HIST7544 · History
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
For some, the word theory inspires anxiety and aversion. Its too abstract! Its too hard! Its not practical! Yet all intellectual work requires lenses: from presuppositions about knowledge to evaluative ideals of better and worse. Beginning with the contrast between traditional and critical ways of seeing, this course will follow the 1970s1990s rise of theory in the humanities, its alleged demise in the 2000s, and the value of theoretical perspectives in humanistic scholarship today. Topics addressed include post-structuralism, postcoloniality, cultural history, gender/queer studies, new historicism, radical democracy, the new materialism, and recent exciting work in the philosophy of history.
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Fall 2023
1 section