Paris: Critical Theory

The Critical Theory program’s courses explore some prevailing themes in contemporary critical theory. Although the term “critical theory” is sometimes associated narrowly with the Frankfurt School, this set of seminars will approach the topic more broadly, putting race and gender, as well as class, at the center of analysis.

The thematic focus in Winter 2022 will be on capitalism, empire, and ideology, with an emphasis on the dialectical relationships between structure and agency, efforts to diagnose current impasses to human flourishing, and the range of possibilities and impediments to emancipatory politics in the present. Students will learn how to engage in immanent critique, to identify generative tensions in authors’ arguments, and to understand current debates in terms of historical antecedents and ruptures.

Independent reading and class discussions will be complemented by a series of visiting speakers and group excursions.

The following courses were taught by 3CT fellows in Winter 2024:

• Crisis (Demetra Kasimis) 
  This course explores the relation between critical theory and crisis. “Critical” and “crisis” share the Greek root κρίνειν (krinein), meaning “to choose, to decide a dispute, to discern, to judge.” Yet while crisis is often associated with instability, etymologically, it refers to a moment of decisive illumination (theorein, to see, theorize) in which change appears imminent. For Hippocrates (and Galen), crisis was the turning point in the course of a disease and called for discrimination and judgment. We explore the genealogy of the terms “critical” and “crisis.” We consider the role that specific crises, such as the European debt crisis, have played in the emergence of critical theory and the role that critical theory has played in the diagnoses of specific crises. Authors may include Hipocrates, Plato, Benjamin, Arendt, Koselleck, Latour, Balibar, W. Brown.
• Empire (Jennifer Pitts) 
  This course investigates the central place of empires in the shaping of the modern world and understands critical theory as inextricable from its colonial context. We will consider the constitutive linkages between race and empire and their specific materializations in French imperial history. We will pay particular but not exclusive attention to the context of French imperialism and to Paris as a site of theorizing, and critique of, the imperial global order. In week 3 we will focus on anti-colonial engagements with and innovations within Marxism [in relation to a conference on “Tropical Marxism” at the Paris Center that will form part of the coursework]. We will read authors including Montaigne, Diderot, Tocqueville, Du Bois, Aimé Césaire, Suzanne Césaire, Fanon, Said, and Trouillot, as well as contemporary theorists including Achille Mbembe, David Scott, Françoise Vergès, and Joan Scott.
• Ideology (Lisa Wedeen) 
  This course examines selections from the vast literature on ideology—with attention to the political commitments and intellectual genealogies that have made the concept both important and vexed. The bulk of the course will entail examining ideology’s relationship to material practice, the notion of interpellation, the usefulness of “hegemony,” and the problems associated with false consciousness. We shall also analyze ideology’s connection to prevailing theoretical and empirical concerns, such as those related to “subject” formation, affect, new developments in capitalism, the resurgence of populism, and the dynamics associated with contemporary “democratic” liberal, as well as authoritarian, political orders.

All program participants also take a French language course.

Headquarters for the College’s study abroad programs in Paris is the University of Chicago John W. Boyer Center in Paris, the University’s teaching and research hub in Europe. Since 2003, the Center has been home to a growing array of the College’s hallmark Study Abroad programs and has supported our community of students, faculty, alumni, and partners from around the world. Designed by Studio Gang, the new Center features state-of-the-art classrooms, offices, event and reception spaces, and gathering areas for students, among other features.

Students in the Critical Theory in Paris program are housed in a residence hall within the Cité Internationale Universitaire (Cité). The Cité, a park-like residential complex in the fourteenth arrondissement, is the international student campus in Paris, though French students also live there. Students reside in single rooms with a private bath and have access to Cité facilities, including a library, theater, laundry, and athletic facilities. Students will have access to common kitchens in the residence halls and can purchase inexpensive meals at the Cité’s restaurant universitaire.

It is important to recognize the cultural context of student housing in France and understand that the amenities of dormitory facilities may vary. Although some of these differences may take some getting used to, remember that cultural differences extend to all aspects of your experience abroad. Having realistic expectations for your term in Paris will help you approach the study abroad experience with a positive attitude.

Participants in the Critical Theory program remain registered as full-time students in the College. They receive one credit for each of the four courses offered through the program. The Critical Theory courses are based within the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory and have been pre-approved for cross-listing in the Departments of Political Science and Anthropology. Information on further departmental affiliations is forthcoming.

The use of any of these courses in another major is subject to the approval of the undergraduate chair of the respective department. All courses are usable, without further approval, as general electives. The language course will normally count as an elective. Course titles, units of credit, and grades are placed on the College transcript.

Please note that these courses may not be used to satisfy the general education social sciences requirement.

Study abroad students pay regular College tuition, a program fee, and a nonrefundable study abroad administrative fee. The tuition and program fee are paid in conformity with the home campus payment schedule, and the nonrefundable study abroad administrative fee is submitted when accepting a place in a program. Precise figures for the Critical Theory program during the 2024–2025 year are listed below:

Winter tuition: as set by the Bursar’s Office

Study abroad administrative fee: $675

Paris Critical Theory program fee: $5,960

Previous program participants report spending in the range of $200 to $250 per week on meals and incidentals while on the program, though frugal students may spend less, and others could spend much more. Bear in mind that the cost of living in Paris is relatively high and that, while it is possible to live frugally, it is also possible to run short of money if you are unwary. It is therefore essential that you budget your funds prudently, apportioning your resources so that they last for the duration of the program. If you are planning to travel before or after the program or on weekends, you should budget accordingly.

Study abroad students retain their financial aid eligibility. For more information about financial aid resources, please see our Tuition, Fees, and Funding section.

The Critical Theory program is open to University of Chicago undergraduate students only. Applications from outside the University are not accepted.

The program is designed for undergraduates in good academic and disciplinary standing who are beyond their first year in the College. While the program stipulates no minimum grade-point average, an applicant’s transcript should demonstrate that they are a serious student who will make the most of this opportunity. Because the program courses (aside from the French class) are taught in English, there is no language prerequisite, although students are encouraged to take French on campus before the program begins.

Each application is examined on the basis of the student’s scholastic record and personal statement. If you are interested in applying for this program please fill out the online application.

To discuss the Paris Critical Theory program and the possibility of participating, please contact Damaris Crocker De Ruiter.