a2ru | 2017 Emerging Creatives Student Summit

The Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru) Emerging Creatives Student Summits bring together students who have an interest in the arts, crossing disciplinary boundaries, and developing collaborative projects. Each year, 100 undergraduate and graduate students attend the summit from a2ru partner universities across the country, along with 20 administrators, faculty, and staff. These summits have a strong project-based component with activities such as panel discussions with special guests, keynote speakers, site visits or field trips, performances and exhibitions, networking opportunities, and “bootcamp” or skill-building experiences built in throughout.

The 2017 a2ru Student Summit will be hosted by the University of Florida, February 8-11, 2017, in Gainesville, FL. This year’s theme is WATER: New Directions Through Arts and Science. No community on this planet is without it’s water-based challenges. Water-centric grand challenges are many, ranging from access and social justice issues in local and global contexts, to environmental degradation, to toxicological challenges, to saltwater incursion into freshwater, to sea level rise. Uniquely situated less than two hours from the Gulf Coast and from the Atlantic Ocean in an area known for its numerous freshwater springs, the University of Florida has great strength in local, regional, national, and international research and creative activity when it comes to these and other water-centric grand challenges. This summit will feature panels and working group leadership from distinguished professor in the life sciences and the arts at the University of Florida, as well as leading artists and water scholars from around the country. Join us this coming February 8-11 to advance your own creative work or research through interdisciplinary collaboration with your peers at leading institutions across the U.S. Undergraduate and graduate students in any and all fields are welcome, particularly those that care about and have a deep interest in water and the environment. We especially encourage student research teams from biology, ecology, and related fields, as well as artists/designers, to apply.

Featured Guests

Robert Davies, Physicist/Climatologist, Utah Climate Center and Utah State University
Janet Biggs, Extreme Videographer and Installation Artist, Brooklyn, NY
Jack Putz, Distinguished Professor of Biology
Margaret Tolbert, Renowned Painter
Wendy Graham, Executive Director, UF Water Institute
Matt Cohen, Associate Professor of Hydrology
Tom Frazer, Professor of Aquatic Ecology
Cynthia Barnett, Author and Environmental Journalist
Marta Wayne, Professor and Chair of Biology
Angela Lindner, Associate Provost of Undergraduate Affairs
Mark Law, Professor and Director, UF Honors Program
Terry Harpold, Professor of English
Whitney Sanford, Professor of Religion
Ann Christiano, Frank and Betsy Karel Endowed Chair in Public Interest Communications

Interested students should apply here by Sunday, January 8, 2017.

Join the conversation online by using #a2ruH2O. For more information about the event, please visit the a2ru website.

This event has been financed in part by a Tourist Development Tax Grant from the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners in conjunction with the Alachua County Tourist Development Council.