This year-long course is one of the requirements for the Critical Theory Emphasis, but it is open to all graduate students.  The workshop is structured as a reading group to allow for full student/faculty interaction.  There will be no term papers and no letter grades (except for an S or a U).  Students will receive four units of credit for this course in the last (that is, the Spring) quarter.  Meetings of 11⁄2 hours will take place throughout the year, with between 7 and 8 meetings per quarter.  Because it is structured as a reading group and depends on active participation by students as well as faculty, the work and direction of the workshop will necessarily reflect the interests of its members.

Critical theory today finds itself increasingly associated with cultural theory, with the term "culture" now being viewed perhaps more than ever from diverse perspectives.  Increasingly for us, "culture" is neither "high" nor "low."  It is seen as embracing both the beliefs and behaviors of smaller or larger social groups and also such objects as art, literature, philosophy, historical investigation, and ultimately cultural and critical theory as wellóvirtually nothing seems to lie outside its scope.

The readings for the course have been chosen because of the basis they can provide for a critical discussion of our contemporary understanding of culture and related issues.  The reading list for the Spring quarter includes selected essays by Fanon, Albert Memmi's The Colonizer and the Colonized, and selected essays by Etienne Balibar.  The reading list is of course subject to modification depending on the aims and interests of the group.