Strong programs with focus in Marxism

[che_vuoi]

hello!

I'm new to this forum so please forgive me if this is a question that many of you have answered before. Additionally, I posted something very similar in the sociology sub-board, so please excuse the overlap.  I'm curious about different fields of inquiry.

 

I'm interested in Marxism and its more recent incarnations in social theory (post-Marxism, autonomism, empire, rethinking communism, Zapatistas, etc.)  I have a social-sciences background (B.A. in psychology, with a minor in applied linguistics, however, I was interested in social psychology in my undergraduate studies) and I am interested in social & critical theory / cultural studies.  Sociology seems like the proper domain in which to explore Marxism given my background in the social-sciences (as opposed to Marxism in literature, for example), although I am drawn to interdisciplinary approaches that incorporate many different dimensions of the human sciences (media theory, art, film, literature, anthropology, etc.) and I'm not committed to studying sociology.  In fact, it seems as though sociology programs that have strong Marxist orientations (I'm thinking NYU here) are, ironically, quite exclusive.

 

Is anyone enrolled in a graduate program (M.A. or Ph.D.) or knows of one that provides a foundation in Marxism or post-Marxism that they would recommend?  With the resurgence of interest in Marxism, à la Žižek and others, one wouldn't think this would be difficult to locate, but I'm sort of without direction here. 

 

Thanks for the advice!

[genderboi]

The graduate program in Social and Political Thought at York University in Toronto would be a great fit. They offer both an MA and PhD. Also, York has a reputation for having the most Marxist scholars in the country.

http://www.yorku.ca/gradspth/index.html

[rising_star]

I think you'll find that there are lots of anthropologists and geographers in both the US and the UK that are interested in those topics and taking the approaches you're interested in. For example, at the University of Kentucky where you can also get a graduate certificate in Social Theory.

[hj2012]

It's hard to give you a list of programs without knowing more concretely what your interests are and, perhaps more importantly, the kinds of questions you're interested in asking. What you've listed in the original post is incredibly broad, and could be studied in a plethora of disciplines at any number of institutions.  From what I understand, Marxist thought is often utilized across the social science disciplines, but if you want to study Marxism and its recent (re)incarnations directly you might want to be in a Literature (or perhaps cultural studies or continental philosophy) program. I think you need to decide what kinds of questions most compel you, and also get a sense of the scope of research that's realistic for a dissertation project. It's unlikely, for example, that your dissertation would be as broadly theoretical and critical as, for example, Vivek Chibber's recent book on postcolonial theory. 

 

If you were to apply today, what would your writing sample look like? That might give us the best idea of what you're looking for in a grad program.

[che_vuoi]

It's hard to give you a list of programs without knowing more concretely what your interests are and, perhaps more importantly, the kinds of questions you're interested in asking. What you've listed in the original post is incredibly broad, and could be studied in a plethora of disciplines at any number of institutions.  From what I understand, Marxist thought is often utilized across the social science disciplines, but if you want to study Marxism and its recent (re)incarnations directly you might want to be in a Literature (or perhaps cultural studies or continental philosophy) program. I think you need to decide what kinds of questions most compel you, and also get a sense of the scope of research that's realistic for a dissertation project. It's unlikely, for example, that your dissertation would be as broadly theoretical and critical as, for example, Vivek Chibber's recent book on postcolonial theory. 

 

If you were to apply today, what would your writing sample look like? That might give us the best idea of what you're looking for in a grad program.

 

hj2012;

Thanks for the very thoughtful response to my question. You're absoultely correct - perhaps my interests are a bit broad. It's interesting that you'd mention Chibber, as I find NYU's sociology program to be one of the ideal programs I could be accepted to.

 

Although, I don't know if my broad interests are necessarily a bad thing, and my opinion on this has recently made me seek out media studies programs in the United States that incorporate an interdisciplinary focus. I am interested mainly in anti-capitalist struggles, how they are represented in different media, and what sort of impact this has on the manifestations of contemporary anti-capitalist social movements (something like a study of media and its sociological ramifications). The focus on Marxism is personal interest and political preference.

 

Depending on the university / program I'm applying to, the writing sample will vary. I wrote my B.A. thesis as a discourse analysis of ideology in a documentary, through the lens of qualitative and psychoanalytically influenced psychology; I may take a sample of this for an application to a media studies program. If I was to apply to a literature program, I could use an article I wrote about intertextuality and Nietzsche for my writing sample.  

[hj2012]

I should rephrase: having broad interests isn't a bad thing at all! In fact, being engaged across disciplines is very productive for innovative scholarship, particularly for your stated fields. That said, for the purposes of application (and facing the realities of the academic job market), you will need to carve out a niche and decide if you want to sell yourself as a sociologist, or a literary scholar, or a film critic, etc. This is crucial for all of us involved in interdisciplinary studies, for better or for worse. This is why I asked about the questions you're interested in pursuing, as it is possible to tackle the same topic (e.g. anti-capitalist struggles) from a myriad of perspectives. It might also be useful for you to think about what kind of introductory undergrad course you most ideally see yourself teaching (e.g. Sociology 101, Film Studies 101, Philosophy 101, etc), as the department you choose will prime you as a candidate for a specific kind of teaching position.

 

After hearing more specifically about your previous work, I think you are wise to turn your attention to film studies programs. You may also want to consider places like Berkeley Rhetoric, UC Santa Cruz History of Consciousness and Minnesota's Comparative Studies in Discourse & Society. Neither of those writing samples, as you described, seem quite right for Sociology programs, which tend to be grounded in a certain kind of methodological approach. 

 

Good luck!

[poliscar]

I'd add Duke Lit. as a possibility, as well as Brown's Modern Culture and Media. NYU's Media, Culture, and Communication might also be a good fit, but it's hard to say. 

You'd probably also do well to refine your focus in terms of geographical area. Wanting to study various strains of Marxism isn't enough—in almost every case you're going to have to pick a specific context. You mention, for example, that you're interested in autonomism and the Zapatista movement. If you were to want to seriously study either of those topics, you would need to have a very good working grasp of Italian or Spanish (or possibly German if you're interested in German Autonome, etc). To put it bluntly, you're going to need to be able to research in that language. If we consider Vivek Chibber as an example, you can see that his work is grounded in context of India & the surrounding area. You can bet that he is able to research in at least Hindi and Bengali, and possibly other Indian languages. In this context, while you can see him as a Marxist, he is also, and equally so, a scholar of India. 

Obviously, to an extent, this depends on how historical you want your work to be, as well as the state of the literature in the area you choose (what has been translated? is is mostly in Spanish/Italian? etc.) Either way, it's unlikely that you would be able to work with any of your topics of interest at a dissertation level without the use of 1-2 European languages. 

If I were you, I would firm up your research interests and proceed from there. Pick an area and stick with it; if you're stubborn/ambitious, potentially propose a comparative study of Autonomist and Zapatista struggles (and/or representations of these struggles). Don't try to apply with vague research interests in "post-Marxism" and "rethinking Communism," because they encompass far too much. Try to delimit your research interests geographically, linguistically, and theoretically. You'll absolutely be able to ground yourself in broader arguments through coursework and field/qualifying exams, but those broader arguments should not be what you propose as research interests. Doctoral work is all about deep, intense specialization—yes it will open up and speak to a wider context, but it should stem from pointed engagement with a very specific problem. 

[brettmullga]

This may be of interest: http://heterodoxnews.com/hed/graduate/

 

It's a list of heterodox graduate economics programs. Once you open the link, just ctlf+f 'marx'