critical theory programs??

[yellowkingduck]

I graduated college with a GPA of 3.91, I'm currently getting my master's and am halfway through with a GPA of 3.6. I'll be trying to raise that, but I've tried to keep busy attending conferences and getting published/working. Neither my undergrad nor my grad program's particularly famous, I guess, but I think I got (and am still getting) a good education.

 

My major is critical theory, but I've not been really encouraged by the number of schools that seem to have departments in that area. My specialty is Foucault and within Foucault, his analytics of power and his later ethical stances. The schools I'm looking at (which have professors in the fields I'm working in) are three UC schools (Berkeley, Irvine, LA), Stanford, Columbia, SUNY Albany, and UChicago. 

 

Any suggestions on any other places?/What I should be doing?

[echo449]

Duke Lit and Minnesota's cultural studies program should be added to your list, if theory specific programs are what you're looking for. Cornell is a theory heavy place (or at least was at one point, though it still hosts the School for Criticism and Theory). Also, UC Santa Cruz's Literature program might work for you, especially since you can work with the related History of Consciousness department. SUNY Buffalo also has a large theory group, although many of those people do theory and poetry, and it isn't clear to me how much of your interests involve literature as such. 

Edited July 30, 2015 by echo449

[cordis]

Check out the doctoral program in English at the CUNY Graduate Center!  Pretty amazing faculty there.

There's a Critical Theory certificate you can get alongside your doctoral degree as well.

[yellowkingduck]

I'm just not a big fan of the South(east) and while I know Duke (and probably Vanderbilt) is (are) pretty amazing, I don't think I could do good work in TN or NC. The History of Consciousness program is high on my list, but I'm unsure about the funding for that.

[echo449]

I'm just not a big fan of the South(east) and while I know Duke (and probably Vanderbilt) is (are) pretty amazing, I don't think I could do good work in TN or NC. The History of Consciousness program is high on my list, but I'm unsure about the funding for that.

Gotcha. Can I ask why you're looking at literature departments instead of continental philosophy programs? I think Irvine is a good fit for you because people in English and comp lit there really are theory buffs (though the department culture is changing, inching back to literary texts first and foremost), but does UCLA have the same emphasis? If you're doing English, why English? Or are you doing a mix of interdisciplinary programs . . .

[yellowkingduck]

Philosophy departments just don't do the kind of social-sciency/lit stuff I'm getting/have gotten my degrees in (ie, no praxis). Like, I could probably study Foucault's epistemological discursivity or whatever for five years, but I'm not really sure I want to. I'm looking at the lit departments mainly because they seem to have people who do critical theory in all but name. I'm also looking at social theory departments (and UCLA's got a really good one, I think), I forgot to mention. 

So I guess interdisciplinary, sorta? 

[WirelessImagination]

Just to expand on what Echo said about Buffalo: a lot of students work on poetics, but there is also a large contingent of psychoanalytic critics (although, that's been dwindling a bit) and those who work in areas like disability studies, to which Foucault is quite relevant. They have theorists of every stripe and the department, in general, is very focused on theory. If continental philosophy is your thing, I would also note that SUNY Buffalo's English department has very close ties with its excellent comparative literature department (you can take classes in either for credit).

[allplaideverything]

We've got a pretty strong focus on critical theory at UC-Davis. You can get a Designated Emphasis in the field (like a major for PhDs, I guess), there's an interdisciplinary program/dept. (http://crittheory.ucdavis.edu/welcome) with some courses required for all English PhDs, and more generally, our English faculty members are quite committed to various movements within critical theory.