Sheridan College is aiming to increase their creative-bassed curriculum options and reputation in skills-training by looking to hire two new professors who will specialize in storytelling and creative thinking.
“We do see developing creative thinking competencies and creativity skills as one way of providing them with that vehicle and currency,” Sheridan’s associate dean of humanities and social sciences, Dr. Yael Katz, told YourMississaugaBiz.com. “So when they leave Sheridan, go out into the workforce and have these 21st-century competencies, they thrive.”
Sheridan College has 18,000 students and campuses in Oakville, Brampton and Mississauga. With its Hazel McCallion Campus business school located near Square One, it has actively pushed for skills training through its post-graduate diploma programs.
Katz also acknowledged there is now a trend of employers and hiring managers valuing creative-thinking competencies in addition to communication, analytical and critical thinking skills.
Graduates with the capacity to think creatively, think reflectively, and have a sense of curiosity and open-mindedness also are more in demand. “We are hoping that our students would develop these types of competencies that would distinguish them from other students,” Katz said.
And while creativity was always associated with Sheridan’s programs like dance, design, illustration and animation, Katz said the two new positions aim to go beyond and foster creativity all over its campuses. “We want to encourage students, enable them to find new ways to model innovation, produce knowledge in their disciplines in new ways and to inspire novelty,” she said.
The two new positions, Storytelling & Narrativity and Creativity and Creative Thinking, will be housed within Sheridan’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, in its School of Humanity and Creativity.
Courses will be part of the Sheridan’s offering of electives open to all students and Katz estimates there will be 40 people in each class.
And while the college is looking for candidates who specialize in storytelling and narrativity, Katz said they should also see the subjects as vehicles for creative capacity.
Potential applicants for the two positions are advised to check out Sheridan’s postings on the job website Workopolis. While there is no set deadline, Katz said the college has already begun screening candidates and the competition is well underway.
Karen K. Ho 