Swarthmore College
The William J. Cooper Foundation provides a varied program of lectures, performances and exhibitions which enriches the academic work of Swarthmore College. The Foundation was established by William J. Cooper to bring to campus leaders in a broad range of fields and disciplines, including education, politics, the arts and sciences, and business for the benefit of faculty, students, staff, and the College community.
The Cooper Series for the 2022-23 academic year will include eight events beginning September 7, 2022.
Due to Covid-19 protocols, programming and capacity limits to in-person events may change at the last moment. Please check with event organizers and the College's Covid-19 website for the most up-to-date information.
Do you have an idea for a program, lecture, presentation, or performance that would enrich the academic work of Swarthmore college?
The William J. Cooper Foundation Committee is now accepting Letters of Inquiry by February 3, 2023 for Cooper and Promise Grants for events proposed in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.
These events are made possible by the William J. Cooper Foundation.
Kizuna Dance is pleased to present an evening of mixed repertory, featuring contemporary dance works from across the company’s nine-year history. All works are inspired by various aspects of the Japanese language and culture. Presented by the Swarthmore College Dance Program, as part of the Cooper Series. Co-sponsored by the Japanese Language Program.
A Laboratory with the Moscow School of Literary Practices will bring Russia’s leading feminist and LGBTQ+ writers and critics — Oksana Vasyakina, Evgenia Nekrasova, Evgenia Vezhlyan, Alesya Atroshchenko, and Tatiana Novosyolova — to campus for a weeklong residency in Spring 2023. At a time when the global community is grappling with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, these visionary creatives will provide urgent perspectives on the role of the arts and humanities in bearing witness and charting a path forward.
This exhibition about harm reduction, mutual aid, and collective creative practice in Philadelphia throughout history features selections from the Mira Sharpless Townsend papers and artworks created by the Rosine 2.0 Collective. Programming will include an exhibition reception, artist talks, a film screening, and symposium.
Blue Heron’s program at Swarthmore, “Last Works and Legacies,” is the last installment in the ensemble’s “Ockeghem@600” effort to perform the complete works of one of the greatest, yet seldom-performed, European composers of the 15th century, Johannes Ockeghem.
Memphis-based Collage Dance presents a program featuring their signature work “Rise,” set to a score that brings together Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech with original music by Jonathan Kirkscey and Kirk Smith. The program also features a world premiere by Amy Hall Garner that brings Collage Dance together with Swarthmore Dance and “Flack” by Kevin Iega Jeff.
Award-winning sound artist Jason Singh uses microphone technologies and biodata sensors to capture nature-based sounds, such as electrical impulses in plants. Through art, science, and activism, Singh’s residency will engage the College community and the public with our hyper-local environment, the Crum Woods, and explore the nature that surrounds us in a new way.
