FractalU is back with its 5th semester this upcoming summer. As always, we’re running DIY educational experiments around the city, from third spaces to dance studios to cozy living rooms.
The goals are to challenge ourselves, gain new & actionable skills, and follow our curiosity, because education should be a lifelong pursuit. Plus, learning is fun, and cool peers make excellent friends.
Below, courses are organized by starting date. Applications are already open, so don’t miss your chance to sign up — some classes will fill up by June 1, or even earlier.
To browse by subject, check out this post, which clusters courses into 5 “disciplines.”
Arts & Expression; Life Skills; Mind-Body; Tech & Science; Writing & Literature
| **Class Name
| (Click for info)** | Short Description | Instructor | Time | Dates | Location | Application Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rewrite Your Personal Narrative: A Writing Workshop | Use therapeutic techniques, mindfulness practices, and creative writing exercises to help you rewrite the story you tell about yourself | Stephen Thomas | Saturdays 2-4pm | May 31 - June 29 | Either Lofi House or the Montauk Club (both near the 7th Ave Q) | Application Form |
| Tai Chi Dojo | learn to practice the Tai Chi Yang form with fluidity and ease | Ulysses Chuang | Mondays 6-7:30 | June 2 to July 21 | Merlins Place at 248 Mckibbin Street | Application Form |
| Personal Styling | Learning how to style oneself as a way of personal expression | Mars Holscher | Mondays, 6:30-9 | June 2nd-July 14th | TBD (Either 578 Lafayette, or my place off of the Kosciusko J) | Application Form |
| Intuitive Movement (June Intensive) | Start creating and deepening your relationship to your body. Through somatic exercises, experimental physical theater exercises, breathing, you will learn to take care of your body intuitively. | Clara Wiest | Tuesdays, 6pm-7:15pm EST. | June 3-24 | Ridgewood, Brooklyn | Application Form |
| Learning Martial Architecture | Learn the foundations of physical and mental martial arts principles. | Michael Weston | Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm | June 4th - August 20th | Herbert Von King Park | Application Form |
| Improv Editing Lab | Explore revision from an intuitive standpoint. Through a series of editing assignments, students learn to turn critical instincts into creative discovery of their true voice - all while speeding up their editing. | Crystal Duan | Wednesdays 6:30pm-8:30pm | June 4 - July 9 | 248 McKibben (TBD) | Application Form |
| Generative Poetry | Write, share and critique freestyle poetry | Han | Wednesdays 6-8:30 pm | June 4-July 9 | Near Maria Hernandez Park | Apply here |
| Make Your Own 3D Models: Blender and 3D Printing | Learn how to create 3D models in Blender and the process of printing them in 3D to take home | Jeff Horal | Wednesdays 6:30-8:30pm | June 4-July 9 | 111 Conselyea St, Brooklyn, NY 11211 | Application Form |
| Get Actualized! | Get accountability for 25 minutes devoted daily to your project | Ian Howe and Ulysses Chuang | Thursdays 7-9 PM | June 5 to July 17 | Merlins Place at 248 Mckibbin Street | Application Form |
| Bardic Arts | Workshop and perform material in one of four tracks: storytelling, spoken word, stand up comedy and song. | Zachary Stamp and Ulysses Chuang | Saturdays 3-6 | June 7 to July 19 | Merlins Place at 248 Mckibbin Street | Application Form |
| Mission-Driven Money: A Practical Fundraising Workshop | Hands-on fundraising course to equip you with practical skills to fund your social cause, advocacy organization, or policy project. | Regan | Mondays 6:30pm-8:30pm | June 9th-June 30th | TBD | Application Form |
| Intro to Filmmaking | Learn how to make a write, shoot, direct, and edit an original film | Jina Zhao | Wednesdays 6:30-9pm | June 11th-July 30 | TBD Brooklyn | Application Form |
| Tango (Level I or Level II) | Tango goes beyond steps — it’s meditation for two—a mindful journey of connection and playfulness. This class welcomes beginners to explore tango's dynamics and discover its sublime essence. | Eran Polat | Thursdays. |
Level I 6:30-8:00pm
Practica 8-8:30pm
Level II 8:30-10:00pm | June 12th - August 9th | Bat Haus: 459 Grand St Floor 1, Brooklyn, NY 11211 | Application Form | | Intro to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu | Learn the basic movements, positions, and principles of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu | Brooks Flannery | Sundays (Time TBD based on survey) | June 15th-August 3rd | Vangeline Studios | Application Form | | Singing from Shy to Fly | Owning your voice through somatic practices, games, & karaoke exposure therapy | (Robert) Hart | Sundays, 3-6pm | June 15th - Aug 3rd | Merlin’s Place | Application Form | | Frontier Language Models | Learn how today’s frontier LLMs—from GPT-4.5 and Claude-3.7—evolved beyond the 2017 Transformer. | Shubham Chandel | Mondays 7pm-9pm | June 16th - July 21st | Lower Manhattan | Application Form | | Learn 80% of SQL in 4 Hours | In this 2-part beginner course, we will make you comfortable with the foundations of SQL, from projections and filtering to aggregations and joins, with lots of hands-on practice throughout. | Alex Petralia | [ Cohort 1 ] Tuesdays, 7pm to 9pm
[ Cohort 2 ] Wednesdays, 7pm to 9pm
2-day intensive | [ Cohort 1 ] June 17th & 24th
[ Cohort 2 ] June 18th & 25th
2-day intensive | Fractal Tech Hub (East Williamsburg, 111 Conselyea St.) | Application Form | | Making a Lamp: 3D Modeling, 3D Printing & Design | Learn how to 3D model and design by making a lamp | Julianne Lefelhocz and Mel Brand | Tuesdays 6:30-8:30 | June 17-Aug 19 | 365 Dean St, Brooklyn, NY 11217 | Application Form | | Communication, Conflict, and Reality (TV) | Explore how communication often goes wrong & how conflict can go right, ft. selected scenes from Love is Blind | Sai // Taco | T/W/Th 6:00-8:30pm
(3-day intensive) | June 24-26th | TBD Bushwick | Application Form | | Relational Mindfulness Practices for Authentic Connection | Exploring present-moment connection through awareness, embodiment, and communication practices | Mercer Shavelson | Wednesdays 6:30-9:30pm | June 25th to Aug 27th | 215 Maujer Street Apt #2L, Brooklyn NY 11206 | Application Form | | Close Reading- East of Eden by John Steinbeck | Practice the art of deep reading and examine how words can illuminate life's deeper patterns and truths as we explore John Steinbeck’s masterpiece. | Elena Navarrete | Tuesdays 7pm-9pm | July 8th- August 12th | Neighbor NYC, 176 9th Ave (Manhattan) | Application Form | | Butoh: Into the Depth | Learn Butoh, a Japanese dance form that uses slow, controlled movements to explore deep human emotions with Vangeline, a renowned teacher & practitioner w/ decades of experience. | Vangeline | Wednesdays, 6-9pm | July 9-August 6th (includes final performance) | 126 10th Street Suite 207 Brooklyn NY 11215 | Apply here | | Perception, Imagination, Trance | An exploration of three body-mind tools for greater learning autonomy, experiential breadth, and insight depth across movement practices. | Alicia Botero | Friday, Sat, Sun., 10am - 1pm
| July 11-13
(3-day weekend intensive) | TBA | Application Form | | Basics of Computational Biology | Basic introduction to computational biology for programmers. | Mike Saint-Antoine | 10am-5pm, Sat & Sunday
Single-weekend intensive | Weekend Seminar 7/12 - 7/13 | Lower Manhattan | Application Form | | Improv Writing Lab | Discover how timed exercises & creative spontaneity can unlock your authentic writing voice! For students seeking to bypass perfectionism & get into creative flow states | Crystal Duan | Wednesdays 6:30pm-8:30pm | July 16 - Aug 20 | 248 McKibben St. (TBD) | Application Form | | Freestyle Cooking 101 | Learn how to cook delicious healthy and affordable meals at home | Eric L | Wednesdays 6:30-9:00pm | July 30th - August 20th | 248 McKibben St. | Application Form | | Close Reading- The Great Gatsby | In celebration of 100 years since it’s publication, we invite you to read The Great Gatsby! We will use the novel to cultivate skills that enhance our ability to interpret literature and find meaning in our lives. | Elena Navarrete | Wednesdays 7pm-9pm | Sept 10th- Sept 24th | Neighbor NYC, 176 9th Ave (Manhattan) | Application Form |
These courses are higher-intensity and of a longer duration than our standard courses, and are accordingly more expensive (though financial aid may still be available).
| Class Name (Click for info) | Description | Instructor | Date & Time | Location | Application Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fractal Dev Bootcamp | Welcome to the liveliest engineering school in NYC. Fractal Bootcamp is a 3-month, immersive coding bootcamp in NYC, built by founders and engineering leaders, designed to turn you into a high-velocity startup engineer. | Andrew Rose & Jake Zegil | June 1st-September 1st |
Weekdays, 9am-7pm + Saturdays 10am-4pm | Fractal Tech Hub: 111 Conselyea St, Brooklyn | Apply here | | Fractal Campus Accelerator (online) | Launch a neighborhood campus like Fractal, wherever you live | Priya Rose & Tyler Alterman | June 1st-July 9th
Mondays, 6:30-8pm ET Wednesdays, 6:30-8pm or 8-9:30pm ET | Online | Apply here |
| Club Name | Description | Contact | Day | Time | Location | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OT Society | a shadowy cabal, a benevolent conspiracy, a metaphysical expedition, an experiment in thought. FractalU's secret society | Harp0crates.1@gmail.com | Thursday | 7 pm | Fractal Tech Hub | https://t.co/ukNA4skzbp |
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Got questions?
Teachers, email elaracreativeconsultants @ gmail.com, or text Sai or Crystal. Please don’t bug Priya and Tyler — we’ve taken over admin duties this semester 🙂
Hopeful students, please try to contact the relevant teacher directly.
Check out Fractal’s other happenings here, or find us on Twitter.