Conference gets jiggy with creativity

One trait that links the best work in all academic disciplines is creativity.
Exploring how creativity is understood and encouraged in many different fields is the theme of the annual conference of the Humanities and Technology Association, a national interdisciplinary scholarly society, set for Sept. 19 to 21 at the University.

“Concepts of Creativity in the Humanities, Science and Technology” will feature lectures, presentations and discussions on such topics as “Creativity in Lyric Poetry, Music and Engineering,” “Understanding, Teaching and Sustaining Creativity,” “The Process of Discovery” and “Creativity Across the Curriculum.”

Thomas Hughes, Mellon professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania and noted historian of technology and science, will give the keynote address on “Feedback Controls, Dynamic Systems and Atonal Music: The Art of Invention.” He will speak at 5 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Rotunda Dome Room.

The conference registration fee, which includes receptions and a year’s membership in the Humanities and Technology Association, is $50 for U.Va. faculty, students and alumni, and $175 for others ($115 for non-U.Va. graduate students). The conference is sponsored by the Division of Technology, Culture and Communication in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Registration forms and full conference information are available on the Web at http://www.tcc.virginia.edu/hta.