News

DESIGNATED EMPHASIS OPEN HOUSE

Wednesday, February 22, 5:30-7 pm
330 Wheeler, UC Berkeley

Join The Program in Critical Theory’s faculty and students for a panel discussion and Q&A about the Designated Emphasis (DE) in Critical Theory. All UC Berkeley PhD students interested in applying to the DE are invited to attend.

Serving nearly 100 graduate students from the humanities, social sciences, and arts, the DE enables graduate students already enrolled in UC Berkeley PhD programs to obtain certification of a Designated Emphasis specialization in Critical Theory. The DE offers courses on the nineteenth-century notion of critique—including the historically distinct modalities of Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and others; on the Frankfurt School and other twentieth-century currents of critical theory and philosophy; and on contemporary forms and modes of critical theory, including critical race theory, postcolonialist theory, feminist critique, gender studies and queer theory, and the diverse approaches to critique arising with and after structuralism and poststructuralism. The DE emphasizes the centrality of theoretical critique in the examination of contemporary values, of the power relations that constrain and enable political, social, cultural, and economic life, and of the modes of justification that legitimate historical and cultural inquiry and sociopolitical analysis.

Applications to the DE in Critical Theory are due Friday, March 17, by 4 pm. All students enrolled in PhD programs at UC Berkeley who have not already taken the QE are eligible to apply. To learn more about the application process and access application forms, please visit: http://criticaltheory.berkeley.edu/academics/

To receive regular announcements about The Program in Critical Theory, we invite you to sign up for our mailing list. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit criticaltheory.berkeley.edu

DISSERTATION AWARDS SUPPORT GRADUATE RESEARCH

The Program in Critical Theory will support four Designated Emphasis students’ dissertation projects in 2022–2023. Kevin Stone and Saniya Taher will receive semester-long Critical Theory Dissertation Fellowships, while Phillip Campanile will receive a Critical Theory Completion Grant and Laila Riazi will receive a Critical Theory Research Grant.

Support for this year’s awardees is generously provided by the Magistretti Graduate Fellowship Fund through the Division of Arts and Humanities, the International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the generosity of many other colleagues and friends.

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CT Faculty Announce Fall 2022 DE Courses

CT faculty will be teaching eight Fall 2022 courses that count towards the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory. These courses reflect the interdisciplinary breadth of the Program, with core and elective options in Anthropology, Comparative Literature, English, History, Italian and Rhetoric.

For more information on spring courses, full course descriptions, and the curricular requirements of the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory, please visit our Courses page.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW DESIGNATED EMPHASIS STUDENTS

The Program in Critical Theory is delighted to welcome 12 new students to the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory. The new cohort includes graduate students from Berkeley departments in the social sciences and humanities. These new admits bring the total number of Critical Theory DE students to 101.

  • Doaa Atamna, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Annabel Barry, English
  • Tommaso Bernardini, Ancient Greek and Roman Studies
  • Katie Coyne, Philosophy
  • Rumur Dowling, English
  • Yvonne Lin, Chinese
  • Robin Manley, Rhetoric
  • Tom Maude-Griffin, Comparative Literature
  • Jonathan Pérez, Education
  • Miles Taylor, Film & Media
  • Sidney To, English
  • Finn Turner, French

Congratulations, all!

The Program in Critical Theory Dissertation Fellowship

Application Deadline:
Friday, April 29, 2022

The Critical Theory Dissertation Fellowship is awarded to UC Berkeley Critical Theory Designated Emphasis (DE) graduate students with records of achievement and promising dissertation projects. The fellowships support students writing their dissertations, providing full fee remission (where required) and a full stipend, usually for a semester.

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GRADUATE STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Thiti Jamkajornkeiat

Thiti Jamkajornkeiat is a PhD candidate in South and Southeast Asian Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory at UC Berkeley. His doctoral research investigates anti-capitalist praxis, decolonization, and leftist internationalism in post-war Indonesia with an endeavor to conceptualize Marxism from the periphery.

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Online “Visiting Days” CT Welcome Event for Prospective Berkeley PhD Students

UC Berkeley’s interdisciplinary Program in Critical Theory will hold its annual “Critical Theory Program Welcome” for visiting PhD admittees (prospective Berkeley doctoral students) on Monday, March 14, from 12-1 pm via Zoom. Please register here.

All current CT students and faculty are invited to attend. Over the years, similar “Welcome and Information” events have made a real difference for students deciding whether to do their doctoral work at Berkeley. The gathering will allow for CT Program faculty, staff, and current students to speak with admittees, conveying to them what the DE in Critical Theory is and responding to questions the doctoral-program admittees may have. Please attend this brief event—even if you can only drop in for a few minutes.

DESIGNATED EMPHASIS APPLICATION DEADLINE, March 17

Applications to the DE in Critical Theory are due Thursday, March 17, by 4 pm. All students enrolled in PhD programs at UC Berkeley who have not already taken the QE are eligible to apply. To learn more about the application process and access application forms, please visit the academics webpage.

Join the Program in Critical Theory faculty and students for the Designated Emphasis Open House on February 22 for a panel discussion and Q&A about the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory. All UC Berkeley PhD students interested in applying to the DE are invited to attend.

Please direct any questions to critical_theory@berkeley.edu

DESIGNATED EMPHASIS OPEN HOUSE

Tuesday, February 22, 5:30 pm
330 Wheeler

Join The Program in Critical Theory’s faculty and students for a panel discussion and Q&A about the Designated Emphasis (DE) in Critical Theory. All UC Berkeley PhD students interested in applying to the DE are invited to attend.

Serving nearly 100 graduate students from the humanities, social sciences, law, and public health, the DE enables graduate students already enrolled in UC Berkeley PhD programs to obtain certification of a Designated Emphasis specialization in Critical Theory. The DE offers courses on the nineteenth-century notion of critique—including the historically distinct modalities of Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and others; on the Frankfurt School and other twentieth-century currents of critical theory and philosophy; and on contemporary forms and modes of critical theory, including critical race theory, postcolonial theory, feminist critique, gender studies and queer theory, and the diverse approaches to critique arising with and after structuralism and poststructuralism. The DE emphasizes the centrality of theoretical critique in the examination of contemporary values, of the power relations that constrain and enable political, social, cultural, and economic life, and of the modes of justification that legitimate historical and cultural inquiry and sociopolitical analysis.

Applications to the DE in Critical Theory are due Thursday, March 17, 2022 by 4 pm. All students enrolled in PhD programs at UC Berkeley who have not already taken the QE are eligible to apply. To learn more about the application process and access application forms, please visit the academics webpage.

Please direct any questions to critical_theory@berkeley.edu.

CT Faculty Announce Spring 2022 DE Courses

CT faculty will be teaching eighteen spring 2022 courses that count towards the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory. These courses reflect the interdisciplinary breadth of the Program, with core and elective options in Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Education, English, Ethnic Studies, Film, German, History of Art, Philosophy, Rhetoric, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Sociology, and Spanish.

For more information on spring courses, full course descriptions, and the curricular requirements of the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory, please visit our Courses page.

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Congratulations to the Program’s Recent Graduates

Congratulations to the Program’s most recent graduates! The Program in Critical Theory has grown to 99 active students with 73 affiliated faculty. To date, 67 UC Berkeley PhDs have earned a Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory.

Matthew Gonzales (Spring 2021)
PhD in Comparative Literature
DE in Critical Theory

Ian Steele (Spring 2021)
PhD in Anthropology
DE in Critical Theory

Jianqing Chen (Summer 2021)
PhD in Film and Media
DE in Critical Theory

Jessica Ruffin (Summer 2021)
PhD in Film and Media
DE in Critical Theory

Elisa Russian (Summer 2021)
PhD in Italian Studies
DE in Critical Theory