UA Center for Creative Media Names Director, Senior Research Fellow

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Universities around the country are working to bring those with creative expertise together to cultivate and enhance creativity among different fields of communication, as well as study new and traditional media forms. The University of Alabama started its Center for Creative Media last year and recently has hired two internationally known leaders in the field.

The College of Communication and Information Sciences has named Dr. William Evans, director, and Dr. Thomas B. Ward, senior research fellow and director of creativity sciences, to the Center for Creative Media.

Evans has garnered international recognition for his research on computerized video and text analysis. Ward is recognized internationally as an expert in creative thinking.

“The Center for Creative Media is blessed to have two genuinely creative individuals with impeccable scholarly credentials in its critical leadership positions,” said Dr. Jennings Bryant, professor of communications and holder of the Reagan Chair of Broadcasting. “Evans and Ward are a remarkable ‘dream team,’ and they should provide the perfect catalyst for this innovative Center, which is designed to infuse our modern media industries with fresh ideas, new formats and increased vitality.”

The Center for Creative Media has been the focus of intense planning efforts in the College for several years. The Center will bring to bear the considerable resources and expertise available at UA to produce creative media content and to conduct research designed to foster creativity in new and traditional media.

“The Center aims to help media professionals produce content that creatively engages, entertains, educates and informs consumers,” Evans said. “There is a growing demand for research that shows us how we can create television, film and new media content that is commercially successful but also challenging, thoughtful and enlightening.”

Evans added that UA faculty includes excellent media scholars, “many of whom work in already successful laboratories and institutes on campus.”

There is a growing international movement of people interested in creativity as a scientific approach, according to Evans. The Center will work to connect these people and facilities and to support collaborative media projects across the Capstone.

In time, the Center also will serve media professionals by developing partnerships and training programs with media industries throughout the state and beyond.

Prior to joining The University of Alabama, Evans served as director of Georgia State University’s Digital Arts and Entertainment Laboratory, one of the nation’s most advanced facilities for digital media research and production. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and co-editor of the volume “Communication and Culture: Language, Performance, Technology, and Media” (Ablex Publishing). Evans is an expert in Internet research and web development and has developed several university and professional training programs in new media production and research.

Ward is a founding member of the Creative Cognition Research Group at Texas A&M University. He has published more than 50 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals and has presented more than 100 papers at scientific conferences. His edited and authored books include: “Creative Cognition: Theory, Research, and Application” (MIT Press); “The Creative Cognition Approach” (MIT Press); “Creativity and the Mind: Discovering the Genius Within” (Plenum); and “Creative Thought: An Investigation of Conceptual Structures and Processes” (APA Press). Ward also serves as editor of the Journal of Creative Behavior.