James Hart
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James Hart is a multi-award-winning professor of practice, recognized for pedagogical innovation. He leads the multidisciplinary major within the Division of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs titled Social Innovation, Creative, and Arts Entrepreneurship. He also co-directs the SMU Impact Lab.
Hart is widely recognized for advancing experiential and evidence-based approaches to entrepreneurship education. He is the author of Classroom Exercises for Entrepreneurship: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach (Edward Elgar Publishing), now in its second edition, and the creator of Creative Entrepreneurship Ecology, a framework integrating creativity, neuroplasticity, and entrepreneurial method. His original classroom exercises and simulations are used in universities worldwide. In Hart’s AMAE 3387 course Principles of Creative Entrepreneurship, Hart was able to demonstrate an increase in students’ imaginative capabilities (divergent thinking) of 106% on average, better enabling entrepreneurial students to imagine novel solutions to complex problems. Some students realized an over 400% increase in ideation during one semester alone. This same course and Hart’s pedagogical method were recognized for pedagogical innovation at the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers and the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
A recipient of the USASBE Pedagogical Innovation Award and multiple national honors for teaching excellence, Hart has advised universities and arts organizations internationally on curriculum design, innovation strategy and creative leadership. He has spoken for institutions including the U.S. Department of State and the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and conducted multiple keynote speeches. Hart is a TEDx speaker and has written for major arts organizations, including Americans for the Arts. Examples of podcast episodes Hart was interviewed for can be heard here and here.
An accomplished artist and entrepreneur, Hart is the founder and former dean of TITAN Teaterakademi, the first accredited conservatory for arts entrepreneurship. He co-founded the Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education, the SMU Impact Lab, the SMU Incubator and the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem at SMU. His work as an actor, writer, and director has been presented in the United States, Europe, and Asia, with theatrical performances at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, and Dallas Theater Center, among others. His artistic and pedagogical work has been experienced in the U.S., Taiwan, Iraq, Russia, Turkey, Denmark, Norway and Thailand.
He regularly consults other higher education institutions seeking to implement experiential learning or found arts entrepreneurship programs. Hart is a partner at Social Venture Partners Dallas (SVP), where he co-created the curriculum for the Dana Juett Residency.
Hart holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the Yale School of Drama and a B.F.A. in Theatre from Southern Methodist University.
Recent Work
Book Contributions
Hart has an upcoming book chapter, “Scale Up, Scale Back,” in Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy – 2021, to be published by Edward Elgar Publishing.
Hart, James D. Classroom Exercises for Entrepreneurship: A Cross-disciplinary Approach. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018.
Hart, James. “Games for the Entrepreneurship Classroom.” Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy – 2016, edited by Michael H. Morris and Eric Liguori, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016, vol. 2, pp. 381-384.
Beckman, Gary D. and Hart, James D. “Educating Arts Entrepreneurs: Does, Can or Should One Size Fit All?” Embracing Entrepreneurship Across Disciplines, edited by Satish Nambisan, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2015.
Hart, James D. and Beckman, Gary D. “Arts Entrepreneurship: You Are Closer than You Think.” Innovation in Five Acts: Strategies for Live Performance, edited by Caridad Svich, Theatre Communications Group, 2015.
Articles
Hart, J. D. and Beckman, G. D. (In press). “Aesthetics, Medium and Method: An Introduction to the Differences and Similarities between Arts and Non-Arts Entrepreneurs.” Entrepreneurship, Education, and Pedagogy.
Hart, J. D. (2020). Utilizing the Stanislavski System and Core Acting Skills to Teach Actors in Arts Entrepreneurship Courses. Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education, 2(1), 3-31.
Hart, James D. “Arts Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure”, Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Research, vol. 1, no. 1, 2015.
Hart, James D. “The Marble Game,” Experiential Entrepreneurship Exercises Journal, Summer 2015, vol. 1, issue 3, pp. 5-8.
Hart, James D. “Taking Stock,” Experiential Entrepreneurship Exercises Journal, Fall 2015, vol. 1, Issue 4, pp. 13-15.
Hart, James D. “Persona Ideation & 3 Ideas,” Experiential Entrepreneurship Exercises Journal, Fall 2015, vol. 1, issue 4, pp. 22-26.
Arts Entrepreneurship & Teaching Through Games
Popular Blog Posts and Articles
SMU Wins National Innovation Award for Teaching Artists How Not to Starve by Becoming Entrepreneurs, (Dallas Innovates, February 15, 2022).
Hart, J. (2020, January 03). But What Does Arts Entrepreneurship Even Mean? Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://blog.americansforthearts.org/2019/04/09/but-what-does-arts-entrepreneurship-even-mean.
Hart, J. (2018, September 06). Flipping the Classroom and the Benefits of Experiential Learning. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://elgar.blog/2018/09/06/flipping-the-classroom/.
No Starving Artists Here!! A conversation with James Hart: Director of Social Innovation, Creative and Arts Entrepreneurship at SMU, Meadow's School of Art (The Art of…with Lea Fisher, (July 2022).
SMU’s Jim Hart Discusses Why Creativity is Central to Entrepreneurship (TheStartup.com Thought Leaders, July 2022).
Entrepreneurship is not Innovation, (USASBE, January 14, 2020).
SMU’s Method to Build a Model for the Individual, (Creative Disturbance, New Leonardos, April 11, 2016).
Awards
Recipient of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Excellence in Pedagogical Innovation Award for the original course design of Creative Entrepreneurship and Attracting Capital (AMAE 3387), 2022.
Institution Faculty/Staff of the Month for October 2020, The Housing Unification Board at Southern Methodist University.
SMU Provost's Teaching Recognition Award, 2018.
Sharon T. Alpi Award for Innovative Arts Entrepreneurship Pedagogy; national honor, Society for Arts Entrepreneurship Education, by nomination and award committee vote, 2018.
USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Third Place honor for original experiential exercise; by workshop paper submission, blind peer review and expert judge decisions because of live presentations, 2018.
USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Special Recognition in Entrepreneurship Education Innovation, awarded at USASBE conference for “Games for Teaching Arts Entrepreneurship,” 2016.
USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) First Place, conference Spark! contest, for Entrepreneurial Classroom Exercises, 2015.
USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Award for Best Workshop, USASBE Conference, in collaboration with Julienne Shields of Millikin University and Megan Carpenter of Texas A&M, 2015.
Course list
| Creative Entrepreneurship and Attracting Capital | AMAE 3387 |
| Developing Creative Strategies: Planning for Success | AMAE 4390 |
| Entrepreneurship and the Hero Adventure | AMAE 3370 |
| Cultural Entrepreneurship | IAM 6375 |
