the course continues, three more faculty members have committed to teach the course in coming semesters.

"They are now beginning the quest to qualify themselves to teach the course," Strong said.

Jacob.davis@byu.edu

Copyright Brigham Young University 28 Nov 2007