Critical Theory: Program Overview

Over the past three decades, the term “critical theory” has come to designate, particularly in the United States, a type of study that cuts across disciplines to examine the premises, concepts, and categories that structure academic discourse in areas such as literary studies, art history, film studies, history, philosophy, and political theory, to name just a few. Critical theory is therefore not limited to a particular field or even to specific content; it is involved wherever methods, concepts, and social formations are not simply taken for granted but subjected to systematic and rigorous critical reflection.

Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences offers a minor in critical theory, an interdisciplinary program of study enabling undergraduates to acquire understanding of critical theory’s many dimensions and fields of application. It aims to give students a chance to develop their interests in various dimensions of critical theory, with particular emphasis on literary theory, continental philosophy, and political theory. Requirements for the minor can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog.

Graduate students in relevant fields can participate in Northwestern’s Interdisciplinary Cluster in Critical Theory. The cluster provides a thorough introduction to critical theory through a structured, interdepartmental curriculum. Exposure to critical theory is highly recommended for students of literature, philosophy, politics, culture, the visual arts, gender and race studies, rhetoric, and society in our post-colonial, post-modern world. Northwestern also offers the Paris Program in Critical Theory, which affords up to five advanced graduate students, from a wide variety of disciplines, a unique opportunity to spend one year in Paris familiarizing themselves with French and European theoretical research.

For more information about the undergraduate minor or the graduate cluster, contact program director Alexander Weheliye.