ENGL 500 Intro to Criticism & Research
Rebecca Oh
Wed, 12:30 - 02:50 PM
This course will examine the major theoretical and methodological approaches to literary and cultural studies that have evolved over the last several decades. Our readings will include some of the foundational texts of structuralism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis, gender and sexuality studies, Marxism, queer theory, critical race theory, postcolonial studies, and ecocriticism. While we will consider how these theoretical approaches have configured the goals and methods of literary studies, we will also critically assess their strengths, weaknesses, and implications for academia and the social world. Finally, we will determine how best to “use” and engage with theory in our own writing and research.
CWL 501 Theory of Literature
John Barnard
Tue, 7:30 - 8:50 PM & Wed, 3:00 - 4:50 PM
Major issues of literary theory, critical approaches, and comparative research.
CWL 561 Transoceanic Interconnections
Brett Kaplan
Thur, 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Transoceanic interconnections will explore different literary and theoretical texts that center the ocean, oceanic, water, and fluidity across nations and times. Alexis Pauline Gumbs asks us to consider “What can we remember that will surround us in oceans of history and potential? And how?” (Undrowned, 290. We’ll take up that challenge through reading and watching together
GWS 550 Feminist Theories & Methods
Maryam Kashani
Tue, 2:00 - 04:50PM
Interdisciplinary study in diverse feminist theories and methods produced in and across various disciplines. Contemporary philosophical and theoretical developments in the study of gender to specific histories of class, race, ethnicity, nation and sexuality.
GWS 580 Queer Theories and Methods
Damian Vergara Bracamontes
Thur, 2:00 - 4:50 PM
Interdisciplinary study in queer theories and methods produced in and across various disciplines. Contemporary philosophical and theoretical developments in queer studies specific to histories of class, race, ethnicity, nation and sexuality.
LA 505 Critical Perspectives in History
D. F. Ruggles
Thur, 9:00 - 11:50 AM
An exploration of the diverse theoretical approaches guiding historians’ understanding and analysis of the built environment. We will investigate conventions of the past century as well as newer interpretive frameworks and theoretical positions in order to understand a range of possible approaches to studying the history of architecture, landscape and materiality more generally. Topics include: concepts of time, Marxism, social history, visual theory, post-colonialism, representation and various forms of subjectivity. The class topics are coordinated with the Unit for Criticism’s Modern Critical Theory lecture series (Tuesdays at 5:15 pm) which students are required to attend.
MUS 523 Sonic Materialities: Power, Media, and the Politics of Musical Objects
Carlos Ramirez
Tue, 1:00 - 3:50 PM
This seminar explores the material dimensions of sound—from instruments and recording media to infrastructures and digital platforms—through the lens of media theory, materiality, organology, and power. Sound is always embedded in—and created through—materials, and technologies that shape its production, circulation, and reception. This seminar examines how these materialities are governed, contested, and repurposed across historical and contemporary contexts. A written research project that engages with the seminar’s theoretical framework will be required. This seminar does not require fluency in western musical notation or the ability to play an instrument. Students interested in sound, music, and media from any discipline/major/department are welcome to register.
SOC 500 Classical Sociological Theory
Matthew Soener
Tue, 3:30 - 6:20 PM
Analysis of major classical sociological theorists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, stressing the social, historical, and philosophic foundations of sociological theory; primary emphasis on Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.
SOC 565 Megacities of Global South
Asef Bayat
Wed, 3:30 - 6:30 PM
Exploration of the dynamics of urban life in the megacities of the Global South. Studies the ways in which the global, social, and economic restructuring is affecting urban space and people and how urban inhabitants respond to these merging circumstances. Focuses on the way in which politics is articulated in the megacities of the Global South. The course discusses cases from the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and South Asia.