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School of Art Objectives

SCHOOL OF ART LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

The School of Art’s Learning Goals and Outcomes, developed with faculty and committee review, reflect a longstanding commitment to critical thinking and the investigation of interdisciplinary models. With an integrated approach, students cultivate voice and perspective through studio practice, rigorous inquiry, and technical proficiency. The goals articulated below support The Cooper Union’s broader mission while engaging with current institutional standards and evolving concerns of the disciplines. The School of Art's curriculum emphasizes an engagement with diverse artistic methods and cultural contexts towards the development of a sustained, critically informed art practice.

Learning Goals:

  1. Students will develop individual artistic vision through artmaking and the acquisition of knowledge about aesthetic discourse.
  2.  Students will acquire an understanding of the meanings attributed to art and the methods of evaluation of art through the study of history, theory, and criticism.
  3. Students will develop proficiency in analyzing diverse critical interpretations of art and alternative models of cultural production.
  4. Students will develop the required technical proficiency to materialize their artistic vision.
  5. Students will conceive of artmaking as a synthesis of formal, historical, critical and technical components.

 

Student Learning Outcomes:

  1. Students will demonstrate familiarity with descriptive and interpretive vocabulary relating to art.
  2. Students will demonstrate knowledge of art history, theory, and criticism, understand diverse aesthetic and artistic practices, and critically engage with the discourse surrounding art and its contexts.
  3. Students will demonstrate technical knowledge and possess familiarity with all associated facilities and tools within their area of study, such as drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography, painting, film/video, and graphic design.
  4. Students will demonstrate an ability to produce high-quality artwork and develop critical dialogue about their practice.
  5. Students will demonstrate the ability to develop ideas across multiple media and disciplinary approaches within a studio art curriculum.
  6. Students will demonstrate the ability to collaborate with peers through shared studio processes, critique, and collective problem-solving.

  • 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.