Despite its ubiquity today, the word "creativity" did not enter the English language until the 1930s. This presentation argues that the concept of creativity as we know it emerged out of the early-twentieth-century eugenics movement as a way to organize an earlier, more unwieldy vocabulary around a single, race-based trait that could be encouraged through social engineering.
The Comparing Practices of Knowledge Workshop launched in the 2016-17 academic year. Presentations range across historical and disciplinary boundaries and provide a major component of SIFK's inquiry into the process of knowledge formation and transmittal from antiquity to present day. Research-in-progress is welcomed and will receive constructive feedback. Lunch will be provided to those who RSVP.