This course will introduce students to foundational concepts, thinkers, and trajectories in critical theory with the aim of understanding what critical theory is, and how students can best utilize it in their own scholarly and creative interests. The course begins by surveying topics such as capitalism, psychoanalysis, and power before turning our attention to race, (settler/de)colonization, gender, sexuality, aesthetics, and affect. At the end of the course, students will be equipped with key theoretical and conceptual vocabularies.
This seminar interrogates the body as a critical mode of being. It traces a genealogy of theoretical interventions around identity, community, and institutionality, as well as approaching the contemporary mechanisms through which gender and sexuality are specifically wielded as instruments of embodied power be they aesthetic, biological, technical, or cultural. We will think through interlocking questions of race, capital, ecology, affect, orientation, computation, disability, and transness as epistemological, topographical, and mediated apparatuses of assembled control. We will work through a diverse array of texts to further our exploration of gender and sexuality and their embodied relation to politics, ethics, and being.
This seminar takes up 'cultural studies' as an interdisciplinary method of critical inquiry applied across different media, genres, and contexts. We will engage with a wide range of cultural phenomena (including literature, film, television, architecture, painting, and photography) to interrogate social, aesthetic, and political histories. Our readings will draw from fields such as Marxist studies, feminist studies, queer studies, postcolonial studies, and utopian studies, and provide an introduction to various topics in critical theory. Throughout the seminar, students will bring to our discussion connections with their independent research and areas of focus.
This graduate seminar will explore a range of methodologies, theoretical perspectives, and case studies rooted in the multidisciplinary field of the environmental humanities. Topics considered may include: Queer Ecology + Ecofeminism; New Materialism; Animal Studies; Eco-phenomenology; Multispecies Anthropology; Environmental Justice; Ecological Imperialism; and Postcolonial + Indigenous Ecologies. In addition to discussing readings based in theory and fiction, we will also experiment with alternative methods of accessing/experiencing interconnection that go beyond traditional academics including guided somatic exploration, collaborative research, and other innovations.
This course models the program's combination of critical theory, critical writing, and creative research and investigates practices of looking and the production, circulation, and effects of visual images. Students will write critical responses to art, read art writing, and attend local exhibitions and events.
In this creative writing workshop, students will explore the broad genre of creative nonfiction-from memoirs to meditations to personal essays imbued with cultural criticism. Writers will explore the foundations of creative nonfiction through generative writing and drawing exercises, close readings and analysis, and craft study while also learning anti-colonial views of craft, language, and form. This course is designed to support graduate students with developing a strong understanding of creative nonfiction writing and a solid framework from which to build in future projects whether theses, interdisciplinary artistic work, or creative writing.
The course provides an exploratory space for students to engage with cutting-edge debates, methodologies, and perspectives in critical theory. Each semester, the course theme will shift, reflecting the ever-evolving landscape of critical studies and the interests of both the students and the instructor. Throughout the course, students will critically examine a variety of themes, with past topics having included Disability Narratives and Affect Theory and Aesthetics. These themes offer a lens through which students can explore broader questions of culture, society, and representation. The course will encourage students to interrogate how these themes intersect with issues of identity, power, and resistance.
Critical Pedagogy, a key course in our graduate program, is tailored for students who are passionate about bringing transformative changes in various educational environments, including college classrooms and community settings. This course combines a strong theoretical foundation with practical, real-world applications, allowing students to deeply understand critical pedagogy and how to put it into practice. The curriculum covers topics like the role of education in society, the connection between teaching and social justice, and how power and resistance play out in educational contexts. The course offers students chances to observe and participate in real teaching situations and to build a teaching portfolio.
The seminar takes as its starting point Critical Race Theory's insistence that racism is pervasive, persistent, and ongoing and examines how racism, colonialism, and imperialism are embedded in institutions, laws, practices, and policies. The seminar acknowledges that race is a social construct with material effects and investigates the roles language, images, and other forms of cultural production play in racism, colonization, and resistance movements. Students will be encouraged to connect assigned texts to their own areas of expertise and research interests.
In this workshop-based seminar, students develop effective professional strategies to successfully pursue a chosen career path upon completion of the Critical Studies program. The course helps students identify opportunities for achieving meaningful career objectives and for making a contribution as a critical citizen. Students learn concrete professional skills: curriculum vitae formatting, email and communication etiquette, letter writing, interviewing, public speaking, job search resources, portfolio development, and how to apply for opportunities (which may include PhD programs, teaching positions, publications, grants, fellowships, internships, residencies, or exhibitions). The objective is to prepare the future Critical Studies graduate to identify, plan and pursue a strategy for meaningful career development and a rewarding professional life in which their talents translate into a significant critical cultural contribution.
The first part of the Critical Studies thesis writing sequence is intended to guide and support students as they develop, refine, and propose a master's-level thesis project. The semester begins with each student designing an individualized research plan focused on a particular area of interest. Ten weeks of individual research time will culminate in an annotated bibliography with a critical commentary. Using the bibliography as a springboard, students will go on to draft a formal written proposal for their thesis project.
The second part of the Critical Studies thesis writing sequence is intended to guide and support students as they draft, revise, and submit their final written work for the MA degree. This course will provide students with opportunities to present, refine, and receive feedback on their thesis work. Regular reviews of drafts will occur in a combination of peer-review workshops and meetings with thesis faculty throughout the semester. Each student will also work closely with a mentor with expertise in their area of investigation. Final thesis work must be approved by the Thesis 2 instructor, the program chair, and the thesis mentor at the end of the semester. All students must also give a public presentation of their thesis research at the end of the semester.
Willamette University