Getting ideas on the page/annotation 

This workshop will focus on how to create material to begin working on a project, with an emphasis on writing. As a group we will go work through journal prompts and collaborative writing exercises to help generate idea rich written material. We will then practice annotation of written works, life experience, and other cultural phenomena as a way of generating material for continued thinking. 

Language as Vast 

Language as vast explores an understanding of language beyond the narrow confines of what is often seen in secondary education. In this workshop we will talk about translation, the multiplicity of language, and how language holds power. We will engage these discussions in conversation with your experience as a Cooper student. 

The possibility of essays  

What does an essay do, and what might it do? How can we activate essays to push our thinking, listening, and expression? This workshop will explore the history of the essay as well as different structures and approaches.

Notetaking 

This workshop focuses on exploring why we take notes and how to develop a note taking strategy that fits individual learning styles. As a group, we will be discussing, evaluating, and practicing different modes of notetaking. These methods are targeted towards class notes, brainstorming, essay preparation, and personal writing practices.

Work in Progress/Revision 

Revision, re-vision, re-seeing, seeing something anew. What does it mean to revise something you’re working on? How might re-seeing a work-in-progress take our work to a new place? Does revision differ based on discipline or medium? In this workshop we will study famous examples of revision, discuss works-in-progress, share tricks and experiences, and practice revising together. 

Key Words 

Words don’t just have definitions; they contain histories, arguments, theories, or power. When someone uses a word we don’t know, a word that feels like a talisman or a key that opens some locked door of knowledge, we might feel lost or even embarrassed. This workshop will give you critical skills for understanding and making use of the complex language your professors and peers use. 

What shape does an answer take 

Models, papers, art works. How do our assignments influence the way we answer our own questions? How can we challenge the containers we use to hold our ideas? In this workshop, we will talk about navigating new assignments in art, architecture, and engineering, while maintaining your voice as a thinker.   

Reading hard texts  

This workshop focuses on tools and strategies that can be used to approach texts that are difficult in terms of content and language. The workshop will be split between introducing and inventorying strategies and then practicing their implementation. 

Materiality (How does an idea exist in physical form)  

What is materiality? In this workshop, we will explore the possibilities of creating work and how one idea can take the shape of different mediums and constantly evolve through them. We will look at books, artwork and writing to investigate how objects around us can be utilized to  work for us and our ideas. Students will engage with objects made from a variety of materials to construct an argument or narrative, in order to facilitate a discussion about materials’ contextual implications in the modern world.  

Navigating Conflict in the Classroom  

Join us in this workshop to discover valuable techniques for handling classroom conflicts and overcoming anxiety in new learning environments. Students will work together to decide on a topic that they deem polarizing and discuss as a class, practicing strategies that encourage clear communication, camaraderie, and respect. 

Time Management and Other Approaches

This workshop focuses on strategies to help you navigate and balance your Cooper responsibilities. As a group, we will consider if it is, in fact, possible to manage time, and what it may mean to attempt to do so. We will explore other approaches available for working, thinking, and studying in time to help us create plans for the upcoming semester. These theoretical conversations will be mixed into a set of practical tools and resources for time management in college.

What is critique?

In this workshop, we will touch on preconceived notions of what critique is to and talk about what critique looks like within each of the separate schools. We will touch on reactions to critique, how to utilize critique, and the importance it holds to the learning process.  
 

Language as Place  

In this workshop we will discuss language as a place and the various kinds of anxiety, translation, and creativity sometimes required to access it. We will read texts by writers coming to English from other languages, as well as texts by writers made anxious by the English language. We will work to find languages (places) we feel comfortable in, and we'll talk together about the edges of language we find in Art, Architecture, Engineering, and elsewhere—about nonlanguage and constructed language, about hybrid languages and everything in between. 

Practice and experimentation within the critique space 

Critique, criticism, reviews, and feedback are all essential processes in developing a project. How does it differ across the schools? What purpose does it serve at different stages? How do we share or present our work? How do different forms of critique inform us differently and who is involved? In this workshop, we will discuss these questions, the practice of critique, and the critique space. 

How to engage in and use reflection

In what places do you reflect the most? Where do you struggle to reflect? Where do you hope to reflect more? In this workshop, we will look at different form's reflection. As a group, we will work on written reflection exercises.