Anna Hunt, anelhe@illinois.edu
Tue, 3:00-5:00 PM
The Frankfurt School is a school of “social thought” and, at the same time, is known for its programmatic emphasis of “critical theory.” It was, however, above all an experimental initiative designed to foster new forms of interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences. Because the full interdisciplinarity of this project exceeds the scope of a single course, this seminar will engage social, political and theoretical dimensions through the critical analysis of literature, culture, art and aesthetics. This course is not designed according to historical chronology, nor is it a systematic inventory of all authors who might possibly be included in the Frankfurt School. Instead, the primary purpose of the course is to build familiarity and comfort-level with the notoriously difficult “lingo” of twentieth-century German social, political and aesthetic theory. Key questions and problems will be developed in a handful of the most crucial mid-twentieth century texts and authors. Chronology and historical contexts will inform all of the readings. Examples of such backgrounds include two World Wars, the Holocaust, the Frankfurt School’s exile in the Unites States, the political and intellectual dynamics of post-War Germany, as well as the increasing modernization, industrialization and “rationalization” of society. Meets with CWL 551, JS 502, and ENGL 581.