Cooper Union x Climate Week

POSTED ON: November 13, 2019

The urgency of climate change —and how to halt it—was the subject of a week of excellent programming brought to the Cooper community by Alisa Petrosova A'21 and Sophie Schneider ME'20. Working with Professor Amanda Simson of the chemical engineering department, the two students worked for six months to create a week that included renowned speakers such as Naomi Klein and Bill McKibben; a student exhibition; participation in the international climate strikes on September 20; and other events. Alisa and Sophie designed the week to be as inclusive as possible so that students and faculty from all three schools would be represented.

See some of the highlights in the video above and see this gallery of photographs from the exhibition, "Tomorrow (doesn't look so good) Today" that drew on student work related to climate change.

 

 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.