Course Listings


Foundation

Foundation courses are required of all first year students.

  • FA-100.1, FA-100.2

    Introduction to Techniques

    An introduction to the physical aspects of working with wood, metal, plaster - and plastics, as well as an introduction to on-campus computer facilities and resources. A basic introduction to the Adobe interface, specifically Photoshop and Illustrator will be provided.

    Required for first year students. 1/2 credit per semester. One-year course. Pass/Fail.

  • FA-101

    Color

    A study of the physical, perceptual, art historical and cultural aspects of color. The phenomenon of color and principles of light are explored in various media towards an understanding of color application in all of the fine art disciplines and architecture.

    Required for first year students. 2 credits.

  • FA-102.1

    Two-Dimensional Design

    Exploration of the visual and intellectual aspects of form on the two-dimensional surface, in a variety of media. Investigations into the relationships of perception, process and presentation.

    Required for first year students. 3 credits.

  • FA-104.1

    Basic Drawing (Analytical and Descriptive)

    A course in freehand drawing designed to emphasize perceptual and inventive skills in all drawing media.

    Required for first year students. 3 credits per semester.

  • FA-105

    Four-Dimensional Design

    This course investigates the properties of time and movement and the fundamentals of four-dimensional design. Students explore duration, condensation, expansion, interruption, simultaneity, stillness, action and situation through a wide range of materials.

    Required for first-year students. 2 credits.

  • FA-108

    Foundation Studio

    A studio methods and theories course for foundation students with a focus on the development of multiple lines of visual competency helping to prepare students for advanced study. This course works in conjunction with technical labs through a set of offerings in shorter lab/studio seminars. In this sense, the technical or craft learning necessary for visual practice, and the beginning of a personal conceptual or research methodology, merge.

    Required for first year students. 3 credits.

  • FA-109.1

    Three-Dimensional Design

    Students work on projects that explore the fundamentals of forms and space and investigate the properties of materials, structure, mass, scale, light and motion.

    Required for first year students. 3 credits.

  • SE-101

    Foundation Orientation

    Foundation Orientation brings together all first-year students as an introduction to the academic life of the School of Art, as part of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. The course is designed to give students a working overview of opportunities and resources available to them.

    Required for first-year students. 1/2 credit. Pass/Fail.

  • SE-150

    Foundation Project

    This course brings together all first-year students within a seminar. This course consists of a series of presentations that introduce various artistic practices, critical languages, and criticism. This aspect of the course indents to present contrasting historical and contemporary models of creating, seeing, speaking, and thinking about art.

    Required for first year students. 1/2 credit. Pass/Fail.


Calligraphy

  • FA-419

    Independent Study in Calligraphy

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art.

  • TE-216

    Calligraphy

    Geometry, optical balance and the stoke of the broad-edge pen are primary influences that shape the Roman alphabet. Students learn the fundamentals of “beautiful writing” through the study of historical models and the principals that are the basis of classical and modern letter forms. Exercises in ink train the hand kinaesthetically to write letters with graceful movement. Exercises in pencil train the eye to see and analyze the subtle geometry and skeletal “ideal” form of letters. Precise rhythm in letterspacing and careful line-spacing create the color and texture of the page. The class will have an emphasis on page design involving hand written compositions. Roman and Italic capitals and small letters will be the focus of first semester students.

    Fall 2024. 2 Credits.


Audiovisual

  • FA 381

    Sound Design: Places, Spaces, Field Recordings, and Layered Time

    The term “field recordings” describes a wide variety of techniques and approaches that have traditionally been used to document the sound of something, someone, and/or somewhere at a moment in time. One thread that connects various practices labeled field recording is that they encode some trace of the ambient audio of the space in which they were recorded onto a recorded medium. While this ambient sound is often seen as a disadvantage when obtaining a “clean” recording is set as a goal, in this course we will explore the meaning and value of “background noise” and its fruitful use in sound and audiovisual compositions and productions.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: AV I and Pre/Co-Req: AV II.

  • FA-272

    Film Workshop (16mm)

    Independent projects workshop in Super 8 and 16mm film. As well as working in depth with film, students are encouraged to explore all possibilities of the moving image from expanded projection techniques to kinetic constructions.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: AV I.

  • FA-275

    Audiovisual I

    An introduction to concepts, production techniques, and histories of artists moving image work. Over two semesters, students will investigate the origins and evolution of animation, film, video, and sound recording for cinema, with classroom instruction and experimentation in the techniques and production of each. Alongside a historical and theoretical framework, a wide range of practical tools will be introduced, including precinematic image capture, 16mm film and digital cinema production, stop action animation, sound recording, and lighting.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. One-semester course. May not be repeated.

  • FA-276

    Audiovisual II

    Semester two of the yearlong AV sequence, this course continues with greater depth and more individualized student projects, the introduction to concepts, production techniques, and histories of artists’ moving image work. Students will investigate the origins and evolution of animation, film, video, and sound recording for cinema, with classroom instruction and experimentation in the techniques and production of each. Alongside a historical and theoretical framework, a wide range of practical tools will be introduced, including pre-cinematic image capture, 16mm film and digital cinema production, stop action animation, sound recording, and lighting.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Prerequisite to all Advanced Audiovisual Projects courses. Prerequisite: FA-275 Audiovisual I.

  • FA-388A

    Adv. Projects in Experimental Film and Animation

    Students work independently on self-initiated projects under the guidance of the professor. Specific areas of audiovisual practice including film and video, sound design, editing, and the underlying structures of time-based works will be emphasized in relation to students' individual projects. Class periods include studio visits, meetings, project critiques, and viewings. Discussions, feedback, and independent work set the stage for students to deepen their understanding and skills in the audiovisual realm, as they develop original concepts into unique and solid works for exhibition.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: AV I and Pre/Co-Req: AV II.

  • FA-389A

    AV Projects: Cinema and Language

    This course will explore the relationship between cinema and language. From the essay film, to inter-titles, to subversive play of subtitles and translation, radical uses of captioning and spoken description vis-a-vis accessibility, this course considers the multiple ways that language emerges in, relates to and complicates the moving image. Language is an important component of how film/video is expanded and disrupted. Along with production, this course will include weekly screenings and a focus on developing writing skills as a critical part of the film and video-making process.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits. Pre-Req: AV II.

  • FA-479A, FA-479B

    Independent Study in Film

    Independent Study in Film.

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art. 

  • FA-489A, FA-489B

    Independent Study in Video

    Independent Study in Video.

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art.


Drawing

  • FA-240A, FA-240B

    Drawing I

    The course is designed to explore the phenomena of drawing as basic to the visual language of all disciplines. The fundamental notion of observation and analysis in drawing is investigated. As preparation for work in an advanced level, the course involves further development of drawing skills and techniques, as well as an emphasis on individual aesthetic development. Assignments and group critiques are central to the course.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits per semester. One-semester course. May not be repeated. Prerequisite to all Advanced Drawing.

  • FA-341A

    Advanced Drawing

    Advanced studies in drawing emphasizing the student’s conceptual independence from traditional draftsmanship. This course is for students who have an established direction in drawing.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: Drawing I.

  • FA-343A

    Advanced Drawing

    Offered to students working independently in any medium. Must be self-motivated. There will be group and individual critiques.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: Drawing I.

  • FA-345A

    Advanced Drawing

    Offered to students working independently in any medium. Must be self-motivated. Class meetings will include workshops with traditional and non-traditional drawing materials, as well as group and individual critiques

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: Drawing I.

  • FA-499

    Independent Study in Drawing

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art.


Electives

  • FA-313

    Art of the Book

    In this course the book will be explored as an interdisciplinary medium, placing emphasis on integrating and experimenting with form, content, structure and ideas. During the first half of the semester, students will make a number of books, examining sequence, series and text/image relationships, using various book structures. These “sketches” will prepare students for an extended book project during the second half of the term.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits.

  • FA-327

    Computational Studio

    This course provides a comprehensive introduction to digital fabrication and is designed to augment existing practices through access to new tools, materials, and concepts for art production. Students will learn fundamental skills and will utilize a variety of digital fabrication methods including 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC machining, along with software & capture methods such as: Rhino 3D and 3D scanning. In the first half of the course, students will learn fundamental digital fabrication skills through technical demos and technique-oriented projects. In the second half of the course, students will develop a body of work utilizing these tools. We will move between computer classrooms, the AACE lab, and individual studios to explore topics such as built environments, sculptural methods, and medium specificity. As background, we will explore the history of digital fabrication, and ask critical questions about its relevance and impact on creative industries and society more broadly.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.


Graphic Design

  • FA-211

    Graphic Design I

    An introduction to the techniques and visual language of graphic design. Weekly projects explore fundamental concepts in form, composition, and typography. Presentations and readings in graphic design history will complement weekly assignments. Students will explore basic imagemaking processes as well as be instructed in digital production techniques.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits.

  • FA-215

    Typography

    Empirical explorations of typographic messages through placement, massing, weight, size and color are analyzed to develop an understanding of aesthetic composition of typographic form and meaning. Legibility, unpredictability and sequencing, as well as the use of grid structures, are investigated. The development of critical judgment about typography is emphasized.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre/Co-Req: GD II.

  • FA-315A, FA-315B

    Advanced Design

    Fall 2024

    FA-315A-1 Adv. Design: Zine Scenes: History and Practice of Zine Making

    Students will learn about historical nonprofessional artist publishing, and make new publications inspired by the historical movements and materials, from the Russian Futurists to science fiction fanzines, 60s counterculture comix, and the contemporary artists’ book scene. Assignments will be produced in multiples, so students will get an instant collection of work by their peers. This will culminate in self-directed zine publishing project.

    FA-315A-3 Adv. Design: Advocacy through Type and Symbols

    This course leverages the power of TYPOGRAPHY and symbol to inform and persuade viewers. An investigation into the history, scale, and diversity of publishing formats — from print through digital — from book through social media — offers students an opportunity to consider the most effective means of transmitting messages that they deem timely and relevant. The theme of ADVOCACY, in CONTEXT to how specific typographic, symbolic, and aesthetic formats are chosen, will then be supported by considerations of touchpoint: how the intended recipient is exposed to the message. A full range of communication will be considered — from working for clients to creating a powerful, personal voice. Traditional and contemporary research protocols will also be investigated.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: Graphic Design II, Pre/Co-Req: Typography.

  • FA-326

    Interactive Design Concepts: AI + Play

    An exploration of the nature of interactive design and how it informs and transforms experience. Information structures, navigational issues, design strategies and social implications of interactive experiences using traditional as well as electronic media will be examined.

    Over the course of the semester, students will learn how data influences how AI functions and apply the basics of game design to explore, design & prototype solutions for the issues they collectively wish to address at the intersection of contemporary culture & digital media. The goal of the class is to dive into our ideas and biases surrounding technology and humanity and create something meaningful through it. The key takeaways from this interdisciplinary course are cultivating an understanding of the AI & Data, system biases, human-centered design process and game design. Students will develop systems thinking skills and the ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary environment, challenge and solve problems that they encounter. Also, learn the practice creating by iteration and explore different prototyping and testing methods within aesthetics, engineering and structural design.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits.

  • FA-429A, FA-429B

    Independent Study in Graphic Design

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art


Painting

  • FA-130A, FA-130B

    Painting I, Painting II

    A studio experience with the physical, compositional and conceptual components of pictorial invention and image-making. Readings, assignments and critiques will enhance the development and articulation of an inventive individual approach to the painting discipline in preparation for advanced level work.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: FA-130A is a pre-req for FA-130B.

  • FA-331A

    Advanced Painting

    This course will work with students in individual and group settings to discuss their work and personal development as an artist, as well as engage students with relevant practical, historical and contemporary discussions around painting. Discussions, critical feedback, suggestions, and prescriptions given to students are sounding boards and/or opportunities for students to further locate their practice and voice as an artist. Students will rely more on their individual studio spaces as sites from creation, research, presentations and meetings with faculty and visitors. In this way, the course might reflect the professional space of the artist studio. Debate around ideas, process and material should be expected as well as respect for each student's personal journey. Lectures, field trips and the presentation of various media and demonstrations can be expected.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: FA-130 A & B.

  • FA-332A, FA-332B

    Advanced Painting

    For students who wish to have their work critiqued primarily on an individual basis. High motivation and dedication are of primary concern. There will be occasional group critiques.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: FA-130 A & B.

  • FA-336A

    Advanced Painting: Alex Katz Chair

    This course is for students who have made a strong commitment to painting. Students are expected to work independently in their studios on a series of paintings that will develop during the semester.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits. Pre-Req: FA-130 A & B.

  • FA-339A, FA-339B

    Advanced Painting: Katz Guest Artist Series

    This course is for students who have made a strong commitment to painting. Students are expected to work independently in their studios on a series of paintings that will develop during the semester.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: FA-130 A & B.

  • FA-439A, FA- 339B

    Independent Study in Painting

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art.


Performance

  • FA-290

    Performance I

    This course is an introductory course to performance based track. This is an immersive course in the foundations for practice in performance. Through a wide range of methods and specific techniques this course focuses on a critical engagement with concepts such as time, movement as a language, voice and vocalization, script and score, narrative, event, audience, live experience, duration, body as a tool, interaction, context, documentation. The course will address varied approaches within the field, as well as their historical and current manifestations through lectures and attending performances. Exposure to critical theory and major philosophical arguments central to performance-based practices will be explored, along with development of individual and collaborative studio work. The class aims at giving the student techniques, language, and a range of positions for developing art based performance work. This is an assignment driven class.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.


Photography

  • FA-206

    Lens/Screen/Print I

    LSP I Lens/Screen/Print I is the first section of a two-semester trajectory. This is an immersive foundation course in the practice of photography focusing on a critical engagement with lens technology, color theory/management and combined analog/digital workflows. Topics include: exploratory and technical knowledge of 35mm analog cameras, DSLR cameras, lenses and lighting conditions, fluid movement through digital black-and-white and color processes, such as digital imaging editing software, scanning analog color, and digital printing in black-and-white and color. Exposure to critical theory and major philosophical arguments central to lens, screen and print based practices will be explored. This is an assignment driven class.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-207

    Lens/Screen/Print II

    Lens/Screen/Print II is the second half of a two-semester trajectory. This course builds upon the foundations of LSP I with an emphasis on post-production and a critical engagement with lens technology, color theory/management and combined analog/digital workflows. Technical knowledge of the tensions and possibilities found between "digital" and "analog" spaces in relation to critical theory and major philosophical arguments central to lens, screen and print based practices will contribute to student development. Topics include advanced digital editing and printing techniques, analog black-and-white production methods, such as shooting with black-and-white film and darkroom printing, advanced medium-format cameras and scanners, as well as introduction to new technologies and modes of display. A distinction in LSP II is a focus on experimentation, articulation and acumen. Students are encouraged to begin to develop semi-autonomous ways of working over the course of the semester, this includes supervised independent or collaborative projects. This course will afford students the opportunity to build a coherent body of work in preparation for advanced study.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits. Pre-Req: L/S/P I or Photo I.

  • FA-364A, FA-364B

    Advanced Photography: Open Studio

    Students will advance their practice by producing work using photographic material(s), cameras or any photographic device of their choice. Work will be discussed in group critiques as well as individual conferences with the instructor. Photographic issues and representation will be the subject of readings and class discussions.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits. Pre-Req: L/S/P I and Pre/Co-Req: L/S/P II.

  • FA-366

    Advanced Photography: Alternate Processes

    This course breaks down barriers between digital and analog photography, transforming meaning and content through various forms of manipulation. Its fast-paced, hands-on demos include hand-applied photographic emulsions (such as cyanotype, Van Dyke, palladium, and liquid light) and digital printing/transferring options (beyond emulating the traditional print, on surfaces such as paper, wood, metal, fabric, etc.). The production of large-format analog and digital negatives will also be explored. Adjustments for remote teaching include live-streamed and pre-recorded demos of processes as well as presentations focusing on contemporary and historical uses of processes. Students unable to work on campus will be provided supplies for “safe-for-home” processes so they may work concurrently with what is available in the lab. These include Anthotypes, Cyanotypes, Lumen printing, Chlorophyll printing, building capture devices, Wondersauce inkjet transfers (non-toxic), and gel-medium transfers.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre-Req: L/S/P II, or Photo I.

  • FA-368A, FA-368B

    Photography: Henry Wolf Chair

    This course is intended to help students clarify and further the growth of their own work through group and individual critiques, classroom presentations and discussions with a contemporary photo based artist in the position of the Wolf Chair.

    We will look into a broad range of media from multiple vantage points; histories, meaning-making, materiality, and include experimental ways of learning. While there will be emphasis on photographic and related media, the course materials covered will vary greatly in medium so as to engage in questions of photography’s fluid potentiality and working through a wider range of practices. What photography means is an open-ended question. The course is student driven and the students are expected to work closely with the instructor to develop their own practices.

    Fall 2024. 3 credits. Pre/Co-Req: L/S/P II; or Photo I.

  • FA-469A, FA-469B

    Independent Study in Photography

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art.


Printmaking

  • FA-250

    Screen Printing

    This introductory course covers all aspects of contemporary Screen printing as a photomechanical stencil printing method. In a series of demonstrations, lectures and projects, students will become familiar with stencil making, color separation, printing, color mixing and image registration with the goal of building a broad knowledge of Screen printing. Methods for producing images by hand and by computer output are both addressed. Attention will be paid to the use of Screen printing within fine art, design and popular culture spheres as a way of discussing the history and current use of the process.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-251

    Lithography

    This is a comprehensive course covering the full range of lithographic techniques. Instruction begins with hand working processes on lithographic stones and progresses through to contemporary approaches of digital image preparation for output to photographic printing plates. A series of projects and critiques are targeted to develop command of the material process and place the use of Lithography in contemporary visual practice.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-252

    Etching

    This course is an introduction to the process of etching and printing from metal plates. Topics covered are the full range of platemaking techniques, from traditional wax grounds to contemporary photographic grounds, and printing techniques, including chine-collé, multi-plate color work and surface rolling. Lectures and critiques will place the practice of Etching in historical and contemporary context.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-253

    Paper: Materiality and Sustainability

    This studio course explores making paper from traditional to contemporary approaches. The course incorporates specified instruction and experimentation driven by student independent projects. The exploration of the structural and historical uses of Western and Eastern methods including contemporary issues of recycled and alternative fibers will frame an understanding of the potential uses and appearances of handmade paper. From a basis in sheet forming, pigmenting, sizing, and the use of additives, the class will move into an emphasis on paper as a visual and sculptural object, covering paper casting and other three-dimensional approaches.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-354A, FA-354B

    Experimental Printmaking

    This course is focused on advanced studies across all forms of print media toward the development of individual student work. Instruction will build on the introductory level courses, covering color separations, extended techniques, experimental approaches, and additional print media forms. Student development will be driven by individual meetings and a series of group critiques.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits. Pre-Req: 2 Printmaking Classes (Etching, Lithography, Relief, Paper: Materiality and Sustainability, or Screen Printing)

  • FA-355A, FA-355B

    Relief

    This course provides an introduction to Relief printing techniques. Projects will cover hand carving wood and alternative surfaces, with specific attention to the Japanese water-based woodblock tradition and the western oil-based tradition. Instruction will cover printing by hand, as well as printing on Etching presses, hydraulic presses and Letterpresses.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-459A, FA-459B

    Independent Study in Printmaking

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art.


Projects

  • FA-384A-1

    Projects: Draft Notation

    This is a course for students who want to develop independent projects that engage with forms of distribution. For example, the projects created in this course might be connected to online platforms, collective work, speculative design, institutional critique, service design, prefigurative politics, worker-owner businesses, cooperatives, mutual aid, community land trusts, Web 3.0, and/or socially engaged art.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-384A-2

    Projects: Exhibition: Design and Practice

    This practical studio course will design and produce exhibitions. We will explore critical theory and histories only to the extent that they enable this practice. The function and habits of the contemporary museum and its supporting partner, the commercial gallery, are under tremendous critical and social pressure. Vital interventions by artists into the appearance and function of these institutions have proved to be explosively important to what art can and could do. The course proposes that architectural space, catalogs, signage, and archives are opportunities for the public presentation of artistic invention. Students will be encouraged to approach public display beyond the containment of single practices, authors, or disciplines. Transfigured by formal arrangement, the conditions of an exhibition's ability to address consciousness, community, education, and social reality will be our subject. Students will use the exhibition spaces, archives, and histories of the Cooper Union as well as sites and contexts beyond campus, when possible.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits. Pre-Req: Juniors/Seniors.

  • FA-384A-3

    Projects

    Students work independently on self-initiated projects under the guidance of professors and visiting artists.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.


Science

  • RS-201-G

    Science: Astronomy

    The course starts with how to measure things, such as units of time, length and mass. We introduce the celestial sphere, which will help us to understand such things as days as measured by the Sun and by a star. This will also help to understand seasons. We then introduce a short history of western astronomy. We look at the universe, starting at home (Earth and Moon) and move out---solar system (Sun and planets), stars, galaxies and cosmos. Along the way, we look at how we look (light and telescopes), and how we measure things (distance, brightness and color).

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • RS-201-H

    Science: Laws of Nature

    The course will look into the history and significance of major physicals laws, such as mass and energy conservation, Newton’s laws of motion, the laws of thermodynamics etc., and explore their applications in biological and environmental sciences. The topics covered in the course will include the origins and the physical basis of life; the mechanisms of heredity, genes and the DNA; the evolution of species; Earth’s systems and climate change.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.


Sculpture

  • FA-391A, FA-391B

    Sculpture: Open Studio

    In this course “Sculpture” will be understood as open to an expansive and changing definition of its limits. Students may draw from its historical traditions or choose more experimental modes of production, in other media or methodologies. The course will be structured as an open studio, where students can bring in works as they progress though each individual’s studio thought and experiment . Students are expected to work independently in initiating their research, concepts, choice of mediums, and the installation/context for their projects.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-393A-1, FA-393B-1

    Sculpture: Making, Craft, and Concept

    This is a sculpture studio course. While all media are welcome, we will approach the course with sculptural concerns. The theme of the class is Narrative and Sculpture with a focus on Relationships to Systems. This class is loosely defining a system as a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. Students are encouraged to present multiple works, re-works, or one evolving investigation throughout the course. Critiques will focus on how projects perform in their current stage, with an emphasis on experimentation, play, and discovery as essential components of the creative process. Students are expected to engage in-depth as makers and viewers equally in this collective space. In addition to class discussions and critiques, we will visit relevant exhibitions and participate in individual studio visits.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-394A, FA-394B

    Sculpture

    This is a sculpture studio course. While all media are welcome, we will approach the course with sculptural concerns. The theme of the class is Narrative and Sculpture with a focus on Relationships to Systems. This class is loosely defining a system as a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. The class is broken into three ways of exploring this theme: Artists intervening within existing systems; Artists reinventing or creating their own systems; Artists displacing or circulating material from one system to another. Together we will look at examples of artists practice which fall within these themes, visit related exhibitions, and host visiting artists. Throughout the class, students will make their own works or projects with these themes in mind.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits.

  • FA-499A, FA-499B

    Independent Study in Sculpture

    1-3 credits. Requires approval of instructor and the Dean of the School of Art.

  • TE-390

    Casting Techniques

    Casting Techniques is a process intensive course covering the methods of translating a wax positive into bronze or other non-ferrous metals. All associated techniques from beginning a plaster or rubber mold to casting, chasing, finishing and patination of metal sculptures will be covered. Students will explore a variety of approaches to casting, as well as engage in discussions involving the history of bronze casting, and its place in contemporary art.

    Fall 2024. 2 Credits. One-semester course. May not be repeated. Free elective credit.


Sound Art

  • FA-281

    Project in Sound Art

    This class will introduce strategies for understanding and participating in the aural world. The course is divided into specific weekly topics including acoustic ecology, radio transmission, and others. Screenings, readings, and discussion are supported by hands-on workshops in capturing, manipulating, and reproducing sound in unconventional ways. Grading is based on student projects and participation in class discussions.

    Fall 2024. 3 Credits. May not be repeated.

  • 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.