Sparking collaboration and conversation in creative spaces

In a classroom on the second floor of Rhyne Building, students huddle around laptops and notes. As part of the front-of-house team for the upcoming Bears Engage event “Belonging Beyond Words” they compare menu selections through campus dining, navigating timing constraints and contingency plans in case adjustments are needed ahead of the campus event they are two weeks away from hosting. 

The project is part of Creative Collaboration and Culture, a capstone course in Lenoir-Rhyne University’s College of Fine Arts and Communication taught by Devon Fisher, Ph.D., professor of English. As the final project for the course, “Belonging Beyond Words” will present an interactive storytelling event and silent museum exhibit to conclude the 2026 season of the university’s Bears Engage series promoting political and cultural awareness on and off campus. 

“This is their chance to come together and demonstrate the amazing skills they’ve developed over the course of their degree studies, and it’s an outward-looking course focused on potential careers. They’re required to create and host a public-facing event not just for Lenoir-Rhyne, but for the broader Hickory community. This year that project is an event, but future projects might take different shapes,” said Fisher. 

Around the room, other student teams are working on different elements of the event — recruiting participants for the silent museum installation and developing marketing materials for outreach during SOURCE Day, when students present research, performances and capstone projects. 

The course emphasizes collaboration as a core professional skill, asking students to move beyond individual creative work and into team-based production that reflects real-world expectations. 

“A lot of our majors grow accustomed to the idea that creativity is something you do on your own,” Fisher said. “As a capstone for students in the College of Fine Arts and Communications, this course o encourages them to think about what happens when we start collaborating in creative workspaces. What avenues for careers and creativity might open up when we pool our knowledge and skills?” 

The academic work pairs with practical experience in project management, communication tools and event planning, as students coordinate across teams, manage timelines and work within defined budgets. 

For English major Joe McDonald Rutherford ’26, the process of building the event mirrors its theme. 

“Being part of this class and learning about collaboration and what it takes to execute a large-scale event about belonging requires us to also foster that sense of connection and belonging within our teams as we plan — it’s multilayered,” said Rutherford. 

Fisher said the course is designed to help students see how their creative skills translate into a wide range of professional contexts. 

“Their skills as creatives make them incredible storytellers, which translates in different ways across different media,” said Fisher. “A communications major does this differently from an art major, but creatives are really good at telling other people's stories, and there is a wide range of career options that use those abilities.” 

Communications major Hallie Younger ’26 sees storytelling as central to the event itself. 

“The speakers, the exhibits, they're all there to talk about what it means to belong in a place, in a culture, among other people,” Younger said. “One of the themes I hope will come across from the event and the silent museum is for participants to think about how we all frame our sense of belonging in different situations.” 

“Belonging Beyond Words” will be held April 23 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in Belk Centrum. The event is free and open to the public. Keynote speakers will begin at 7:00. 

“I am excited to see people come together and engage in dialogues with joy and togetherness” said English major Lillian Cummines ’26. “Something I love about the arts and creative work is how it always sparks conversation.”