Mindful Creativity

The University of Toledo

Department of Music, College of Arts and Letters

COCA2000 003 (CRN 55744)

Instructor: Jay Rinsen Weik, Senior Lecturer Course Website: Blackboard

Email: [email protected] Class Location: CPA Room 1023
Office Hours: By Appointment Class Day/Time: Friday 2:30-4pm
Office Location: CPA 1012 Lab Location: N/A
Instructor Phone: 419-490-1500 (text only) Lab Day/Time: N/A
Offered: Fall 2024 Credit Hours: 3.0

CATALOG/COURSE DESCRIPTION

Introduction to the principles, skills and practice of Mindfulness and their relationship to the development of
creativity. Exploration of application to daily life including academic and professional situations.

COURSE OVERVIEW/TEACHING METHODOLOGY

Mindfulness is the skill of being deliberately attentive to one’s experience as it unfolds without judgment,
commentary or conceptualization. The capacity to be mindful provides a pathway to overcoming unskillful
habits of mind that cause us to suffer needlessly, and improves our ability to be fully aware participants in our
own lives, and allows us to enhance our creative process. Creativity is widely held as the highest level of
human activity, and it is a capacity that can be examined, practiced and developed. This course is a practical
guide to developing the skills of mindfulness and creativity and applying them to every aspect of daily life. The
foundational technique of mindfulness is the cultivation of intentional awareness, and it can be applied to the
simplest aspects of life: si]ng, breathing, walking, dressing, cleaning, speaking or driving all the way up to that
most complex of human activities - the creative process. Because it is an innate capacity, Mindfulness has been
part of human experience since we have been humans, but scholarship tells us that the practice and
development of it was first widely taught 2,600 years ago by the individual known today as the Buddha.
Though we will reference his and other contemplatively based teachings as we move through the semester,
this practice-oriented course neither asserts, requires, nor refutes any particular religious or metaphysical
belief, nor is it a religious studies class. This flipped course is designed to stimulate student learning through
the web-based delivery of readings, video, and audio, activities involving online posts and in person discussion,
and the taking up and tracking of daily mindfulness practices. A final project is due at the end of the semester.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this class, learners will be able to: 1. Explain the principles, practices and skills of mindfulness
and creativity. 2. Apply mindfulness and creativity principles, practices and skills to daily life situations from
personal to academic or professional across all disciplines. 3. Interpret their enhanced experiences and discuss
them. 4. Employ the methods of inquiry characteristic of the arts and humanities and develop tools for solving
problems by integrating information from different disciplines into discussion and a final paper.

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PREREQUISITES AND COREQUISITES

None

TEXTS AND ANCILLARY MATERIALS

All Course Content is included in the class blackboard website.

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS

Browser Check Page: Students need to have access to a properly functioning computer throughout the
semester. The Browser Check Page will enable you to perform a systems check on your browser, and to ensure
that your browser settings are compatible with Blackboard, the course management system that hosts this
course: hUp:// www.utdl.edu/utlv/Bb9BrowserCheck/innovaNon/blackboard/browsercheck.html Software
Student computers need to be capable of running the latest versions of plug-ins, recent software and have the
necessary tools to be kept free of viruses and spyware. The computer needs to run the following software,
available in the Online Learning Download Center at hUp://www.utoledo.edu/dl/main/downloads.html:
Word Processing Software Adobe Acrobat Reader Apple QuickTime Player Java Plugin Console Adobe Flash
Player Adobe Shockwave Player Mozilla Firefox Browser - Recommended Internet Service High-speed Internet
access is suggested as dial-up may be slow and limited in downloading information and completing online
tests. This course does contain streaming audio and video content. Use of Public Computers If using a public
library or other public access computer, please check to ensure that you will have access for the length of time
required to complete tasks and tests. A list and schedule for on-campus computer labs is available at
hUp://www.utoledo.edu/it/CS/Lab_hours.html. UT Virtual Labs Traditionally, on-campus labs have offered
students the use of computer hardware and software they might not otherwise have access to. With UT's
Virtual Lab, students can now access virtual machines loaded with all of the software they need to be
successful using nothing more than a broadband Internet connection and a web browser. The virtual lab is
open 24/7 and 365 days a year at hUp://www.utoledo.edu/it/VLab/Index.html.

EMAIL COMMUNICATION

It will be EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you check your Rockets email regularly! This is how I
communicate with you for this class.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

Learners are expected to watch the video content on Monday, Take the online quiz on Tuesday, practice the
mindfulness techniques daily and keep a practice journal, attend the class meeting each Friday and complete a
Sunday Summary each week. Learners are expected to complete a final project of either a 10-page paper
summary of your experience with the class, or a 5-page paper with a creative project due on the last day of
finals week. All final projects must be uploaded to the course Blackboard site by 11:59pm Friday of finals
week.

OVERVIEW OF COURSE GRADE ASSIGNMENT

Student work will be assessed for Timeliness and depth of content and contribution based on active
engagement based on real-world experiences with the material. Feedback will be provided as needed for each
assignment within 48 hours of the assignments due date. Grading points are as follows: Friday Class
participation, Quizzes and Sunday Summary Posts all count for 10 points each. The Final Project counts for 150
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points. Students are expected to complete and submit all assignments and tests by the due date listed in the
Course Schedule. Late assignments and make-up tests will not be permitted unless arrangements are
discussed and approved well before the required due date except in the case of an acceptable documented
family or medical emergency. Ask questions as soon as possible by email if you do not understand an
assignment.

GRADING SCALE

A 92-100, A- 90-91, B+ 88-89, B 82-87, B- 80-81, C+ 78-79, C 72-77, C- 70-71, D+ 68-69, D 62-67, D- 60-61

UNIVERSITY POLICIES

Undergraduate Policies: hSp://www.utoledo.edu/policies/academic/undergraduate/

Graduate Policies: hSp://www.utoledo.edu/policies/academic/graduate/

INSITIUTIONAL CLASSROOM ATTENDANCE POICY

Please be aware that the university has implemented an attendance policy, which requires faculty to verify
student participation in every class a student is registered at the start of each new semester/course. For this
course, if you have not attended/participated in class (completed any course activities or assignments)
within the first 14 days, I am required by federal law to report you as not attended. Unfortunately, not
attending/participating in class impacts your eligibility to receive financial aid, so it is VERY important
that you attend class and complete course work in these first two weeks. Please contact me as soon as
possible to discuss options and/or possible accommodations if you have any difficulty completing
assignments within the first two weeks.

POLICY STATEMENT ON NON-DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF DISABILITY

The University is an equal opportunity educational institution. Please read The University’s Policy
Statement on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability Americans with Disability Act Compliance.
Students can find this policy along with other university policies listed by audience on the University
Policy webpage (http://www.utoledo.edu/policies/ audience.html/#students).

ACADEMIC ACCOMODATIONS

The University of Toledo embraces the inclusion of students with disabilities. We are committed to
ensuring equal opportunity and seamless access for full participation in all courses. For students who have
an accommodations memo from Student Disability Services, I invite you to correspond with me as soon as
possible so that we can communicate confidentially about implementing accommodations in this course.
For students who have not established affiliation with Student Disability Services and are experiencing
disability access barriers or are interested in a referral to healthcare resources for a potential disability or
would like information regarding eligibility for academic accommodations, please contact the Student
Disability Services Office (http:// www.utoledo.edu/offices/student-disability-services/) by phone:
419.530.4981 or email at [email protected].

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS
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A student is permitted to be absent, without penalty, for up to three days each academic semester to take holidays for
reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or to participate in organized activities conducted under the
auspices of a religious denomination church, or other religious or spiritual organization. 3364-71-30 Religious
accommodations policy and 3364-71-30.01 Religious accommodations procedure.

Grievance procedure A student may notify the institution of any grievance regarding the policy’s implementation
using the 3364-71-05.1 Academic grievance procedure.

ACADEMIC AND SUPPORT SERVICES

Please follow this link to view a comprehensive list of Student Academic and Support Services (http://
www.utoledo.edu/studentaffairs/departments.html) available to you as a student.

SAFETY AND HEALTH SERVICES FOR UT STUDENTS

Please use the following link to view a comprehensive list Campus Health and Safety Services available to
you as a student.

COVID-19 HEALTH AND SAFETY STATEMENT

Maintaining a safe campus during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic remains a top priority. UToledo
continues to follow the guidance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Ohio
Department of Health to keep our campus safe.

INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM STATEMENT

In this class, we will work together to develop a learning community that is inclusive and respectful. Our
diversity may be reflected by differences in race, culture, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender
identity/expression, socioeconomic background, and a myriad of other social identities and life
experiences. We will encourage and appreciate expressions of different ideas, opinions, and beliefs so that
conversations and interactions that could potentially be divisive turn, instead, into opportunities for
intellectual and personal development.

ATTENDANCE

The University of Toledo has a missed class policy. It is important that students and instructors discuss
attendance requirements for the course. Anyone with a temperature at or above 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit
or who is experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should not come to campus and do a self-
administered COVID test or contact their primary care physician or the Main Campus Health Center at
419.530.3451 or Health Science Campus Student Health and Wellness Center at 419.383.5000 to get tested
and treated. One unexcused absence will result in lowering the final grade by a full letter, two unexcused
absences will result in the final grade being lowered by 2 letters, three unexcused absences will result in an
immediate F for the class and no further class meetings will be offered to the student.

VACCINATION

Doctors and other health care professionals agree that the best way to protect ourselves and each other is to
get vaccinated. Case data clearly show that vaccines remain highly effective at preventing serious illness
from COVID, including the highly contagious delta variant. If you have not yet received your COVID
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 vaccine, the University encourages you do so as soon as possible. No appointment is needed to get the shot
at the UTMC Outpatient Pharmacy, University Health Clinic or Main Campus Pharmacy. Once you
receive the COVID vaccination, please register on the COVID Vaccine Registry site at: https://
utvaccinereg.utoledo.edu/.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1: Orientation and Introductions.

Week 2: Intentional Awareness Basics; How Schools Kill Creativity

Week 3: Ritualized Action and Mindfulness; Four Lessons in Creativity

Week 4: Intentionally Aware Walking and Driving; Taking Imagination Seriously

Week 5: Mindful Caretaking; The Creative Person

Week 6: The Practice of Conscious Eating; Creative Awareness as a Survival Skill

Week 7: Perfect Imperfection; Creative Adaptors and Innovators

Week 8: Non-Dual Awareness; Just Seeing What Is There

Week 9: Open Hearted Awareness; Creative Divergent Thinking

Week 10: Cultivating Good Will; Creative Convergent Thinking

Week 11: The Practice of Mindful Speaking and Creative Communication Strategies

Week 12: Mindful Creativity Blocker #1: Irritation (Anger) and How to Work with It

Week 13: Mindful Creativity Blocker #2: Attachment (Greed) and How to Work with It

Week 14: Bringing It All Together - Final Project Discussion

Week 15: Final Projects Due

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