Creativity

Highlights Include:

Blending art with science in the real world

Imagine a large, outdoor painting that changes colors when warmed by the sun or by the touch of child’s hand and shifts hues again in cool rain and winter’s chill. Two such temperature-sensitive paintings are among four vibrant murals created through a unique collaboration of WSU artists and chemists.

Expanding digital horizons

The Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation, a collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences and WSU Libraries, provides digitization resources and guidance for a variety of academic and public/private projects. The center also supports Mukurtu, a unique digital online platform for the curation, management, and preservation of cultural heritage for Native American, Aboriginal, and other indigenous communities.

Exploring the origins of human-made music

Love is not the reason why we sing and create symphonies—at least not the primary reason, according to a WSU evolutionary anthropologist who studies the origins of music. “Sex and mating are a part of the story, but music seems to expand far beyond that particular domain,” says Ed Hagen.

Combining dance, psychology

Through her recent collaboration with EcoArts on the Palouse, psychology graduate student Hannah Levy created “Staying with the Pause,” a dance documentary that touches on the struggles many people faced during the pandemic.

A natural fit for hands-on, virtual learning

Fine arts professor Peter Christenson’s students create devices that bridge the gap between physical art and what can be presented online. The sharing of these visually appealing digital projects provides a perfect fit for virtual learning.

The art of writing about science

An innovative Professional Science Writing certificate, developed by the Department of English and delivered both on campus and online, provides focused training to help students and professionals effectively write about science and technology.

More than just numbers

When he’s not teaching mathematics – from introductory calculus to advanced numerical analysis of elliptic equations – WSU math professor Sergey Lapin might be working to speed detection of deadly disease or to expand understanding of European history, Russian language and culture, Chinese economics, or higher education in America.