The Critical Theory minor is an interdisciplinary program offering students a variety of critical theories and perspectives for better understanding, critiquing, and transforming contemporary social realities. The ability to think critically is a primary aim of an undergraduate education, and a critical theory minor offers a useful way for students who are exploring other fields of study to develop a background in critical ways of engaging the world.
Initial courses introduce major strands of critical thought and thinkers who established a foundation for the emergence of critical theorizing. The rich diversity of elective courses provides an exemplary interdisciplinary experience with opportunities to explore the reach and influence of critical theory.
The Value of Critical Perspectives
Students embracing critical perspectives are well-positioned to promote positive social change and support mutually-beneficial solutions to pressing local and global concerns by:
- Promoting changes that can make a difference in the world
- Understanding systematic problems and issues in society
- Interrogating power-relations that enable and constrain opportunities
- Developing and practicing critical thinking abilities
- Questioning everyday practices and modes of reasoning
- Recognizing taken-for-granted assumptions guiding everyday life
- Imagining alternatives that might disrupt the status quo
- Transforming concern for marginalized members of society
- Inspiring innovative solutions that promote equity and social justice
- Becoming a critically-engaged citizen of our communities and workplaces
Program Requirements
Pursuing the Critical Theory Minor
The Critical Theory Minor requires 18 credits of coursework including:
- CRIT 498: Critical Theory Seminar (3 credits)
- GENDER 200: Introduction to Gender Studies (3 credits)
- ENGL 393: Literary Criticism and Critical Theory (3 credits)
- PHIL 316: Philosophy and Critical Theory (3 credits)
- HCS 387: Survey of Critical and Cultural Theory (3 credits)
- 3 courses from a list across the College of Arts & Sciences (9 credits)
| Course Number and Title | Credits |
|---|---|
| PHIL 316 Philosophy and Critical Theory | 3 |
| ENGL 393 Literary Criticism | 3 |
| GENDER 200 Introduction to Gender Studies | 3 |
| Choose four (4) courses from at least three (3) fields: COMM 321 Rhetorical Theories COMM 331 Message Analysis and Criticism COMM 371 Communication, Gender, and Diference COMM 389 Theory and Philosophy of Communication ED-CIFS 201 Education, Schooling, and Society. ENGL 390 Ethnic Literature ENGL 395 Women Writers ENGL 396 Postcolonial Literature ENGL 307 Literary Translation ENGL 425 Rhetoric and Society FORLNG 340 Topics in French and Francophone Literature GENDER 301/SOC 471 Feminist Theory MDS 420 Globalization PHIL 315 Phenomenology and Existentialism PHIL 337 Aesthetics PHIL 441/POLS441 Classical Political Thought PHIL 442/POLS 442 Modern Political Thought PHIL 443/POLS443 Contemporary Political Thought SOC 320 Radical Sociology | 12 |
| CRIT 498 Critical Theory Seminar | 3 |
| Total | 24 |
Please note: A course may have a prerequisite that is not required for the minor, but is required prior to take the elective course.
How to Enroll
For Non-2019 Catalog Students Only.
- Download a Catalog Year Update form from the Office of the Registrar.
- Fill in your name, phone number, and student ID number.
- Under “Add a Minor or Certificate Not Available in Your Catalog Year” check the box that says, “Minor” and write “Critical Theory Minor” in the blank space. The catalog year is 2019.
- Sign the form and deliver it to the Office of the Registrar in the Administration Building, Room 110.
Program Contact
Director: Gautam Basu Thakur is a critical theorist working in the fields of comparative cultural studies; postcoloniality and globalization studies; British Literature of the Empire; race and sexuality studies; and world cinema. More specifically, he is interested in theoretical psychoanalysis and its interventions in postcolonial studies; the British Empire and its afterlife in global/transnational literary and (new) media cultures; film; and comparative cultural politics. His books include Postcolonial Theory and Avatar (2015), Lacan and the Nonhuman (2018), Postcolonial Lack: Identity, Culture, Surplus (2020), and Reading Lacan’s Seminar VIII: Transference (2020).
Email: gautambasuthakur@boisestate.edu
Office Location: Liberal Arts Building, Room 225