At Cooper Summer/Fall 2020

At Cooper | Vol. XLX, No. 1, Summer/Fall 2020

At Cooper Summer/Fall 2020 coverThis online-only edition of At Cooper aims to act as a diary of sorts, capturing Cooper Union's response to the two extraordinary international events that took place between February and September of 2020: the coronavirus pandemic and the anti-racist calls to action. Alongside a running timeline you will find features that include:

Leaning into the Future of Learning: a look at how Cooper went completely online in a matter of weeks

Lessons Learned: an essay by Kit Nicholls, director of the Center for Writing, on how educators adapted

Immediate Help from the Cooper Community: a round-up of efforts by Cooper staff and alumni in response to the pandemic

A New Way to Gather for Events: public programs did not cease in the absence of the Great Hall

Alumni and Others Give from the Heart: generous donations and innovative fundraising have kept Cooper on its track to return to full scholarships in ten years

Celebrating the Class of 2020: They lost out on a May commencement, but that didn't make their last year at Cooper any less important

Global Awakening: how the Black Lives Matter movement impacted The Cooper Union

Reimagining Exhibitions: the annual End of Year show was not cancelled

Keeping Cooper Safe: though closed for classes for the entire 2020/21 academic year, The Cooper Union keeps its doors open to studios and labs

Plus: remembering Milton Glaser A'51, Margaret Morton and Bill Lacy.

  • 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.