Cooper Union Continuing Ed
January 5, 2005 7:01 PM Subscribe
Has anyone out there taken a continuing education class at the Cooper Union? (I have taken classes at the New School, and frankly was less than thrilled with the experience...)
I went to Cooper Union, though not for continuing education. I got a BFA there. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to email me. Address in profile.
posted by interrobang at 8:22 PM on January 5, 2005
posted by interrobang at 8:22 PM on January 5, 2005
In general continuing education classes are going to depend heavily on the teachers. The people who teach are not peer reviewed or held to certain standards - the class just has to keep bringing in enough money for it to continue, and the teacher has to feel it's worth his or her time to keep teaching.
I teach a class at NYU continuing ed, because I'm a grad student & it's extra money. Once I finish my degree, I will be looking for a better job (because it isn't much extra money :)). A friend of my mother's taught an art class at parson's continuing ed, because she's an artist who needed extra money. Those are the kinds of people who are going to be teaching - not certified, fully trained teachers, but professionals or students looking for extra cash. Some of them will be great - because they love their subject, or they're not disillusioned yet, or whatever - and some of them will suck (they're there because they couldn't get a better job, etc). Continuing ed. departments do not work like departments, though - the faculty don't meet with each other (except for like once a year for free wine and mingling), no one keeps track of the students, and there are no senior faculty to audit classes, etc. The market determines whether a class will run again, and this can mean that so long as the blurb about it sounds good, and word doesn't spread too quickly about how sucky someone is, a mediocre class can keep getting offered.
They're supposed to pay attention to the feedback forms you fill at the end, but a)students who don't like the class will often stop showing up before the end, and b)they don't seem to care that much about the forms (one semester I never rec'd mine and I complained about it because I wanted to get feedback, and they said, oh don't worry, it's no big deal - I had to make a fuss to get the forms since I seemed to be the only one who really cared what the students thought of my class... the admin had the $$ already, after all).
Which is all to say, see if you can find something about the particular teachers and classes offered, rather than just the school. What kind of class are you planning to take?
posted by mdn at 8:23 PM on January 5, 2005
I teach a class at NYU continuing ed, because I'm a grad student & it's extra money. Once I finish my degree, I will be looking for a better job (because it isn't much extra money :)). A friend of my mother's taught an art class at parson's continuing ed, because she's an artist who needed extra money. Those are the kinds of people who are going to be teaching - not certified, fully trained teachers, but professionals or students looking for extra cash. Some of them will be great - because they love their subject, or they're not disillusioned yet, or whatever - and some of them will suck (they're there because they couldn't get a better job, etc). Continuing ed. departments do not work like departments, though - the faculty don't meet with each other (except for like once a year for free wine and mingling), no one keeps track of the students, and there are no senior faculty to audit classes, etc. The market determines whether a class will run again, and this can mean that so long as the blurb about it sounds good, and word doesn't spread too quickly about how sucky someone is, a mediocre class can keep getting offered.
They're supposed to pay attention to the feedback forms you fill at the end, but a)students who don't like the class will often stop showing up before the end, and b)they don't seem to care that much about the forms (one semester I never rec'd mine and I complained about it because I wanted to get feedback, and they said, oh don't worry, it's no big deal - I had to make a fuss to get the forms since I seemed to be the only one who really cared what the students thought of my class... the admin had the $$ already, after all).
Which is all to say, see if you can find something about the particular teachers and classes offered, rather than just the school. What kind of class are you planning to take?
posted by mdn at 8:23 PM on January 5, 2005
On looking at that list of teachers--none of whom I had--if you want to know about the (forever unchanging) tenor of Cooper, I can tell you about that.
Cooper and the New School have nothing in common but proximity and a couple of adjunct faculty, though.
posted by interrobang at 9:40 PM on January 5, 2005
Cooper and the New School have nothing in common but proximity and a couple of adjunct faculty, though.
posted by interrobang at 9:40 PM on January 5, 2005
Look for people who teach multiple classes in a series. They have to pretty good to get anyone to sign up for the add'l classes.
posted by smackfu at 6:46 AM on January 6, 2005
posted by smackfu at 6:46 AM on January 6, 2005
I haven't taken any continuing education courses at Cooper, I did consider it though when evaluating where I might want to take art-related continuing ed courses in the city. I chose SVA, though a bit more pricey, based on what I could tell of the faculty.
In part because I agree with much of mdn's assessment of the general nature of continuing education being market driven and issues of faculty accountability, I've tried to take courses with faculty that teach both undergrad and continuing education courses at the School. While not everything's been great (most of my issues have been over course cancellations) I've had pretty good experiences taking continuing education classes through SVA. I attribute it to researching the faculty, the specific course -- if possible, and the program overall and it sounds like you are on your way with that approach.
If you go with Cooper and find out it's the best thing ever, let me know and Good luck!
posted by safetyfork at 6:54 AM on January 6, 2005
In part because I agree with much of mdn's assessment of the general nature of continuing education being market driven and issues of faculty accountability, I've tried to take courses with faculty that teach both undergrad and continuing education courses at the School. While not everything's been great (most of my issues have been over course cancellations) I've had pretty good experiences taking continuing education classes through SVA. I attribute it to researching the faculty, the specific course -- if possible, and the program overall and it sounds like you are on your way with that approach.
If you go with Cooper and find out it's the best thing ever, let me know and Good luck!
posted by safetyfork at 6:54 AM on January 6, 2005
So the New School isn't so great? They always advertise their writing programs in Bookforum, etc. and I always wondered the quality.
posted by orange clock at 9:34 AM on January 6, 2005
posted by orange clock at 9:34 AM on January 6, 2005
Response by poster: With the New School, I was just a little underwhelmed with the instructor. I took a writing class with an instructor who was really quite lazy. [With each class the students would read out their assignments, then we would do an in-class critique. Usually only one or two students got to read. Although we were supposed to turn in assignments with every class, he never read any of them. By my fifth class, I was pretty sure that he hadn't looked at any of the assignments that I handed in, so I confronted him. Turns out I was right. Maybe it was just this instructor, but I'm not willing to chance it again.]
I'm thinking about taking either a drawing or a poetry class. I hoping that CU instructors are a little more professional.
posted by lilboo at 10:40 AM on January 6, 2005
I'm thinking about taking either a drawing or a poetry class. I hoping that CU instructors are a little more professional.
posted by lilboo at 10:40 AM on January 6, 2005
writing classes will almost always be critique-driven; the strength is going to come from a)the instructor's assignments (interesting assignments can be a great source of creativity); b) the instructor's ability to guide discussions and pick up on important points; c)your classmates. For the third reason especially, I would advise against generic continuing ed. for writing classes.
Try taking workshops with writers you like, or at the poetry project, or apply to literary seminars or workshops advertised in writing journals etc, that are specific to your tastes. A random mixed bag of writers means half the people in class will just not be on the same page as you at all (ie, you'll have a sci fi writer, a romance novel writer, a trendy hipster writer, a sincere poet, a bunch of 'memoirists', at least a couple people who think they're writing TGAN, but are really just lamely copying old stuff, and then a few decent writers sprinkled in there [who may or may not fit specified genres or types].
I'd say for continuing ed that the best classes will be an intro to something you've never studied or wouldn't study on your own but want to learn about, or something that requires resources you wouldn't otherwise have access to, like pottery or life drawing. A general interest class on a general interest of yours may well be disappointing if you don't have reason to think the instructor is anything special.
posted by mdn at 11:25 AM on January 6, 2005
Try taking workshops with writers you like, or at the poetry project, or apply to literary seminars or workshops advertised in writing journals etc, that are specific to your tastes. A random mixed bag of writers means half the people in class will just not be on the same page as you at all (ie, you'll have a sci fi writer, a romance novel writer, a trendy hipster writer, a sincere poet, a bunch of 'memoirists', at least a couple people who think they're writing TGAN, but are really just lamely copying old stuff, and then a few decent writers sprinkled in there [who may or may not fit specified genres or types].
I'd say for continuing ed that the best classes will be an intro to something you've never studied or wouldn't study on your own but want to learn about, or something that requires resources you wouldn't otherwise have access to, like pottery or life drawing. A general interest class on a general interest of yours may well be disappointing if you don't have reason to think the instructor is anything special.
posted by mdn at 11:25 AM on January 6, 2005
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posted by bshort at 8:01 PM on January 5, 2005