Thinking Differently: Neurodivergence and Creativity

This course explores some of history’s most influential creative figures, using modern neuroscience and psychology to better understand recurring patterns of neurodivergence. Through the lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Albert Einstein, Stanley Kubrick, Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain, and others, we examine how characteristics associated with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and mood disorders can illuminate both extraordinary creativity and profound personal struggle. Each session focuses on a different dimension of neurodivergence—exploring its cognitive profile, its challenges, and its creative strengths across five centuries of art, science, and culture. As we begin recognizing these patterns in history, we gain a deeper appreciation for them in the people around us and perhaps even in ourselves. Rather than attempting to diagnose historical figures, this course uses the past as a mirror, inviting us to better understand human behavior, creativity, and ourselves. This course uses the Hybrid format which allows students to participate remotely and/or in the classroom. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.