Apply to the
Cooper Union

Art and the Crisis of Modernity

This course will reflect on how various artistic moments of the 20th century both expressed and shaped the world they were in. We will engage with some of the definitions critics and theorists have offered for modernity vs modernism and post-modernity vs post-modernism in culture and in art, including visual arts as well as theater, dance and performance. The course will take as focal points some of the artistic revolutions of the 20th century, particularly around the 1930s, 1960s, and 1990s, and how these revolutions were connected to radical changes in worldview. Students will gain broad familiarity with how to read avant-garde art and performance in relation to its surrounding culture, and will research artists and/or movements of their choosing for their final projects. 

3 credits.  

Course Code: HUM 309

  • 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.