Society, Identity and Politics: Contemporary Topics in Critical Theory

Catalog description

This course is a survey of contemporary critical theory from the late 20th century to the present. Theories include Contemporary Feminist Theory, Queer Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Critical Race Theory and Transgender Theory. The course combines philosophy, cultural critique, and politics to examine how different theoretical approaches can create dramatically different interpretations and analyses of a text. Theoretical premises and techniques are applied to selected works so as to understand more fully those techniques and to analyze specific texts in particular. Readings are from Judith Butler, Judith Halberstam, Michel Foucault, Riki Wilchins, Alan Freeman and others critical to the development of contemporary critical theory. (Pre-requisite: ENGL210 for English majors, or ENGL101 or ENGL110 for non-English majors)