Mar 28, 2024  
College Catalog 2020-2021 
    
College Catalog 2020-2021 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Critical Theory Concentration


Structure of Concentration


A concentration in Critical Theory consists of five (5) courses and one (1) course or project that involves a major research paper. At least three (3) of the five courses counted toward the concentration must be selected from the list of Core Courses. No more than three (3) of the five courses may be taken in any single department.

The major research paper must focus primarily on Critical Theory and must be completed in the senior year or after the student has taken four CT courses-whichever comes first. Students may fulfill this requirement by completing: (a) a departmental senior seminar that requires a major paper engaging with Critical Theory; (b) a departmental Honors project focused on Critical Theory; or (c) an equivalent research paper or project approved in advance by the program coordinator (e.g. an independent study with a participating faculty member; a Keck summer research project).

All courses and the activity in which the student will produce the major research paper should be selected and developed as part of a coherent plan in consultation with an advisor from the steering committee, and must be approved by the director of the program. A copy of the final project should also be supplied to the program director.

Core Courses focus directly and in a sustained manner on the founders and architects of Critical Theory, including its background traditions of thought. These courses offer a basic understanding of the genealogy, purpose, and philosophical/historical/intellectual background of Critical Theory, and provide students with the fundamental conceptual framework and terminology of the field.

ART 264 - Contemporary Art and Critical Theory  
ART 394 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
ENGL 212 - Introduction to Literary Theory  
GERM 277 - Metaphysics in Secular Thought  
GERM 279 - Value: The Bad, the Ugly, and the Cheap 
GERM 294 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses 
GERM 314 - Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud  
GERM 337 - Dead White Men  
GERM 365 - A Kafkaesque Century  
GERM 394 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
SPAN 394 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
INTL 367 - Postcolonial Theory  
PHIL 210 - Existentialist Metaphysics 
PHIL 300 - 20th Century Continental Philosophy  
POLI 160 - Foundations of Political Theory  
POLI 294 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
RELI 256 - Marx: Religion as Ideology, Alienation, and Authority  
SOCI 272 - Social Theories  
WGSS 300 - Worlds Upside Down: Revolutions in Theories and Practices  

Elective Courses either use critical-theory-oriented approaches or focus on more peripheral representatives of the field or address specialized subfields within Critical Theory. They offer students a chance to acquire more detailed mastery of specific topics in the field of Critical Theory, as well as to gain exposure to the broader array of its applications in contemporary discourse.

AMST 294 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
AMST 300 - Critical Legal Studies  Depends on semester-based topic
ANTH 294 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
ANTH 487 - Theory in Anthropology  
FREN 446 - The Animal and the Human in the French Enlightenment  
INTL 294 - Topics Course  and INTL 394 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
MCST 110 - Texts and Power: Foundations of Media and Cultural Studies  
MCST 321 - Cultures of Neoliberalism  
MUSI 155 MUSI 155 - Music and Freedom  
PHIL 294 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
PHIL 311 - Philosophy of Language  
PHIL 394 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
POLI 260 - Contemporary Political Theory  
POLI 261 - Feminist Political Theory  
POLI 265 - Work, Wealth, Well-Being  
POLI 266 - Medieval Political Thought  
POLI 320 - Global Political Economy  
RELI 194 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
RELI 235 - Theorizing Religion  
RELI 311 - Ritual  
RELI 394 - Topics Course   Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
RUSS 151 - “Things Don’t Like Me:” The Material World and Why It Matters  
SOCI 194 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
SOCI 290 - Islam and the West  
SOCI 294 - Topics Course  Please refer to the Critical Theory website for semester-approved topics courses
THDA 489 - Seminar in Performance Theory and Practice  
WGSS 200 - Feminist/Queer Theories and Methodologies  
WGSS 220 - Feminist Reconstructions: Indian  Depends on semester-based topic
WGSS 240 - Comparative Feminisms: Whiteness and Postcolonialisms  
WGSS 315 - Comparative (Neo/Post) Modernities  
WGSS 330 - Democracies, Feminisms, Capitalisms  

Students are encouraged to take courses on Critical Theory during their study abroad. Up to one course credits may be counted toward the completion of the concentration with the advance approval of the program director.

Students may search for courses currently being offered and affiliated with the Critical Theory concentration through the Searchable Class Schedule within 1600grand.