Class celebrates 'psychology creativity'

Students took a shot at temporary stardom Tuesday during the inaugural "Psychology Creativity Day" during Introduction to Psychology 102 with Professor Ken Ghee.  

Similar to Star Search, American Idol or The Gong Show, sans the gong, the seven presenters performed their creative acts in front of an audience of more than 240 students and professors. 

"It's gonna be off the hook!" Ghee said Monday as he was preparing for the event. 

Psychology Creativity Day merged pop culture with psychology, he said 

Ghee said he wanted students to share something that was meaningful to them and to express it creatively - an action we pay celebrities millions of dollars to do. 

After a six-month sabbatical, he asked himself, "What can I do to spice up my class?" considering it already to be one of the best intro classes, if not the best, on campus.  

"I wanted to promote the Psychology Department and what we're doing and what students can do creatively to express themselves in their own psychological world," said Ghee. 

In the judging of about 17 auditions, acts were selected based on originality and creativity, diversity of students and diversity of performance type. 

Students chosen had the opportunity to sing, recite their own poetry, rap or do card tricks.  

Much of the material performed applied to psychology because of themes about love and relationships, except for the magic card trick and a rap song. 

First-year student Josh Stevens, who rapped, said his piece was about ambition "and securing your goals through whatever means necessary." 

Prior to his act, he warmed up the audience by explaining why he chose to perform and why he chose his song, drawing laughter. "I knew I wanted to perform in creativity day, but I didn't know what. Then one day, we were talking about Pavlov and just like his dog, I went, 'Ding!'" 

He further elicited excitement by his unique dance interpretation of the rap, getting on top of tables and unbuttoning his shirt. 

Another popularly received act was Scott Henthorn, a first-year student, who played guitar and sang an original song about a bad relationship break-up. 

Besides singing how "the single life ain't so bad," he made the audience laugh by also singing how, since the breakup, he has more money and "the wealthy life ain't so bad," either. 

"I think [a break-up] is a universal situation and it would appeal to everyone. Plus, it's one of my favorite songs I've written," said Henthorn. 

Other acts were Andrea White (an original poem about a heartbreak), Danielle Formen (a jazz love song), Mitchell Milner (performer) and George Porter (magic card trick with audience participation), Precious Simley (original poem about adult/parental behavior) and Brandi Baney (sang "Killing Me Softly" by the Fugees).  

Judges included everyone in the audience, Ghee's teaching assistants and guest faculty. 

The evaluation form consisted of three potential marks: Fair, good and very good, on three categories: Originality and creativity, relevance to psychology, and intangibles, for each performer. 

Intangibles encompassed subjective qualities based on the judge's discretion - anything from how the judge personally related to the act or how the judge may have liked the way the performers presented themselves. 

All of the students who participated received extra credit and the winner gets additional extra credit.  

The class in general, could also receive extra credit by taking notes and answering in a short paper, "what message did they relate to most and why and which presentation did they judge to best and why." 

Ghee also performed as a "guest" for the finale and received a standing ovation by many of his students.  

He initially dropped a popular beat by notorious rapper 50 Cent to throw off the audience, then changed the rest of the lyrics to rap about how cool school is and the importance of getting a college degree. 

Ghee, an award-winning local cable TV producer, has had experience traveling and doing stage shows promoting culture and education. 

Volunteers manned video cameras during Psychology Creativity Day as well, and Ghee said given reasonable footage, he might put it on a local access cable show.  

He may also decide to use excerpts in something else he produces. 

"I thought the talent displayed by the students was very good," Ghee said. "People actually went up there and really put their hearts into it. I'm very proud of all my students." 

The student performers were not the only ones who enjoyed the concept of Psychology Creativity Day. 

"[Creativity Day] allowed us to use principles we learned in psychology and apply it creatively. I love his class," said LaVandez Jones, a first-year student. 

Other students also voiced about the rapport Ghee establishes with his students. "This class is a lot more fun while other psychology classes are more generic," said third-year student Tulsi Vallabh. 

"I think it brought the class closer together; that's one of the functions of this Creativity Day," said Ghee. 

Ghee said based on the success of the day, he might continue it as a quarterly event.