Visiting Professor Kerensa Jennings explores the creative process
Mon, 23 Nov 2015 16:32:00 GMT
Kerensa Jennings, the University’s new Visiting Professor of Media, Strategy and Communications, delivers her inaugural professorial lecture
► Kerensa Jennings was welcomed to the campus by the University's Vice Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan
EVERY person has the potential to be creative, but they must be receptive to influences and inspiration that can come from any source or direction, according to a leading media figure who has been appointed to a professorship at the University of Huddersfield.
Kerensa Jennings, a former BBC executive who is also a journalist and author, is the new Visiting Professor of Media, Strategy and Communications at the University, and has delivered her inaugural lecture. It was entitled Orchids were the repository of her dreams and described as a critical analysis of the creative process.
Professor Jennings explained that the title of her lecture was a chance phrase she encountered when reading a newspaper agony column dealing with the subject of dementia.
“The beauty of the language inspired me. I am an omnivorous collector of bagatelles,” she said.
The concept of creativity
Professor Jennings also described herself as “an inveterate magpie rummaging around for inspiration” and devoted part of her lecture to the philosophical concept of the “ghost in the machine” and the role it can play in human creativity.
The ghost in her machine was curiosity, said Professor Jennings, who described how reading a short editorial in a national newspaper about problems faced by children led to a major BBC investigation that uncovered a host of unsuspected social issues.
She is a novelist whose psychological thriller Seas of Snow is due for publication by the innovative crowd-funding company Unbound, but Professor Jennings stressed that creativity could take many forms and should not be confused with being artistic.
“Some of the most creative thinkers I know declare that they are not creative but they can interpret complex mathematical patterns and see beauty in clouds. Let us step away from being artistic and step into the concept of creativity for creativity’s sake.”
Professor Jennings analysed the impact of “disruptive” technology and innovations such as Uber and AirBNB. These were the result of serendipity by their creators, but were now worth billions of dollars. She also discussed the importance of rules – and when to break them.
The inaugural lecture was introduced by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Professor Bob Cryan.
“It is a real coup that we have been able to secure the knowledge and talent of Kerensa. She is woman of extraordinary achievement in an extraordinary diversity of fields that are very relevant to modern society and the way we live now,” he said.
Professor Cryan said that he had encountered Kerensa Jennings in her role as a director of HRH The Duke of York’s digital enterprise charity, iDEA, of which he is a board member. He outlined her highly varied and successful career as a writer, journalist and programme maker. As Head of Strategic Delivery at the BBC she helped to create the Make It Digital initiative.
Earlier this year, she was appointed to the role of Director of Strategy with the campaign company Seven Hills, recognised as the fastest-growing firm in its category and named the World’s Best Corporate Consultancy.
