The Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry has selected four new fellows for the 2005-06 academic year:

• Ana de Brea, assistant professor of architecture
• Justen Infinito, assistant professor of educational studies
• Jennifer Blackmer, assistant professor of theatre and dance
• Kevin Klinger, assistant professor of architecture

Fellows receive a summer stipend to prepare the seminar and recruit students. Each seminar is assigned a budget of $15,000 to explore the connections among the arts, humanities, sciences and technology; create a product to illustrate their collaborative research and interdisciplinary study; and present the product to the community in a public forum.

Fall 2005

• "America, The North and The South" — Ana de Brea and her students will collaborate with the School of Architecture, Design and Urbanism at Buenos Aires National University to create a multimedia exhibit and publication that will evoke the unique cultures of "North" and "South" America. 

• "The Building of a Charter School: Learning Social Entrepreneurship" — Justen Infinito will lead students in designing a public charter school. The group will collaborate with Ball State's Center for Entrepreneurship to develop a business plan to establish and sustain an effective charter school proposal for a group of interested citizens.
   

Spring 2006

• "The Human Faustus Project" — Jennifer Blackmer will lead students to use theatre as a platform to explore the complexities of the Human Genome Project. They will work with the curators at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, and collaborate with experts in theatre and technology to develop ways to incorporate multimedia and animation into the production. The final staged reading will be performed at the Indiana Repertory Theatre.

• "Streams: Data Driven Fabrications Connecting with Indiana's White River" — Kevin Klinger and a group of students will explore digital technology as a creative medium to fabricate several art installations along White River. The group will work with the Minnetrista Cultural Center and Arts Place in Portland, Ind., to create streaming video and Web-based archives to document the creative process, while a multimedia presentation will be crafted for the opening of each installation.

By Layne Cameron, Media Relations Manager