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Volume 92 Issue 2, May 2023, pp. 147-181
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Articles

Remaking Critical Theory: A Creative Humanities Process and Intervention

Brandon McFarlaneRelated information
* Pilon School of Business, Sheridan College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
, Alexander HollenbergRelated information
† Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sheridan College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
, Hyein LeeRelated information
‡ Faculty of Animation, Art, and Design, Sheridan College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
, Marco CibolaRelated information
‡ Faculty of Animation, Art, and Design, Sheridan College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Brandon McFarlane

with Sarah Banting, “Possibilities for English Studies,” English Studies in Canada (forthcoming).

“Introduction to the Creative Humanities,” University of Toronto Quarterly (2022)

“Applying Critical Creativity to Navigate the Tensions between Art and Business in the Creative City,” Creative Industries in Canada (2022).

with Nathaniel Barr, Kylie Hartley, Joel Lopata, and Michael McNamara, “Learning in an Uncertain World: Transforming Higher Education for the Anthropocene,” Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity, Learning and Development (2022)

Alexander Hollenberg

“children of Atlantis,” “brush,” and “cowpokes near Spillars Cove,” Riddle Fence (2022)

with Jessica Pulis and Brianna Wodabek, “Sacred Healings through Telling Story: Lessons from the Sacred Grounds,” Journal of Applied Social Science (2021)

“Indigenous Storytelling: Ethics and Resistance,” Rethinking Who We Are: Critical Reflections of Human Diversity in Canada (2019)

“Challenging Creativity: A Critical Pedagogy of Narrative Interpretation,” ESC: English Studies in Canada (2017)

Hyein Lee

“Creating Community,” Hoarding Group Exhibition, STEPS Public Art (2019)

“From Weeds We Grow,” Online Exhibition, STEPS Public Art (2021)

“Math Hacks 2: Stress Less + Do Better,” Illustration, Scholastic (2021)

“Math Hacks: Cool Tips + Less Stress = Better Marks,” Illustration, Scholastic (2018)

Marco Cibola

https://doi.org/10.3138/utq.92.2.03
Abstract

Popular conceptions of creativity advance a neoliberal world view that reduces creativity to spontaneous ideation or so-called “right-brain thinking.” Such formulations, now commonly upheld in popular and educational discourse, blinker the essential role of criticality and sensitivity to socio-cultural context in the creative process. To challenge the neoliberalization of creativity, we designed the Remaking Critical Theory (RCT) process, which synthesizes recent cognitive science and creative humanities research to reconstitute creativity as criticality and vice versa – what we label critical creativity. The process reframes humanistic interpretation as a critical-creative activity and adapts methods from art, design, and innovation management to facilitate the production of humanities insights. Drawing upon dual-process models of creative cognition, we theorize how the RCT process activates the right type of thinking at the right time in the creative process. We also evidence efficacy by delineating and reflecting upon a pilot application at Sheridan College, which culminated in the student researchers making critical theory zines. More than simply reaffirming the value of critical theory in neoliberal societies, we delineate a radically new approach to humanities research and pedagogy.

KEYWORDS: creative humanities, creativity, critical creativity, critical theorya, critical making, dual-process theory, innovation management, prototyping, zines