Cooper Series

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. Planning for next season is currently underway.

Current Season

Below is the list of upcoming Cooper Series events for 2018-2019.

Lenny Seidman: ARC

October 1-5

Drum and dance traditions from all over the globe combine this Fall in the premiere of ARC, a multidisciplinary performance suite conceptualized by tabla artist, composer, and artistic director, Lenny Seidman. This original work melds North Indian tabla, Japanese taiko, and a hybrid of contemporary Western, Asian Pacific, and African Diasporic movement into one evening-length performance.

To bring the work of ARC to life, Seidman enlisted the talents of eight highly-distinguished co-creators: tabla artists Daniel Ando Scholnick and Jonathan Marmor; taiko artists Joe Small, Kristy Oshiro, and Isaku Kageyama; and movement artists Laurel Jenkins, Orlando Hunter, and Ani Gavino. Together, the artists created ARC over the course of a three week residency at Swarthmore College, living and working together to build the piece from Seidman’s early sketches. What resulted from their residency is an intimate, electrifying, and cross-cultural performance that convenes an array of forms, styles, and disciplines.

Lenny Seidman: ARC

Critical Conversations: An Interactive Symposium on W. E. B. Du Bois and 21st Century Color Lines

February 2

William Edward Burghardt “W. E. B.” Du Bois was born in 1868 and became the nation’s leading social scientist on race, social inequality, African-American life and culture, and the ideology of white supremacy. He famously predicted that “the problem of the twentieth century [would be] the problem of the color line”—a prescient observation that rings truer than ever today, on the 150th anniversary of Du Bois’s birth. With this symposium, Swarthmore College attempts to serve the greater good of Du Bois’s vision via deep listening and democratic voices offered in mutual exchange and respect.

Critical Conversations: An Interactive Symposium on W. E. B. Du Bois and 21st Century Color Lines

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Third Coast Percussion

February 6 - 9

An all-star team from the worlds of dance and music comes together to present an ambitious new project about survival, renewal, and the hidden connections that keep our world together. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Third Coast Percussion, both known for work that is forward-looking and intensely personal, will be joined by a creative team including choreographers Emma Portner, Lil Buck, and Jon Boogz, as well as composer Devonté Hynes (Blood Orange), for this new evening-length work. This project represents a rare opportunity to explore something epic in scope but particularly relevant to the moment, and to create at the intersection of science, expression, and politics.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Third Coast Percussion