Critical Theory

UCI Critical Theory is the institutional home for events, research, and study related to critical theory at the University of California, Irvine. Critical Theory at UCI has a long and celebrated history, which includes the original iteration of the School of Criticism and Theory (now at Cornell University), as well as the Critical Theory Institute, which was home to such luminaries as Jacques Derrida, J. Hillis Miller, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Jean-François Lyotard, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Etienne Balibar. UCI Critical Theory offers a graduate emphasis in Critical Theory and is often ranked as the top critical theory program nationally. Our core programming includes the Wellek Library Lectures, the Koehn Public Lecture, and the Critical Theory Mini-Seminars.