How do we foster creativity and innovation across every discipline?
Creativity grows when students are encouraged to collaborate widely, design with empathy and experiment boldly.
Across campus, Elon fosters a culture of creativity through programs that help students transform ideas into impact. The Center for Design Thinking serves as a hub where students from every major learn to prototype solutions, test ideas and approach challenges with empathy and curiosity.
Sean McMahon, coordinator of the entrepreneurship and innovation major
Students experiment boldly in the Maker Hub, Elon’s open-access makerspace, where they gain confidence with digital fabrication, rapid prototyping and collaborative making. The Entrepreneurship & Innovation major and minor equip students to move ideas from brainstorm to implementation — whether launching a venture, leading innovation within an organization or advancing a creative or social cause. Hands-on coursework and an immersive living-learning community connected to the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship help students apply these skills in real-world settings.
Entrepreneurial support through the Doherty Center and the Elon Innovation Council further accelerates creativity across campus, offering mentorship, seed funding and opportunities to launch new ventures. Initiatives such as Oak Originals at the Marketplace, which brings student-founded businesses into a public retail space, and the Black Entrepreneur Initiative, which supports underrepresented founders, ensure that innovation is both experiential and inclusive.
Innovation happens when students are encouraged to develop, share, test and refine their ideas.”
FACULTY PERSPECTIVE
Exploring Human-AI Creativity
Professor Qian Xu studies how humans and AI systems collaborate to generate new ideas, solve problems and advance creativity in media and communication. Her research examines when AI enhances innovation, and when it risks reducing originality or widening bias. In the classroom, Xu helps students critically evaluate emerging tools, experiment with multimodal creation and understand how technology can shape the creative process. By integrating human-centered design, analytical thinking and hands-on exploration, she prepares students to become reflective, responsible creators in an increasingly AI-enabled world.
Qian Xu, A.J. Fletcher Professor of Communications
Technology can spark creativity, but humans give ideas meaning.
ALUMNI IN ACTION
Creativity Rooted in Nature
Deena Elrefai ’22
Deena Elrefai ’22 brings creativity outdoors. As an assistant director of field studies and summer programs at the Sequoyah School in Pasadena, California, she designs learning experiences that help students build confidence, strengthen relationships and connect with the natural world. Drawing on her studies in international and global studies, public health and Spanish, she uses nature as a medium for exploration and discovery. “Creativity happens when students feel grounded, curious and free to take risks,” she says.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Storytelling With Purpose
Entrepreneur and filmmaker Aaron Chan ’26 uses design thinking to bring human-centered stories and solutions to life. A design thinking consultant and cinema and television arts major, he helps student teams prototype ideas through empathy-driven research and creative problem-solving. Chan’s recent documentary, which explores a family’s experience with trauma and resilience, reflects his belief that innovation begins with truly understanding people and the experiences that shape their lives.
Aaron Chan ’26