A classroom is a place where creativity is typically structured. Syllabi, class assignments and grading rubrics guide a student’s work from start to finish. Structure creates discipline and prepares students for the workforce. However, in classroom environments, students may feel that their creativity is confined.
Creative departments at Andrews University extend connections away from the classroom by hosting informal, department-sponsored events to foster meaningful connections between students and faculty. Some examples of these are the Visual Art, Communication & Design (VACD), English, Music and Architecture departments. These informal activities are not just scheduled to fill the academic calendar; instead, they create spaces beyond the classroom as intentional efforts to provide non-academic, social events where students can come together to share and learn from and with each other.
VACD is filled with students from various disciplines such as photography, graphic design and communications.
“Oftentimes, when students go out and work professionally, photographers are going to work with graphic designers and/or communication people or vice versa,” said Daniel Weber, the department chair. “Learning how to communicate and interact with people who have a discipline that’s different from yours is really important, because that is a vital skill.”
These gatherings push students out of their comfort zones and allow for interaction across disciplines. Weber also reflected on how the relationship between students and faculty needs to be developed outside of the classroom, an ideal inspired by his former academic advisor, who showed him support.
“I felt he was like a safety net there for me, and I think all our faculty are that way with our students,” said Weber.
Some of the longstanding activities that VACD hosts throughout a school year include The Burn, a pottery-making and firing night; Chili Night, with homemade chili made by department professors; and Revive Coffee Night, where the department rents out the local café and sponsors a drink for those who stop by for conversation and games.
Faculty members plan these events with intentionality, and students gain the opportunity to reconnect with peers in their classes. Students of the music department, such as Cheyenne Newland, a junior music education major, enjoy the events their department hosts. Music faculty sometimes host get-togethers at their houses where they have food, games, and movies.
“One of my really good friends, I met her because we were both at the same event, and we both started singing karaoke together, and then she drove me home,” Newland said.
Concerts, whether they be vocal or symphonic, are some of the activities in which students participate outside of the classroom. Opportunities outside of playing an instrument for an in-class assignment allow students to refine their craft, with peers, in a setting similar to what they could possibly be doing post-graduation.
In the architecture department, activities that are held either provide career support or promote inclusivity and diversity.
“Architecture is one of those majors where you are kind of in a rough place almost every single day,” said Jay Flash, a junior architecture major.
To combat this, Flash and other students enjoy spending time in the architecture library. The area provides food and comfort, allowing them to spend time with others and have both formal and casual conversations with peers in an environment that doesn’t hold as much stress as a formal classroom. Although a department might sponsor a social event, a student is not typically required to attend them.
“It’s difficult to mesh with other years outside of these events,” Fassh said. “Being able to connect with peers in higher class standings is essential.”
As with any organization planning these activities, there are challenges that will be involved.
“It’s hard because we are not students, so sometimes it is hard to predict what students need and want, which are both important. We start with what they need,” said Kristin Denslow, chair of the English department.
In addition to financial limitations, a department must understand what students may enjoy and provide these things. “Although finding this balance is challenging, it is worthwhile,” Denslow said.
Despite these hurdles, the English department takes its students to plays in Chicago frequently, has students present at academic conferences, and hosts beach vespers and ornament-making events. Recently, they hosted a “Crafternoon,” where students and faculty brought personal, crafty projects to work on while chatting in the English department’s common area.
Coursework is always going to be required, but initiatives outside the classroom are what motivate students, leave meaningful impacts, and will stay with them past their collegiate careers. Students are able to practice creating meaningful connections and strengthen the skills they have learned inside the classroom, without added academic pressure
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.