A special event to spark innovative ideas for your civic engagement work
Join us Thursday, April 17, 2025 from 4:30-5:15 pm ET as we partner with Project Pericles for an uplifting webinar about how creativity is a powerful tool for civic engagement and inspiring social good.
Hear from faculty about how they’ve used innovative creative expression in the classroom, inspiring students to engage with civic issues in meaningful and joyful ways — like through a giant pierogi mascot and the ethical use of AI. Take these insights further with practical resources you’ll receive to implement in your own work.
This webinar is for faculty and staff in higher education, along with anyone looking for inspiration in this moment. While focusing on faculty experiences, the approaches can be adapted beyond academia.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Shannon Zenner
Assistant Professor of Communications Design, Elon University
Shannon Zenner, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the communication design program at Elon University, where she teaches courses in graphic design, art direction, and web and mobile communication. Her research explores the intersection of visual aesthetics, political identity, and artificial intelligence, with a focus on how design influences public perception, persuasion, and civic engagement. Before entering academia, she worked in advertising and design for clients ranging from global banks to Western wear brands. She is a recent recipient of a Civic and Voter Engagement Fellowship and has presented nationally on creative risk-taking, labor-based assessment, and the ethical use of AI in design education.
D.T. Burns
Adjunct Professor of Theatre, Point Park University
D.T. Burns (they/them) is a writer, artist, and theatre-maker. They create performances that playfully explorate complex subjects, colliding topics from science and civics with elements of puppetry, spectacle, and role-playing games. D.T.’s performance work has been featured at venues like the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the Prague Quadrennial of Space and Design, the Pittsburgh Opera, TEDx Point Park, and the Boulder International Fringe Festival. They participated as an Unstoppable Voters Faculty Fellow with C4AA in 2024. D.T. holds a BA from Rice University, an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and currently works as an Adjunct Professor at Point Park University.
Connect with Shannon and D.T. at Teaching Creativity to Inspire Social Good.
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Header photo: “Reggie” the giant pierogi voter registration mascot created by D.T. Burns and their students
