Despite what you may think, there is evidence that everyone has the capacity to think creatively. This course will teach you to be much less predictable in your thinking and have the confidence and ability to generate unique, workable ideas to solve complex problems. Society impels us to conform to its written and unwritten rules for thinking and behaving in a certain way, which makes too many of the ideas and solutions we generate fairly predictable and ineffective.

The first part of this course is about you. I want to convince you that you were once insanely creative and explain forces around you caused you to lose most of that ability. If you think you are already plenty creative, then know that you're not as creative as you could be and, conversely, if you believe you don't have a single creative bone in your body, I will do my best to convince you you're wrong and share ways you can get your high level of creativity back. Asking you to think back on some of the societal forces that negatively impacted your upbringing may be hard to hear, but it’s important to understand these often unseen forces so you can do something to counteract them. The second part of the course is for learning several tried and true brainstorming and problem-solving "tools" you can use that will help you be your most creative self. Please note: Portions of this course may include readings, media, and discussion around topics based on emotional experiences from your youth. The title of any element that may be a trigger will be indicated with a "TW".