To the average student, a class named “Queer Creativity” may raise some questions: What’s the point? How would I be graded? How would this help me in my post-graduation career?
Nevertheless, the title drew in a group of eight Tulane students ready to take a risk and learn about their innate ability to create. The course’s creator, Georgi Gardiner, is a first-year professor at Tulane, teaching in the departments of Philosophy and Gender & Sexuality Studies (GESS). In "Queer Creativity," Professor Gardiner asked us to take a closer look at ourselves, question why we do what we do, and make conscious decisions to find creative meaning and experiences in our lives. Throughout a semester of side quests, container facilitations, and a puppet birthday party, we were able to truly understand what it means to live life authentically and with purpose — even as students set up to live the life society structures for us.
The penultimate project of the class was an art showcase demonstrating our proudest works throughout the semester. The objective of this showcase was to create interactive art displays or games that tie in the lessons we learned and experiences we shared in a way that was approachable and enjoyable for others. Each student brought in one to two displays, which were all diverse in subject matter and material — a dollhouse with DIY paper dolls, watercolor journals, Frankenstein word-building activities, tarot readings, mix-and-match your own GESS major/minor, and more! This event took place in the Lavin-Bernick Center (LBC) for a total of two hours and engaged with passers-by for a fun and eventful “Creativity Fest.”
For each student enrolled, it was also expected that they host a “thing” once during the semester. Though originally a daunting task with a mysterious feel to it, the “thing” had to be a creative project that you felt familiar enough with to share with your peers.
For me, that was my passion for the circus arts. There was one day in which we decided to take advantage of the beautiful New Orleans weather and have class outside. I decided to bring a bag full of juggling balls, hula-hoops, scarves, and so much more. The class was able to learn my “thing” and experiment on their own with recess-inspired play. Though it may seem pointless, Professor Gardiner made it clear that with every experience in our class came meaning. This “thing” taught me how to approach container facilitation and enhanced my experience teaching through creative means. This concept of significance through play became a foundational aspect of the class.
This class wasn’t a typical lecture class but instead involved learning different skills and ways of thinking that included guest speakers and trips around and off Tulane’s campus. Notable excursions included trips to the Newcomb Art Museum, Tulane’s MakerSpace, an art showcase in the Howard Tilton Memorial Library, and an outdoor retreat in Audubon Park. These trips not only incorporated lessons from our class but helped us become more familiar with the resources available to us on Tulane’s campus. My favorite trip was to the MakerSpace, where we laser cut our “life stories” into an abstract line. Our class was also featured in campus events like "Sex Week," where we talked about language and language forming centered around relationships.
I initially thought the class would consist of drawing and painting, but it was nothing like that at all. Instead, we learned invaluable life skills, like learning to be aware of ourselves and our place within our ecosystems, working through burnout, critically analyzing the words we use — their impacts and origins — and more. Our class left the course having built a container and community that we know we can rely on whenever we need help. One student, in a comment about taking the class, said that it is “not like any class I've taken before. You use your brain in entirely new ways!” Another student shared that they “never had a class so encouraging or that taught such applicable skills!” All around, the students in "Queer Creativity" gained an incredible amount of love over the course of the semester for our peers, the class, and for Professor Gardiner.
Funding for art exhibition materials and other creative materials used throughout the course was made possible by a grant from the Newcomb Institute. The course also benefitted from a grant from the Skau Art and Music Fund, which brings Arts Writing workshops to Tulane undergraduate classes, including the Queer Creativity course.
Creativity Fest participants joke as they make paper dolls during the 2-hour event, which was hosted by students in the "Queer Creativity" course..