Reimagining Higher Education Through the Creative Wellspring: Toward More Relational and Holistic Academic Cultures in an Era of Global Challenges

Our current moment is marked by profound institutional, ecological, and social upheaval. The unparalleled amassing of wealth by an infinitesimal percentage of the world’s population; populist movements on the left and right born of broken social contracts; escalating global conflicts and ecological collapse amidst breakneck technological advance—these are all emblematic of the uncharted ruptures that humans, our living kin, and our planetary system are currently weathering. The following viewpoint piece endeavors to shed light on the challenges, complexities, and opportunities of this polycrisis through the lens of academia. By highlighting the inherent contradiction that modern academia has unwittingly created through its narrow “apprenticeship” training structure, this paper first illustrates how one of the most highly skilled workforces in the world is nonetheless particularly ill-positioned to navigate the present moment holistically. The manuscript next argues that to address this gap, leaders of academia must expand their understanding of well-being, productivity, and expertise to include the fruits of their faculty members’ creative wellspring—a term that captures the humanistic, generative capabilities including vulnerability, reflection, courage, and connection that undergird value-based decision making, professional perseverance, and sustained collaboration with others. To move these ideas from theory to practice, the manuscript next emphasizes how the nurturance of a coaching ethoscan support faculty in reenchanting their academic careers. The implications of an increasingly holistic, creative notion of expertise for promoting social and planetary flourishing are also considered.