Preparing for Evalt Work Meeting in Spain

From 6 to 10 of May 2013, the Evalt team will meet in Spain, region of Guadalajara-Castilla La Mancha, for the 5th work meeting. During this period the participants will attend in Guadalajara the Provincial Seminar about women and employment, in Molina de Aragon the workshop on theatre and dancing held by the Portuguese association Contempla Trilhos (coordinator of the project) and in Tartanedo the workshop on creative writing held by Fepamuc-Guadalajara (host of the meeting).

To prepare for the travel, here some shots of the beautiful places.

 Guadalajara - The Municipality Hall

Guadalajara

 Molina de Aragon

 Molina de Aragon - The Castle

 Tartanedo

 

Tartanedo

Obviously we cannot miss Madrid, the capital, where we will land and from we will fly off.

Madrid - Plaza Mayor

Preparing for the meeting in Rome, 3-7 October 2012

Giovanni Paolo Pannini "Capriccio panoramico di Roma con il Colosseo,l'Arco di Costantino e il Tempio di Castore e Polluce"

Canaletto "Veduta di Piazza Navona, Roma"

William Turner "Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino"

  Ettore Roesler Franz "Ponte rotto"

Experiencing different cultures enhances creativity

Creativity can be enhanced by experiencing cultures different from one's own, according to a study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (published by SAGE).

Three studies looked at students who had lived abroad and those who hadn't, testing them on different aspects of creativity. Relative to a control group, which hadn't experienced a different culture, participants in the different culture group provided more evidence of creativity in various standard tests of the trait. Those results suggest that multicultural learning is a critical component of the adaptation process, acting as a creativity catalyst.
The researchers believe that the key to the enhanced creativity was related to the students' open-minded approach in adapting to the new culture. In a global world, where more people are able to acquire multicultural experiences than ever before, this research indicates that living abroad can be even more beneficial than previously thought.
"Given the literature on structural changes in the brain that occur during intensive learning experiences, it would be worthwhile to explore whether neurological changes occur within the creative process during intensive foreign culture experiences," write the authors, William W. Maddux, Hajo Adam, and Adam D. Galinsky. "That can help paint a more nuanced picture of how foreign culture experiences may not only enhance creativity but also, perhaps literally, as well as figuratively, broaden the mind.

Source: EurekAlert!

Complete article: When in Rome… Learn Why the Romans Do What They Do: How Multicultural Learning Experiences Facilitate Creativity