Critical Theory and the Now: an Introduction to the Frankfurt School (In-Person)

In 1930, Max Horkheimer became the director of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, Germany. Along with his colleagues and a broader orbit of external scholars, he inaugurated the first wave of what came to be called “critical theory.” This course is an introduction to some of the key works and concepts of the Frankfurt School, including thinkers like Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Walter Benjamin, in the context of a comparative analysis of the cultural and political landscape of the mid-twentieth century and that of today. What is historical materialism? What is the “dialectic of enlightenment”? How does the “culture industry” work? What, if any, are the connections and boundaries between philosophy, sociology, aesthetics, art, history, and religion? Drawing on readings from several Frankfurt School texts, particularly Adorno and Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment, we will attempt to read, understand, and evaluate these questions and link them to the contemporary world.

“Critical Theory and the Now: an Introduction to the Frankfurt School” will also run online, starting Monday, November 16th. For more information and to enroll, please visit the course page. 

Course Schedule

Wednesday, 6:30-9:30pm ET
November 18 — December 16, 2026
4 sessions over 5 weeks
Class will not meet Wednesday, November 25th.

$355.00

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