What is an Emerging Creatives Summit?
The a2ru Emerging Creatives Summit brings together upper-level undergraduate and graduate students representing a myriad of disciplines from across the a2ru network of higher education institutions.
Emerging Creatives is a three-day collaborative experience in which students form small cross-disciplinary teams to explore a specific area of the Summit’s theme. Over the course of the event, teams make something that represents their exploration: a syllabus, cookbook, podcast, app, opera, pair of shoes, urban blueprint, pop-up store, musical score, website…the list of possible outcomes is endless.
At Emerging Creatives, students not only envision and create their project; they also participate in hands-on experiences related to the Summit theme, meet extraordinary interdisciplinary thinkers, practice presenting their work, and exchange ideas about their project with peers and experts. Students also build collaboration skills in micro-workshops with a2ru staff.
This year’s a2ru Emerging Creatives Summit will be hosted at the University of Maryland on March 18-21, 2027. Arts for All is accepting nominations to select eight students (evenly split between arts-based disciplines and non-arts-based disciplines) to represent UMD at the 2027 Summit.
This year’s theme is “Power.” Power comes from a solar panel or burning fuel, an idea or a group of people in motion. A work of art is powerful; so is a dictator. Power lends the capacity to control events and even people; power feeds, inspires, motivates and detonates. Where does power come from? What can we do with it? What should we do with it? (What would Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben say?)
Learn more about the summit on a2ru's website. Please note, all UMD nominations must go through Arts for All using the nomination form below.
Application details
Eligibility
To be eligible for nomination to the 2027 Emerging Creatives Summit, students must be:
- Undergraduates in their junior year or above
- Graduate students
- Plan to be enrolled full-time at University of Maryland, College Park for the Spring 2027 semester
Students do not need to be enrolled in an arts-based degree to apply. All majors and disciplines are encouraged to self-nominate! The intention of this summit is to bring together students from different disciplines to collaborate. The nominated students from UMD will be evenly split between arts-based disciplines and non-arts-based disciplines.
Deadlines
- Nominations due: Tuesday, October 8 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
- Review period: October 2026
- Applicants notified: October 26, 2026
- Applicants must accept their offer by: October 30, 2026
- Summit dates: March 18-21, 2027
How to Apply
Please complete the Emerging Creatives Summit Nomination Form by Tuesday, October 8, 2026. All nominations will be reviewed by a cross-disciplinary team of faculty, and applicants will be notified by October 26th if their nomination was accepted.
After being selected, Arts for All will nominate the selected students to a2ru. In January and February 2027, students will be contacted by the a2ru team with 2-3 brief pre-Summit activities to complete ahead of the full gathering in March.
All majors/disciplines are encouraged to apply! Please reach out to arts@umd.edu with any questions about the nomination process.
FAQs & Resources
What is a2ru?
a2ru is a partnership of colleges and universities committed to transforming higher education to ensure the greatest possible institutional support for arts-integrative research, curricula, programs and creative practice between the arts, sciences, and other disciplines. It is committed to supporting the growing body of high-quality scholarly and creative production most attainable when disciplines are free to experiment within and across their boundaries. University of Maryland, College Park is a founding member of a2ru. Learn more about the organization and its goals.
Where can I learn more about the Emerging Creatives Summit and what to expect?
a2ru provides a thorough overview of the Summit and its activities on their website. Additionally, a2ru is offering a virtual information session on Friday, September 18 from 1-2pm Eastern/10-11am Pacific with a2ru Research Program Manager, Veronica Stanich, who facilitates the Emerging Creatives Student Summit each year. You can learn more about the Emerging Creatives experience, student outcomes, and the nominations process, and get your questions answered! Registration is free and open to all; use this link to register.
Are there any costs to attending if my nomination is selected?
There are no fees for students to attend the summit. In a typical year, all travel expenses would be provided by Arts for All. However, since this year’s summit is on campus here at Maryland, there is no travel required.
Do I need to attend the full summit or can I attend partial days?
If your nomination is selected by Arts for All, you will be required to attend all four days of the summit on March 18-21, 2027. Because you will be working in cross-disciplinary teams to envision and create a project centered on this year’s theme, Power, your teammates will rely on you to be present and engaged for the entirety of the summit.
There were so many people working on drastically different projects across the U.S., and learning about the other people there and what they were working on at their home universities was really rewarding.