Cooper Union

Keren Toledano

Writing Associate

Keren Toledano graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard with a degree in English and American Literature & Language. She then went on to work as a literary agent, Hollywood story analyst and freelance writer. After receiving her MA from NYU in Arts & Humanities Education, she worked as a film festival fundraiser and coordinator, and built an online film archive. In addition to her work as a writing associate at Cooper Union, and an educator at The Tenement Museum, she continues to pursue creative writing projects in diverse genres. The winner of the 2011 Harvardwood Writing Competition in the short play category, she has completed a novel of historical fiction, a work of contemporary women's fiction, three screenplays and two stageplays. She is deeply invested in creating an interdisciplinary community of artists through her work with The Pacific Beat Collective, a consortium of creative minds.

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.