Creative Futures: Driving Interdisciplinary Innovation Through the Arts

media release: A2ru’s next annual conference will take place October 23-25, 2025 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This will be an in-person conference. Conference activities will begin at 9am Thursday, October 23 and conclude by 1pm on Saturday, October 25. A full schedule will be available in July. 

The a2ru national conference is an opportunity for practitioners and researchers from across higher education to share innovations and perspectives in the arts. a2ru advances the full range of arts- and design-integrative research, curricula, programs, and creative practice to acknowledge, articulate, and expand the vital role of higher education in our global society. a2ru’s work, in partnership with an international network of leading higher education institutions, allies, and partners, envisions a world in which universities—students, faculty, and leaders—explore, embed, and integrate the arts in everyday practice and research.

This year’s theme, “Creative Futures: Driving Interdisciplinary Innovation Through the Arts,” explores how future-thinking in the arts can reimagine and redefine disciplines, collaboration, and the academy to better meet the demands of our rapidly shifting technological, ecological, and political landscape. How can we center creativity in the interdisciplinary problem solving needed to meet these current challenges? How can we use the arts to advance our goals of sustainability, social justice, and human flourishing?  In this moment, how can the arts illuminate what it means to be a human being?