UGA Online Educational Psychologist Mark Runco Contributes 30 Years of Creativity Research to NEA Report

Mark Runco, a professor of educational psychology at the College of Education, who teaches in the Master of Education in Educational Psychology, Gifted and Creative Education online program, recently participated in a workshop and a report called, “How Creativity Works in the Brain.” He was selected to represent the creativity research field during the two-day meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico with several artists, neuroscientists and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) representatives. 

Runco, who has studied creativity for nearly 30 years and has published around 200 articles, chapters and books on its measurement and enhancement, including the primary textbook used in the field, conducted a past study that points to the advantages of bringing diverse groups together for creative problems solving. 

“The interdisciplinary nature of the group and NEA efforts is stimulating as you would expect given the findings that come from the creativity research,” Runco said. “No one person can bring everything that is needed from the creativity research, as well as the neuroscientific work and the arts.”

In addition to defining how creativity is related to the arts, cognition and brain function, the report also addresses the nature of creativity in the brain, including what makes up the anatomy of an “aha” moment. 

We are so honored to have online professors of the academic caliber of Dr. Runco. Read the full story onhis contribution to the report here.