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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.
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 2026 Session is scheduled for June 8 - July 16, 2026.
Participants work with the SCT’s core faculty of distinguished scholars and theorists in one of three 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 shorter workshops taught by international correspondent Deborah Amos and interdisciplinary artist Carla Liesching. The program begins with a lecture by leading political theorist , Alexander Livingston, along with a 50th anniversary conference organized by distinguished scholars and leaders of SCT, and ends with an exciting two-day participant-lead 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 2026 session.
The School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University, a six-week summer program that serves as a hub for interdisciplinary inquiry in the humanities and social sciences, celebrated its 50th anniversary with events June 16-17.
Coming from the University of Toronto, where he was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen began his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.
I had the honor of being named the new director of Cornell University’s School of Criticism and Theory earlier this year. SCT is approaching its 50th anniversary and the mission is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. Attending the 2023 end-of-summer banquet, it was thrilling to see so many young scholars committed…
Professor Anthony Vidler, whose passing last week we deeply mourn, offered a wonderful mini-seminar and public lecture at SCT in the summer of 2017. The lecture was entitled "The Smooth and the Rough: Surfaces Psychological and Architectural from Adrian Stokes to Rem Koolhaas" and introduced by former Cornell Provost Don Randel. The lecture and public…
Listen to SCT 2023 Faculty Martin Hägglund discuss 'Coming to Terms with Human Finitude' on the What's Left of Philosophy Podcast
We are thrilled to share 2023 Faculty, Dianne M. Stweart's new book, Obeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad: Africana Nations and the Power of Black Sacred Imagination, Volume II, Orisa