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Beginning May 20, 2025!
The Horological Society of New York (HSNY), America’s oldest watchmaking guild, founded in 1866, announces today an expansion of its educational initiatives with the launch of new academic programming set to begin this spring. Building on its 159-year legacy of advancing the art and science of horology, HSNY is introducing a suite of courses and learning opportunities designed to meet the growing demand for comprehensive horological education.
The new academic offerings will include structured six-week courses led by accredited New York City professors and will be offered to students ages 18 and up. Courses are tailored for enthusiasts and no prior experience is required to enroll.
“Our goal is to make horological education more accessible and relevant for today’s world,” said Nicholas Manousos, Executive Director of HSNY. “Our new academic programming offers a unique educational experience grounded in tradition but looking to the future.”
COURSE 1
America at Night (Tuesdays from May 20 — June 24)
What makes night different today? Americans pioneered technologies of illumination, business models that keep us up late, cultures and subcultures that populate the night, social and psychological problems of night owls, and some of the solutions to those problems. This class will examine the history of these developments and give students a chance to talk about paintings, stories, and songs that celebrate and lament being awake at night.
Taught by Daniel Levinson Wilk
Cost: $150
Capacity: 11
Daniel Levinson Wilk is Professor of American History at SUNY-Fashion Institute of Technology. He writes about the history of waiters, elevators, and the modern service sector, and serves on the board of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition. He is currently writing a book called How To Tip With Style.
COURSE 2
Time: The Big Questions (Wednesdays from May 21 — June 25)
Time is at once fundamental and mysterious. From the 2000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism to modern cesium-fountain clocks, humans have long sought to understand temporal patterns in nature, and build mechanisms to measure, reflect and predict those patterns. We’re at a unique moment, one in which we’ve developed the ability to perceive relativistic effects on time at the smallest scales, while struggling to think and plan across generations.
In this discussion course, students will reflect on the deep mysteries of time. How can we locate our place in the vast history and expanse of the Universe? Why do the planets, moon, and stars move the way they do? What does the future hold? Does time even exist? The course will draw from the rich materials available at the HSNY’s Jost Bürgi Research Library, and from the instructor’s graduate course at NYU, “Time”.
Taught by Jeffrey Feddersen
Time: 6:00PM — 7:30PM
Cost: $150
Capacity: 11
Jeffrey Feddersen has collaborated for over two decades with artists, musicians, designers, and engineers to make amazing things. Trained in computer science and music, his code and creativity can be found in projects for groups ranging from the Hayden Planetarium to HBO. He is a dedicated teacher and has held research and fellowship positions at NYU’s digital arts graduate program, ITP, where he is currently a Production Mentor. At ITP he developed the video curriculum supporting creative electronics, and founded the courses “Energy” and “Time”. The Time course combines physics and philosophy to trace the connections between time-keeping, computation, and human attempts to understand the universe.
Classes will be held at HSNY’s Jost Bürgi Research Library located at 20 West 44th Street, Suite 501, New York, NY 10036.
Enrollment for spring programming opens on April 28, 2025. For more information about the new academic programming and to register, visit Eventbrite.
About the Horological Society of New York
Founded in 1866, the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) is one of the oldest continuously operating horological associations in the world. Today, HSNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of horology through education. Members are a diverse mix of watchmakers, clockmakers, executives, journalists, auctioneers, historians, salespeople and collectors, reflecting the rich nature of horology in New York City and around the world. http://hs-ny.org
