Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Creativity and Innovation
Teaching staff
Carla Gracia Mercadé: cgracia@uic.es
Introduction
In today's world we no longer buy and sell products; we buy and sell stories. This course has a double objective. On the one hand, develop the creative competencies of the students. On the other, learn the tools of storytelling, to generate stories that capture the public.
Great writers have stood out as journalists and great journalists have become recognized writers. Creativity and skill in the use of words are, without doubt, the keys to this interrelation.
Through this course, students can deepen their journalistic knowledge and apply them in different areas and formats that open their possibilities in the labor market.
Pre-course requirements
No pre-course requirements are needed to enrol in this subject.
Objectives
- Develop the creative capacity of students
- Know the mechanisms of creativity
- Acquire knowledge about the main narrative tools and understand their relevance
- Experiment with different formats and exercises that help develop students' flexibility and expand their abilities and aptitudes
- Improve the style of writing and understand the effect of certain stylistic and narrative decisions
- Understand the risks and virtues of the line that separates fiction from reality
- Being able to share their own texts
- Learn to listen to criticism and extract what adds value
- Learn to analyze texts in a constructive and argumentative way
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 03 CG - The ability to work in a group
- 06 CG - The ability to read, analyze and synthesize
- 09 CG - The ability to innovate
- 12 CG - The ability to listen
- 15 CE - Lingustic ability in Catalan, Spanish and English
- 16 CE - The ability to make judgments and well-argued critical assessments
- 17 CE - The ability to produce spoken and written texts for journalistic projects
- 18 CE - Ability to detect newsworthy events
- 40 CE - Knowledge and mastery of the use of language
- 42 CE - The ability to integrate the contributions of the environment
- 45 CE - The ability and capacity to give a creative form to a journalistic message
- 48 CE - The ability of insight, ingenuity and creativity
Learning outcomes of the subject
- Learn to look at reality from a broader and more sensitive journalistic perspective
- Acquire knowledge about the mechanisms of creativity and the main narrative tools
- Ability to understand the influence of storytelling and the risks and virtues of their application
- Experiment with other useful journalistic and narrative formats to open up to the labor market and to know the reality of the journalistic world
- Develop their creative and innovation competence
- Improve their own style of writing and understand the effect of certain stylistic and narrative decisions
- Be able to share their texts, listen to criticism and extract what adds value
- Analyze a narrative text in a argumentative and solid way
Syllabus
Theme 1. Creativity
- What is creativity?
- Mechanisms of creativity
- Creativity and writing (Gianni Rodari)
- The creative process (Roger von Oech)
Topic 2. Benefits and use of storytelling
- The benefits of storytelling
- The use of storytelling in our lives
- The use of storytelling in journalism
- Virtues and risks of storytelling
Topic 3. Storytelling techniques
- The key elements of storytelling
- The tools to narrate
- Character construction
- The deep and superficial conflicts
- Actions
- The creation of the narrative voice
- Details and descriptions
- How to thrill: show versus say
- Tension management: structure and repetitive elements
- Good beginnings and endings of a story
Topic 4. Ethical considerations of storytelling and the future of creative narratives
Teaching and learning activities
In person
| TRAINING ACTIVITY | ECTS CREDITS |
|---|---|
| Coaching. Monitoring how students learn the content of the subject, either individually or in groups. In the coaching sessions, mistakes will be corrected, queries answered, and exercises and activities to achieve the established objectives will be suggested. | |
| Meeting Point. Meetings will be organised with notable people from the professional and scientific fields or the international field, and students. These sessions will take the form of conferences, work sessions, discussions, or interviews, etc. | |
| E-learning. Virtual learning based on ICT. | |
| Lab. Working groups that combine theory and practice. The aim of these is not to undertake already known techniques, but instead to make progress that is both theoretical and technical. These Lab sessions will culminate in the creation of a professional or semi-professional product. | |
| Lectures. In lectures, lecturers/professors not only transmit content or knowledge, but also, and above all else, attitudes, motivation, skills and values, etc. They also ensure that participants can express their opinions and arguments to the other students. | |
| Peer learning. The aim of this activity is to ensure that students gain the ability to analyse and be critical. One way of achieving this is by correcting their peers' exercises and results, etc. Each student will be evaluated twice: as both a recipient and a transmitter of critical knowledge. |
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
Evaluation criteria
It is a course of deepening and practical development; therefore, participation will be essential for learning.
Writing correctly is fundamental in all subjects and, especially in this one. Following the regulations of the Faculty, each spelling mistake will discount a point in any work and half-point in the exam.
The evaluation is continuous and, in the first call; there will be no final exam. However, there will be a partial exam. The final grade will be the result of:
- Practices in class and participation: 30%
- Partial exam: 40%
- Final works: 30%
Other calls:
Second call: Students of 2nd call will have to make a written exam on the theoretical and practical aspects dealt with in the subject.
Third call: If the student suspends in the second call, he or she will have to register again for the whole subject and take it. The student will have to attend the classes, do the practices and pass them.
Fourth call: Students of 4th call will have to make a written exam on the theoretical and practical aspects dealt with in the subject.
Fifth call: If the student suspends the subject in the fifth call, he/she will have to ask for the conditions established for the extraordinary calls
Bibliography and resources
- Ayuso, Ana (ed.). El oficio de escritor. Ediciones y Talleres de Escritura Creativa
- Fuentetaja. Madrid, 1997
- Cabré, Jaume. El sentit de la ficció. Edicions Proa. Barcelona, 2010
- Cañelles, Isabel. La construcción del personaje literario. Ediciones y Talleres de Escritura
- Creativa Fuentetaja. Madrid, 1999
- Cassany, Daniel. La cuina de l’escriptura. Empúries. Barcelona, 2002
- Goldberg, Natalie. El gozo de escribir. La liebre de marzo. Madrid, 2004
- Gottschall, J. The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human. Mariner Books. Wilmington, 2013
- Milerson, Gerald. Realización y producción en televisión. IORTV. Madrid, 2009
- Páez, Enrique. Manual de técnicas narrativas. Editorial SM. Madrid, 2006
- Queneau, Raymond. Ejercicios de estilo. Cátedra. Madrid, 2006.
- Rodari, G. Gramática de la fantasía: Introducción al arte de contar historias. Editoral del bronce. Madrid, 2002
- Salmon, Ch. Storytelling, la máquina de fabricar historias y formatear las mentes. Península. Barcelona, 2008
- Salmon, Ch. La era del enfrentamiento: Del storytelling a la ausencia de relato. Atalaya. Barcelona, 2019
- Snow, S.; Lazauskas, J. The Storytelling Edge. Wiley. New Jersey, 2018
- Wood, James. Los mecanismos de la ficción. Gredos. Madrid, 2009.