Cooper Union

Creative Writing

Students will read a variety of experimental fiction and nonfiction in order to draw stylistic elements that they will include in their own writing. Additionally, students will complete a diverse range of creative writing exercises, which may lead to longer works that they have workshopped by the class. Students will leave the course with a portfolio of their own experimental writing and a deeper understanding of the relationship between form and function in literature. Readings include but are not limited to: Levels of Life (Barnes); Minor Feelings (Hong); These Possible Lives (Jaeggy); The Friend (Nunez); Department of Speculation (Offill); Grapefruit (Ono); Don’t Let Me Be Lonely (Rankine); “The Depressed Person” (Wallace).

3 credits.

3 credits

Course Code: HUM 308

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.