IACT: Creativity for Tomorrow

How do we create a healthy community that can sustain itself? IACT certificate students Karly Michel, Colin Joern and Maddie Thomas are colliding their purposes to develop a sustainable model for wellness and dental care.

Introducing: Team Sustainment

Karly Michel is a senior biology major and plans to use her IACT certificate experience to bring science together with service as a way to grow and better a community. Her purpose to develop socially conscious dental practices for underserved communities has helped her uncover her own unique mindset towards dental studies.

Colin Joern is a mechanical engineering major with a minor in sustainability, energy, and the environment, and he sees his IACT experience as a way to keep his global worldview both environmentally and humanity-centered. He plans to put his purpose of developing social justice engineering towards aiding those most affected by the current environmental crisis.

Maddie Thomas is a pre-dentistry major and attributes her sense of innovation and passion to her IACT journey. Her love of math and science brought her to a volunteer position at Good Neighbor House and eventually to the IACT certificate program.

Together, the team is combining sustainable urban farming, dental treatment, and service to those in underserved communities in order to provide wellness and care for those who need it most.

At the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT) at ArtStreet, we seek to empower a forward-thinking 21st century student with the ability to confidently develop the imaginative and creative skills necessary to excel and impact today’s innovative and global workforce regardless of degree focus. IACT is home to the nation’s first undergraduate certificate in Applied Creativity for Transformation. Open to undergraduate students of any major, the certificate is a first step in achieving the University of Dayton’s vision of innovation, applied creativity, entrepreneurship and community engagement for the common good.

The IACT curriculum introduces students to the creative competencies that today’s job market demands — critical perspective, complex problem solving and collaboration with others — while applying those same skills to the students’ diverse disciplines of study. Our mindset of applied creativity stems from transdisciplinary learning (the unity of intellectual frameworks beyond the disciplinary perspectives) and a humanity-centered approach, harnessing imagination and vision to effectively implement unexpected, innovative ideas that can change the world. For more information about IACT at ArtStreet, call 937-229-5101 or visit go.udayton.edu/iact.

Written by Amy Pompilio ‘19

Video produced by Alexandra Damiani '18