Tulips in the A.D. White House gardens
A six-week summer intensive with leading figures in critical thought

School of Criticism and Theory

Founded in 1976, the School of Criticism and Theory  brings together a diverse group of scholars from around the world, addressing an ever-expanding arrangement of cultural, political and social movements, theoretical axes and intersecting debates across the humanities and social sciences.

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People walking up Libe Slope

Summer 2025 Session

In an intensive six-week course of study, faculty members, graduate students and independent scholars from around the world, in the humanities and social sciences, explore recent developments in critical theory. The 2025 Session is scheduled for June 8 - July 17, 2025.

Participants work with the SCT’s core faculty of distinguished scholars and theorists in one of four six-week seminars. Each faculty member offers, in addition, a public lecture and a colloquium (based on an original paper) which are attended by the entire group.

The program also includes practical Writing and Publishing Workshops taught by writers, poets and artists who visit for shorter periods. Finally, the program begins with a panel discussion between the SCT Director and a leading figure in the Humanities and ends with an exciting two-day conference. In addition, Cornell offers participants the resources of one of the great research libraries in the United States.

Click here for more detailed information on the 2025 session.

Statue of A.D. White on the Arts Quad

A Welcome from the Director

2025 SCT is organized around four seminars led by renowned senior scholars. The scholars this summer come from the fields of Literature, Philosophy, Anthropology, and Environmental Studies. The seminars will focus on critical topics related to the environment, epistemology, race, property, futurism, politics, and the body. In addition to the 6-week seminars, SCT is introducing workshops in poetry, narrative non-fiction, and analytical writing led by two dynamic writer/scholars. Capping our seminars will be a conference highlighting the original work of some of the students and faculty.

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