CUP is seeking a Teaching Artist to lead a year-long Urban Investigation project to create a documentary with public high school students about New York City’s garbage infrastructure.

The Teaching Artist will collaborate with CUP and a group of Greenpoint public high school students to investigate the question “Where does the trash go, and who decides?”

This will be CUP’s first ever Digital Investigation! This exciting new year-long project will take place from July 2015 to July 2016. The Teaching Artist will not only work with the students to understand how the garbage system works, but will also teach students video production and editing skills, as you work together to create a short documentary about New York City’s garbage infrastructure. 

Like our Urban Investigations, this project will begin with a key question about how the city works. To find answers, students go beyond standard classroom learning and engage in rigorous field research, visiting real sites, and interviewing decision-makers and stakeholders. Students then collaborate with the Teaching Artist to produce innovative, engaging works in a variety of media. These projects are taken up by neighborhood organizations and advocacy groups and used to educate others.

Planning for the Digital Investigation will begin in June 2015, and the classes will take place from September 2015 through June 2016. The project will consist of 3 phases, which include interviewing stakeholders, and using art-making activities to process information; learning digital video editing skills and collaboratively creating a documentary; and a mentoring phase in which the Digital Investigation students lead other students through peer-to-peer teaching sessions. Classes will be held Mondays and Tuesdays for 90 minutes during the school day at Frances Perkins High School in Greenpoint. The group will also travel throughout the city for interviews.

CUP Teaching Artists work with CUP staff to develop course ideas, schedules, and lesson plans. Teaching Artists are responsible for training students in research, documentation, and editing skills; taking students on site visits; and shaping and managing the execution of the final video. The position pays a project stipend of $15,400. There is a separate budget for materials and other project costs.

Applications are due by email at 5 pm on Monday, June 29th, 2015.