Symposium | Thesis Now

Saturday, December 1, 2018, 9:30am - 5pm

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Laurie Hawkinson, "Cinetrain," Thesis 1982-83. Faculty John Hedjuk, Anthony Candido, Peter Eisenman, Donald Wall, and Regi Weile.

Laurie Hawkinson, "Cinetrain," Thesis 1982-83. Faculty John Hedjuk, Anthony Candido, Peter Eisenman, Donald Wall, and Regi Weile.

Organized to address the agency, relevance, and history of the thesis studio in architecture curricula, Thesis Now is divided in three sessions moderated by Hayley Eber, Nader Tehrani and Eva Franch i Gilabert: 

  • Session 1 | 9:30 AM | Agency and Legacy will examine the value thesis carries both in and beyond the academic experience.

    Participants include: Andrew Kovacs, Caroline O'Donnell, Bryan Young, Deborah Garcia, Zenia Koreitem. 

  • Session 2 | 11:30 AM | Research will focus on the various forms and roles played in structuring a thesis.  This session asks each participant to explore the newly available Digital Access Project, a digital database of theses completed at The Cooper Union between 1966–2003. The presentations will center on topics or findings derived from researching the archive, and will be limited to 10 minutes each, followed by a moderated discussion.

    Participants include: Jimenez Lai, Bryony Roberts, Farzin Lotfi-Jam and Arindam Dutta.

  • Session 3 | 1:45 PM | Pedagogy will integrate and expand on the material presented in a moderated discussion addressing shifting ideas shaping thesis curricula and pedagogy today.

    Participants include: Joan Ockman, Scott Colman, Stan Allen, Cristina Goberna, and Andrew Holder. 

  • A reception will follow the symposium in the Gelman Foyer. 

This symposium is organized by Michael Young and Igor Bragado.

The event is free and open to the public. General public should reserve a space here.

View the full Fall 2018 Lectures and Events List.


Located in the Frederick P. Rose Auditorium, at 41 Cooper Square (on Third Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets)

  • 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.