John Cabra Ph.D. – Using creativity to transform, make history, and impact the people of Myanmar

Creative Flow: Thinkers and Change Agents

Our eleventh episode features John Cabra Ph.D., a professor at the State University of New York, Buffalo State's International Center for Studies in Creativity, a Facilitator at Knowinnovation, and a Fulbright Scholar. This episode focuses on his work as a Program Director of the University's Service-Learning and Civic Engagement program in Myanmar. Our next episode, part 2, involves five students who completed some meaningful projects in Myanmar over the past several years.

John shares his path to Creativity as driven by serendipity because he had the curiosity to sit in on a friend's class and happened to walk in the wrong classroom. Ultimately, he completed his Master's Degree at the International Center for Studies in Creativity and became a faculty member. He discusses how the program in Myanmar began by learning the story of his student Myo Thant. Myo Thant had a background in political activism and worked with Nobel Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Ky during a period of intense political upheaval in the country that involved both danger and struggle. He ultimately left Myanmar and become John's student when studying for his Masters in Creativity in Buffalo, NY, but had promised Aung San Suu Ky that he would return to help his country.

The friendship and work of John and Myo Thant in Myanmar became larger than both of them. John discusses the impact as being so much larger than the projects completed to encompass bringing hope, freedom, and meaning for a country that has gone through so many years of trauma. The influence on the students who participated involved a transformation for each of them to become a global citizen. This work is part of a larger trend John identified of using Creative Problem Solving to address "wicked problems requiring new thinking" that are increasingly presenting themselves in our societies. This program focuses on civic engagement and service-learning to offer students a chance to work in social justice and make essential contributions to society's betterment. As we will learn in the next episode, the result is bringing more meaning into each student’s lives.

This emotional discussion touches on how creative flow can manifest from the impact of this work on individuals at an international level by touching the participants' hearts. He encountered so many obstacles when starting and continuing this program but was able to overcome each one. Don't miss this story of creating global citizens and how creativity is transforming, making history, and profoundly impacting the people of Myanmar.