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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 support the undergraduate who is currently teaching or who has an interest in teaching in The Saturday Program. In this course, we will explore questions such as: What is [un]learning? What constitutes community? To what extent is teaching an art practice? To what extent is art itself, pedagogical? How is knowledge produced through art? How does art and art-making prompt us to build ecosystems between these emergent bits of knowledge? Introductions to an interdisciplinary set of readings, artists, collectives and institutions that hold varied approaches to the notion of community, learning, social discourse and positionality will also be essential to the class. This course is not designed as an overview or survey. This class is designed as an opportunity for collective inquiry and play. Weekly sessions will include short lectures, collaborative activities, and discussions.

Fall 2023. 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.