Key points to remember
- A UCLA-led project aimed at fostering connections between the cultural, creative and technology sectors will facilitate a series of nationwide workshops to bring together ideas linking research and innovation across the technology and creative sectors.
- The workshops, supported by an award from the National Science Foundation, will guide planning for a national conference in December, hosted by UCLA.
- UCLA’s year-long Innovation, Culture and Creativity Project aims to support the competitiveness of America’s creative sector and expand and diversify the nation’s STEM workforce.
The UCLA Innovation, Culture and Creativity Project Office, supported by the National Science Foundation’s Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, will fund a series of multidisciplinary regional workshops beginning this summer that will bring together artists, institutions and individuals working in the creative and technology fields to support research and innovation at the intersection of culture, creativity and technology.
The yearlong UCLA project hub, launched in January with a $1.3 million investment from the NSF, will support seven workshops in California, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York and Washington, D.C. Participants include researchers and artists working with Indigenous knowledge, academics, nonprofit groups, museum curators, storytellers, urban planners, entertainment and performing arts professionals, designers, musicians, animators, artificial intelligence and extended reality developers, and more. The workshops were selected through a committee review process after a call for proposals earlier this year.
“These workshops will generate new networks and connections and help participants in different locations across the country think broadly about new types of innovation and R&D support,” said Jeff Burke, professor and associate dean of research and development. technology at the UCLA School of Theater. Film and Television, and principal investigator of the project. “The lessons learned from these regional meetings will inform our national meeting planned for December on how to better connect research and innovation in the technology and creative sectors.
Jennifer Jacobs, assistant professor of media arts and technology and computer science at UC Santa Barbara, is the co-principal investigator of the project. UCLA collaborators include Lauren Lee McCarthy, professor of design, media arts at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture; Chris Johanson, chair of digital humanities and associate professor of classics; and Gregory Pottie, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. The jury review and subaward process was supported by the UCLA Office of Research and Creative Activities. The UCLA DataX initiative provides additional support for activities in Los Angeles.
In December 2024, the UCLA National Conference will bring together leaders and participants from these workshops, as well as representatives from government, industry, and nonprofit sectors.
The overarching goals of the Innovation, Culture, and Creativity Project are to examine the role of regional culture in strengthening innovation ecosystems, to support the continued competitiveness of the U.S. creative sector, and to develop new strategies to grow and diversify the workforce. – of STEM work in the country.
Regional workshop themes, locations and dates include:
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