Mississippi: Harnessing the Power of Design Thinking

The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) and the Student Think Center at The University of Southern Mississippi are collaborating to engage youth in the state’s creative economy initiative. This spring, the two partners hosted a special event for students at two area high schools: a government class from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Sciences and a visual arts class from the Mississippi School of the Arts. These two classes engaged 31 students in a workshop to formulate new ideas for using the arts to create economic opportunities in Mississippi. The event included guests from MAC, Mississippi Council on Economic Education and Mississippi Development Authority. This event and other activities at the Student Think Center apply a “design thinking” approach to the process of learning. Originating from engineering and design disciplines for product development, design thinking blends skills from the arts, the social sciences, business and other disciplines to help students learn to collaborate and to develop innovative solutions to complex problems. For more information on this event, contact MAC Arts in Education Director Kim Whitt.