The Benjamin Menschel Civic Projects Lab

cpl page

Inspired by Peter Cooper’s vision that education be a means for the betterment of society, The Benjamin Menschel Civic Projects Laboratory (CPL) was launched in November 2021. The CPL is an all-in-one classroom, workspace, and public showcase for interdisciplinary projects aimed at civic-focused issues. Designed to facilitate engagement with the broader New York City community, the Civic Projects Lab is a dedicated space for the kind of pedagogical undertakings that are foundational to Cooper’s mission of inspiring students to address critical societal challenges; a space where experiments happen to advance knowledge; a space where our community of scholars and the community at large intersect to address the issues of our time.

The Civic Projects Lab can be viewed and entered from Third Avenue on the first floor of The Cooper Union’s academic building, 41 Cooper Square.

CONTACT US: 
email: civicprojectslab@cooper.edu

The Benjamin Menschel Civic Projects Lab
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
41 Cooper Square
New York, New York 10003



 


 

 

  • 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.