Compelling political theories often arise in response to real-world crises. The early twentieth century witnessed not one, but a series of world-historical crises, from Fascism and Stalinism, to the vagaries of imperial capitalism. What, then, was the theoretical reply? The course explores one of the more influential responses, as developed in the thought of Walter Benjamin, T.W. Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse, members of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. We begin with a brief primer on Hegel and Marx, with special emphasis on key concepts that are subsequently developed or challenged by our three theorists. The balance of the course examines how critical theory has pursued such themes as bourgeois art and architecture, mass media and the culture industry, technological administration and alienation, aesthetic transcendence and genuine communication-themes that are connected by a shared effort, made by all three men, to understand, and to offer means of escaping, assorted pathologies of twentieth-century life, especially those generated by National Socialism and by advanced industrial capitalism. The course concludes with a critical look at our critical theorists and their relevance for our own pathological early twenty-first century. Format: seminar, with a weekly introductory lecture and discussion. Requirements: Regular class participation; weekly precis assignments (one pg.); one essay (20-25 pgs.), which includes an in-class presentation on the essay topic. Prerequisites: prior work in theory or permission of the instructor; while not a formal prerequisite, some familiarity with Marx's work would be useful. Enrollment limit: 24 (expected 12). Political Theory Subfield

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