MA Political Science - Political Theory Pathway (Standard Route)

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Critical Theory

Course unit fact file
Unit code SOCY60282
Credit rating 15
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

Critique and thinking critically are usually considered essential practices in the contemporary humanities, indeed, being able to think critically is often lauded as theprincipal gain of a good university education. These kinds of claim are rarely backed up by any account of what critical thought actually is and what makes it so special. There is a growing body of work within the critical disciplines themselves that questions this and asks if the claims made for critique aren't a bit overblown. This course is an opportunity to explore this debate, which is a discussion about the meaning and value of a humanities education in contemporary society - what are we doing in the university and why?

Aims

The overall aim of the course is to explore the idea of thinking critically in a critical way. Critique is the dominant motif of contemporary humanities education; as academics we often claim that the lasting effect of our endeavours is the cultivation of a distinctively critical intelligence in our students. But critique's hegemony has occasionally been challenged. Is it anything more than a kind of 'virtue signalling' dressed up as epistemology?

The course aims:

  • To develop and explore critical thinking about critique
  • To discuss what is meant by the phrase 'critical theory' and how this has changed.
  • To explore the uses of critique in multiple disciplines and from multiple perspectives.
  • To assess the enduring significance of critical theory as a way of approaching key debates and topics in contemporary humanities and social sciences.
  • To assess the relationship between critique and a range of practices, including those in art, politics and the academy.

Learning outcomes

Students will develop:

  • An in-depth appreciation of the scope, aims and character of contemporary critical theory as it is found in and across multiple disciplines
  • Enhanced understanding of the meaning of 'critique', and of thinking critically, as against other ways of reasoning
  • Ability to form opinions and make arguments concerning the current status of critical theory as a branch of study in the human sciences
  • Advanced understanding of individual authors in the critical tradition, including Kant, Marx, Adorno and Foucault, gained through engaging with primary texts and a range of secondary literature
  • Advanced understanding of the practical implications of thinking critically

Teaching and learning methods

10 * 2 hour lecture/seminars, focused on key readings and student-led discussion

Assessment methods

Written assignment (3000 word essay) 100%

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 20
Independent study hours
Independent study 130

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Graeme Kirkpatrick Unit coordinator

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