Contemporary Critical Theory

The term “critical theory” has traditionally been identified with the critiques of modernity offered by Frankfurt School theorists, especially Theodore Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse, but also Walter Benjamin. More recently the term has been widened to encompass the ideas of a broad range of theorists who have exploded the boundaries between various established academic disciplines to produce a supradisciplinary discourse to approach the contemporary moment’s central social, political, cultural, and aesthetic questions. Combining philosophy, social theory, cultural critique, and political commitment, this body of thought has at once arisen out of the conditions of modernity (and, for some, postmodernity) while providing a critique of its central concepts and a revisioning of its assumptions about truth, progress, representation, subjectivity, identity, rationality, meaning, language, and power. Courses in this concentration, while differing topically, forefront theory and its historical, cultural, and intellectual context. They familiarize students with the assumptions, history, and methods of several strands of contemporary critical thought, including structuralist, semiotic, poststructuralist, postmodern, postcolonial, and feminist theory.

Curriculum

A minimum of 20 credits is required for the concentration: Students must take at least one Core Course; two courses must be at the 300 level; and at least two disciplines must be represented in those chosen.

An intellectually coherent Program of Study that complements the concentration and reflects the student’s interests will be devised in consultation with the Moderation Committee. This might, for example, involve the development of the student’s expertise in the several disciplines represented in the concentration; the exploration of one or several themes across these disciplines (critical analysis of gender, postcolonial studies, political thought, etc.); or the fulfillment of the existing concentrations in “Philosophical Studies,” “Modern Studies,” or “Cultural Studies” which offer important perspectives on the type of inquiry featured in contemporary critical theory.

Students are encouraged to consult the Bard College Catalogue for courses which are appropriate for the Concentration (e.g., SST 214 Black Thought: Beyond Boundary; LIT 390 Contemporary Critical Theory), or for the Program of Study (e.g., ANTH 302 Culture and History; LIT 218 Free Speech)

Core Courses

BA Seminar 399 Eros and Thanatos: A Study of Sexuality in the West
History 319 Hegemony Is Hard Work: Domination/Agency/Resistance
Literature 321 Literary Theory
Social Science 202 CP In and Out: Images of the Homosexual “Other” in American Film
Social Science 302 The Foucault Effect
Social Science 316 Marginalia: Encounters with Borders and Frontiers
Women’s Studies 304 Doing Theory: Feminist, Postcolonial, Queer

Additional Courses

Anthropology 200 Introduction to Cultural Studies
Anthropology 202 CP Language and Culture
Anthropology 207 CP Gender Roles in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Art History 212 Theories of Photography
Art History 213 Analyzing Television
Art History 309m Lacan and Visual Pleasure
Geography 313 Political Ecology and Globalization Theory
Intercultural Studies 315 The Mythic Imagination
Linguistics 216m Language and Power
Linguistics 218m Language and Gender
Philosophy 313 Metaphysics
Politics 318 Critical Legal Studies: The First Amendment
Psychology 307 Psychological Theories of Self
Women’s Studies 303 CP Global Feminism

Faculty

Asma Abbas, Nancy Bonvillain, Ryan Carey, Chris Coggins, Brian Conolly, Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez, Joan DelPlato, Rebecca Fiske, Anne O’Dwyer, Patricia Sharpe, Mark Vecchio, Nancy Yanoshak
Faculty Contact: Nancy Yanoshak