What is the best poli sci Ph.D. program to study Marxism and critical theory?

[StarkDark1]

The top 20 programs seem to be heavily positivist and not at all geared toward critical theory.  Was curious about left-wing politics departments.  

[e2e4]

That's because most American poli sci is (neo)positivist, so the makeup of top departments will reflect that. That said, Chicago may be a haven. You may even consider the Committee on Social Thought or anthropology departments. I would also suggest looking into CUNY's graduate center. There you can take courses across the entire New York system and craft a committee with some incredible scholars in all departments across the New School, Columbia, NYU, and so on. You will find scholars there who are amenable to non mainstream and more interesting approaches to politics. I'd also suggest UMass and some schools outside the top 20. Think seriously about European and Canadian schools as well.

[Romcomulus]

It really depends on your advisor. JHU, Chicago, Berkley, and UCLA all have options. But it'll be hard to find a department that's geared toward critical theory in general. I have interests in critical theory and struggled finding fit in some departments that only had one critical theorist, so I had to improvise a lot. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by Romcomulus

[Artifex_Archer]

UCLA sounds like a great bet, especially with folks like Dienstag, Panagia, and its Program in Experimental Critical Theory. Strongly considering accepting a PhD offer from them now. 
 

it’s true that it’s hard to find a department that’s solely geared toward critical theory, so cross-disciplinary opportunities are a must.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Artifex_Archer

[CooperSly]

It's definitely not "geared" towards critical theory, but JHU (did my ugrad in IR there) has some profs that work pretty heavily with poststruc and crit theory. The department is definitely not leftwing, but there are a ton of really smart people who consider a lot of different ideas in their work.

[lispenard]

The New School faculty are pretty much only teaches along that spectrum. You could check out NSSR and Milano though NSSR is better structured and more rigorous

[Artifex_Archer]

Adding to my comment above... May I push slightly on your remark that you're curious about 'left-wing politics departments'? Most of the politics departments in the U.S. are left-wing, although some are certainly more so than others. That said, I've always enjoyed studying with professors and students with a variety of political and social views, especially when they're amenable to challenging mine [and others'] respectfully.

I understand not wanting to have your own research thwarted because of a professor's bias; that's totally legitimate. But I rarely see that happen with left-leaning students. And the positivist turn, ironically, was more an outgrowth of left-wing social movements. Of course, most critical theory is also left-wing, so both the very positivist [hah] and very critical theory-oriented departments [of which there are fewer] are liable to be predominately leftist in orientation.

This is not an attack, nor is it an attempt to hijack this thread, since some of my most valuable academic experiences have come from my being willing to extend the scope of the ideologies I engage with, both in and out of class. In general, though, I don't think you need to worry about finding a sufficiently left-wing political science department, and certainly not a CT-focused one. @lispenard is right that The New School is another great place to look.

Finally, I do hope you apply to Northwestern again next year. People frequently re-apply to the same schools and get in. And Northwestern does sound like a good bet for your general research interests.