Institute for creative inquiry-james madison university email format

ICI cultivates interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering creative inquiry through team-taught studio seminars, research projects, and faculty and student fellowships. The institute also presents an active program of interactive exhibitions, lectures, and discussions. The results of collaborations across disciplines are extraordinary, and the experiences, transformative. ICI creates a supportive environment, removing structural barriers and allowing faculty and students to confront the intellectual challenges of interdisciplinary work. Creative inquiry fosters new ways of thinking; it makes us more curious and attentive about one another and the world around us. Originally known as the Institute for Visual Studies (IVS), the ICI was established in 2008 by a group of faculty from across the university who recognized the value of a center dedicated to multidisciplinary teaching and research. Faculty interests often transcend their “home” disciplines and IVS was intended to offer a place for these explorations. Housed in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, courses and projects initially focused on the nature and workings of images by exploring subjects such as the languages of mapping and the varied uses of data visualization. Over time, however, that mission broadened. Faculty and students from more than forty-four disciplines have taken classes through the center and we now support a wide range of initiatives that bridge the disciplines through creative inquiry. In 2018, to reflect this shift, IVS became the Institute for Creative Inquiry (ICI). While ICI has particular expertise in place-based studies and arts-integrative work, we welcome collaborators from any disciplines.