Interdisciplinary Program in Critical Theory
Northwestern University
The Interdisciplinary Program in Critical Theory (IPCT) offers a thorough introduction to critical theory through a structured, interdepartmental curriculum. Some 80-100 students in relevant fields at Northwestern University participate in Northwestern’s Interdisciplinary Cluster in Critical Theory. The Cluster offers possibilities for graduate student accreditation in the form of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificates in Critical Theory. It offers a number of forums and venues for intellectual exchange between graduate students and faculty with related interests in different departments and programs. It promotes reading groups, workshops, several other opportunities for graduate students, and a coherent program of interdisciplinary coursework at Northwestern.
Among the activities regularly organized by the Cluster are: welcome and end of year events for new graduates, faculty-graduate book dialogues, annual “Critical Theory in Critical Times” workshops, annual events organized by Northwestern’s Cornell University School of Criticism and Literary Theory fellowship awardee, visiting speakers including lectures and a workshop with our Max Kade visiting professors, an annual tri-university fall doctoral institute rotating between Northwestern University, the University of Frankfurt and the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, and further annual doctoral workshops with visiting faculty and graduate students through several inter-university international cooperations.
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, in a seminar convened by Avalon Professor of the Humanities Sam Weber.
Northwestern’s Department of German offers a Graduate Program In German Literature And Critical Thought.
The Interdisciplinary Program in Critical Theory also offers an Undergraduate Minor in Critical Theory. Through the undergraduate-initiated and organized Critical Theory Research Workshop, the minor benefits from an active undergraduate research culture. It offers a fortnightly series of workshops by invited graduate speakers, and an annual lecture from a visiting speaker. The minor is also associated with the popular undergraduate Paris Program in Critical Theory, Literature and Media, which offers undergraduates the unique opportunity to spend a quarter studying in Paris. In the Program of Comparative Literary Studies, undergraduates can also complete a major with a concentration in critical theory.
Contact Information
Cristina Lafont, Director
Penelope Deutscher, Associate Director
Crowe Hall 4-103, 1860 Campus Drive,
Evanston, IL
United States http://www.tgs.northwestern.edu/academics/programs/clusters-and-certificates/critical-theory/
criticaltheory@northwestern.edu
(847) 491-3864
Region
North America
Academic Program
Certificate (includes emphasis, specialization, or concentration)
Non-Degree
Year Established
2001