Critical Theory

Steering Committee: A. Kiarina Kordela (Program Director; German Studies), Rothin Datta (Political Science), Erik Davis (Religious Studies), Joanna Inglot (Art History), David Martyn (German Studies), David Moore (International Studies/English), Khaldoun Samman (Sociology)

This concentration provides students an opportunity to engage in the interdisciplinary study of Critical Theory, an influential movement in philosophy and social thought.  Critical Theory works to blur the traditional distinctions between “pure thought” and “material practices” - social, textual, political, historical, and economic relations. What designates a certain course as Critical Theory does not depend on the objects one analyzes - which are found across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and even natural sciences - but on methods that bridge these disciplines. Critical Theory questions the frameworks of understanding and conceptual hierarchies we rely on to explain the world; explores the historical conditions of contemporary thought; and reflects on the connections between cultural and political phenomena.

Programs

• Critical Theory Concentration