RIT to host a2ru student summit in March 2024

Dozens of young scholars will convene at Rochester Institute of Technology next year as the university hosts the next a2ru Emerging Creatives Student Summit.

The 2024 Emerging Creatives Student Summit, which will take place March 14-17, is titled “PLAY: The Impact of Play on How We Create and Relate to the World.” The student participants will work in interdisciplinary teams from across the a2ru network to create arts-integrative projects responding to the theme and will benefit from the capabilities of RIT’s new Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED).

The SHED, which opened in August 2023, purposefully brings together technology, the arts, and design under one roof. With flexible spaces that foster and stimulate creativity, collaboration, and discovery, the SHED is a different kind of building, designed for a unique campus like RIT.

RIT’s College of Art and Design is spearheading the coordination of the summit. Dean Todd Jokl shared his excitement for the opportunity to host this unique, collaborative student conference.

“The theme of play emerged in conversations around how play and creative learning are inextricably linked. Further, Rochester is home to The Strong National Museum of Play, a world-renowned institution devoted to the history and exploration of play. Undoubtedly, The Strong will ‘play’ a visible role in the conference,” said Jokl. “And also visible will be the unique opportunity for our student participants to work on their interdisciplinary projects in RIT’s new crown jewel facility—The SHED. There is no better place to foster creative inspiration!” 

Each year, the a2ru Emerging Creatives Student Summit brings together undergraduate and graduate students representing a myriad of disciplines from across the a2ru network of higher education institutions. Mentored by a2ru staff and artists and scholars from RIT, students will participate in skill-building workshops on collaboration and ideation, gather inspiration from researchers and cultural institutions through interactive discussions and field trips, and receive expert input as they work in teams to create transdisciplinary projects.

“A2ru is thrilled to be bringing Emerging Creatives to RIT and to its extraordinary new creativity and innovation facility, the SHED,” said a2ru Executive Director Maryrose Flanigan. “We are grateful for our deep, longstanding partnership with President David Munson and Dean Todd Jokl, and thank the remarkable group of staff and faculty at the College of Art and Design for their support and partnership with this event. We cannot wait to work— and play— with another outstanding cohort of students from the a2ru network this year.”

Student participants are nominated by their home institutions, which may send up to four students each. Delegations from each school are split evenly between those from arts and non-arts disciplines. Further information on the nomination process will be shared with a2ru member schools later in October.