愈懂藝術欣賞的人 愈有創新力
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2013/1/17
2014-01-08 Web only 作者：經濟學人
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| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/harshilshah/ |
史丹佛是加州著名的革新工廠，Google的布林（Sergey Brin）和佩吉（Larry Page）、Netflix的哈斯汀斯（Reed Hastings）都是這裡的校友。史丹佛發現，藝術就是未來；史丹佛音樂教授兼藝術倡議總監辛頓（Stephen Hinton）解釋道，史丹佛發現自己是在教育領袖，而領導者不只得擁有技術能力和經濟知識，還得擁有廣泛的技能。
換句話說，史丹佛希望未來的布林和佩吉不但知道如何寫程式，也知道如何解讀莫札特的交響樂；從去年9月開始，所有的大學生都得修習「創意表達」課程。
史丹佛試圖協助解決「知識社會」的其中一個問題：新的想法從哪裡來？許多新創企業的成功，出自創立者找出了他們生活中的缺口，但如果他們的思考可以遠遠超出日常生活呢？史丹佛的領導階層希望，讓學生走入藝術世界，可以讓他們成為更有創意的公民。
OECD教育研究及研發中心的資深分析師文森朗格林（Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin）指出，其他大學也都發現，單只有職業訓練是不夠的。文森朗格林、阿維薩提（Francesco Avvisati）和賈克亭（Gwenaël Jacotin）合著的文章指出，藝術系畢業生比其他人更常參與產品革新。
史丹佛的計畫，也讓人開始思考藝術在北加州的角色。雖然舊金山擁有知名的歌劇院和世界級交響樂團，北加州在藝術方面還是比不上倫敦、紐約等地。史丹佛新音樂廳的執行總監豪森（Wiley Hausam）想改變的正是此事，他認為灣區擁有足夠的資源，可以成為21世紀的佛羅倫斯。
豪森的第一步就是將帕羅奧圖變成一座藝術家長住居住的城市，他表示，接下來三到五年內效果就會浮現，藝術將根本地改變史丹佛學生，也會改變來到史丹佛的學生；他希望五年內史丹佛學生就會擁抱藝術和藝術生活。
史丹佛創造新佛羅倫斯？擁有知名劇戲和音樂學院的耶魯或許會嗤之以鼻，但這座催生了Google和Netflix的大學確實有能力為藝術帶來衝擊；想像一下，要是未來的布林和佩吉培養了藝術興趣，會展現什麼樣的潛力吧。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2014
The Economist
Stanford University
A Florence for the 21st century
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: January 08, 2014
Jan 6th 2014, 16:52 by E.H.B
LIKE all first-year Stanford students, Peter Kurzner is obliged to
study the arts. He has settled on a curriculum that includes courses in
political science and "theatre in the marketplace", as well as voice
lessons. "I considered going to Yale, which has traditionally been much
better at performing arts," he says. "But Stanford is really making a
push to raise its level."
It is indeed. California's famous innovation factory, which counts
Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google, Reed Hastings of Netflix, Kevin Systrom
and Mike Krieger of Instagram, and Peter Thiel of PayPal among its alumni, has
discovered that arts are the future. "Stanford is aware that it's
educating leaders," explains Stephen Hinton, a professor of music and the
director of the Stanford Arts Initiative. "And leadership isn't just about
having technical skills and economic savvy, but about having a broad range of
skills."
In other words, Stanford wants its future Brins and Pages to know not
just how to code but also how to decode Mozart symphonies. From last September,
all undergraduates have had to take a compulsory class in "Creative
Expression". Among the 161 courses they can choose from are Laptop
Orchestra and Shakespeare in Performance.
The Palo Alto-based university is trying to help answer one of the
questions that haunts our "knowledge society": where will new ideas
come from? Many successful start-ups are the result of their founders spotting
gaps in their own lives. But what if their thinking stretched far beyond their
daily horizon? "The labour market is a rat race, so you're in a permanent
state of distraction," notes Wiley Hausam, the executive director of
Stanford's new Bing Concert Hall. "Art stops all of that and allows
creative ideas to emerge almost on their own."
So, in much the same manner that Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century
philosopher, developed ideas on his daily walks through Königsberg in Prussia,
Stanford students' outings into the world of arts will—so the university's
leadership hope—help them become more creative citizens. Of course, not all
undergraduates will jump at the opportunity to learn more about Giacomo Puccini
or Jackson Pollock. But, argues Professor Hinton, in today's society delving
into unfamiliar areas is necessary: "The pace of technology is such that
the field you go into may become obsolete, so it's good to get used to stepping
outside your comfort zone."
Indeed, according to Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, a senior analyst at the
OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, "other universities
are also realising that vocational training isn't enough". According to an
articleby Vincent-Lancrin, Francesco Avvisati and Gwenaël Jacotin in the Tuning
Journal for Higher Education, arts graduates are more likely than others to be
involved in product innovation. Aalto Universitywas launched in Finland in 2010
with the goal of creating a new science-and-arts community.
Stanford's push also raises a question about the role of the arts in
northern California as a whole. According to the Bay Area Economic Research
Council, the 7.15m-resident San Francisco Bay area, with its GDP of $535
billion (£328 billion), is the world's 19th-largest economy. Yet even though
San Francisco has a respected opera house and world-class symphony orchestra,
northern California's arts scene is small compared with that of, say, London or
New York. That's something Mr Hausam wants to change. "Stanford has been
the catalyst of the Silicon Valley revolution, and we want to have the same
effect on the arts," he says. "The Bay Area has the human and
material resources needed to become the Florence of the 21st century."
The first step, Mr Hausam says, is to turn Palo Alto into a city where
artists live permanently. "In the next three-to-five years you'll see the
effect," he promises. "Arts will fundamentally change our students,
and it will change students who come to Stanford. In five years I hope we'll
have a student body that embraces the arts and artistic living."
Stanford creating a new Florence? Students and professors at Yale,
which boasts highly respected drama and music schools, might scoff at the
thought. But the university behind Google and Netflix has the muscle to make an
impact in arts, too. Imagine the potential if future Brins and Pages were
encouraged to nurture artistic interests. We'll check back in five years.
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2014
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