Apply to the School of Art

Teaching as Collaborative Social Practice

As a practicum, this course invites students to actively explore the evolving role of the artist engaged in teaching as an art practice. The aim is to help the undergraduate who is currently teaching or who has interest in teaching in The Saturday Program. Through the course students will begin to frame pointed questions, such as: What is art? What is architecture? What constitutes community? What kind of societal questions can art/architecture raise while still being art/architecture? How can human interaction be seen and understood as a work of art or as architecture? Introductions to artists, art collectives and institutions that hold varied approaches to the notion of community, education, social discourse and positionality will also be essential to the learning environment.

 

3 credits.

Course Code: FA-301

  • 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.