Students in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Creativity program at Rowan University define an interdisciplinary research topic and are guided through three years of dissertation development by a committee specifically tailored to each project. Committee members may include Rowan University faculty in addition to others from different universities and research institutions in the U.S. or abroad to ensure each student is guided by a team of esteemed professionals and academics whose accomplishments are known and respected in their fields and particularly suited to the individual student’s needs. Students will benefit from the graduate education infrastructure and experience available at Rowan as a comprehensive public research university, including graduate student support services, access to publication venues, and exposure to the work and research settings of theoretical, applied, practical, creative, and clinical scholars.
The PhD in Creativity is not designed to prepare graduates to enter a specific job market, career pathway, or domain of practice; it is not an art degree nor is it the study of creativity as a content area. Applicants to the program must articulate their purpose and goals for the dissertation project and explain how the dissertation research and writing will advance insights, provide a solution, or otherwise produce value. The contribution made by their work may materialize as a career change, an advancement opportunity, a practical solution or application within the scope of their current occupation, enhancement of their practice, broadening of their impact, and/or the publication/dissemination of their findings. The program faculty and committee members will work closely with accepted students to design the project to achieve their objectives and fulfill expectations for quality and rigor of the final product.
The PhD in Creativity will be housed in the Department of Art within the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts and will be fully supported by the administrative and operational infrastructure of Rowan University, including the School of Graduate Studies. Rowan has hired the Director of the PhD in Creativity at the former University of the Arts, who founded the program there, as well as an Associate Director who was also part of the program:
- Dr. Jonathan Fineberg, Director and Professor in Residence, earned a PhD in Art History from Harvard University, an MA in Modern Art from the University of London, and a BA in Medieval History from Harvard University. He is the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois and Affiliate Faculty with the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, Perelman School of Medicine, at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Dr. Audrey Ellis, Associate Director and Professor in Residence, earned a PhD in Philosophy and an MA in Philosophy & Art from SUNY Stony Brook, and a BA in Philosophy, Dance, and Women’s Studies from Goucher College.
Dr. Fineberg holds a teaching faculty appointment in the Department of Art in the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts; Dr. Ellis holds a joint appointment in Art and in the Department of Theatre & Dance in the College of Performing Arts. For administrative purposes, the program will be housed in Art. However, the program will recruit students and engage faculty mentors and committee members across all disciplines.
Additional core faculty include part-time instructors who provide key support in teaching the two-week immersion program in the Summer and a four-day immersion program in the Winter, in addition to giving feedback on each student’s dissertation project:
- Buzz Spector
- Academic Credential: B.A. in Art, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 1972. M.F.A., Committee on Art and Design, University of Chicago, 1978. Professional Experience: Emeritus Professor and Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University, St. Louis. Louis. Expertise: American artist and critic
- Zach Savich
- Academic Credential: MFA (Creative Writing), University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2011 University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, 2004. Professional Experience: Associate Professor, Cleveland Institute of Art Expertise: Award winning poet
