Frankfurt School Critical Theory
GRST 254
Fall 2011
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
COL 264 |
| Certificates: Social, Cultural and Critical Theory, Social, Cultural and Critical Theory |
In the humanities and social sciences, the term "critical theory" remains closely associated with its origins in the Institute of Social Research, better known as the Frankfurt School. Beginning in 1930, scholars affiliated with the Frankfurt School (e.g., Adorno, Benjamin, Horkheimer, Marcuse) sought to replace "traditional" with what they called "critical" theory. By this they meant a theory that would uncover the hidden cultural and psychological mechanisms of capitalist society, a theory that would negate society in its existent form, thus opening up possibilities for imagining a different social order.
This course provides a survey of critical theory, beginning with its roots in the 19th century (e.g., Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche), and will then focus on some of the Frankfurt School's major works that address a diverse array of intellectual and political concerns, from the critique of state capitalism, industrial society, and instrumental reason to commentaries on mass culture, high art, fascism, and psychoanalysis. A truly interdisciplinary institution, the Frankfurt School studied economics, sociology, philosophy, literature, art, psychology, politics, and history. This introduction to the programmatic statements and eclectic reflections of various scholars will highlight the diverse historical influences, collaborative efforts, and internecine debates that shaped the intellectual tradition across continents and generations. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Intercultural Literacy, Interpretation
Interpretation: This course will help students acquire the tools and vocabulary for understanding conceptually challenging texts and arguments.
Intercultural Literacy: This course explores the permutations of the German intellectual tradition as it seeks to critically account for essentially modernist, capitalist, and global phenomena like mass culture and ever-increasing commodity fetishism.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA GRST, SBS GRST |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (GRST-MN)(GRST) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Adorno/ Horkheimer: DIALECTIC OF ENLIGHTENMENT (Stanford University Press, ISBN-10: 0804736332)
Beckett: ENDGAME, ACT WITHOUT WORDS (Grove Press, ISBN-10: 0802150241)
Herbert Marcuse, ONE-DIMENSIONAL MAN: STUDIES IN THE IDEOLOGY OF ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY (Beacon Press, ISBN 0-807-1417-6)
Required readings include texts by Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Marcuse, Kracauer, Horkheimer, Brecht, Benjamin, and Adorno.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Three analytic papers. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Students with German reading knowledge and German majors are encouraged to read the texts in the original German.
This course applies to the Critical Thought requirement for German Studies majors. |
| Instructor(s): Plass,Ulrich Times: .M.W... 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: FISK413; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 34 | | SR major: 2 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: 10 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 8 | JR non-major: 8 | SO: 8 | FR: 6 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 3 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 1 | Unranked: 1 |
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