This course acquaints students with the theoretical foundations of critical theory. Over the course of the semester, students are introduced to some of Critical Theory's leading figures and central areas of investigation, including Immanent Critique, Critiques of Late Capitalism, Mass Culture and Aesthetics, Authoritarianism, History and Progress. Students also explore the contemporary currents of these debates. Specific attention is given to how Critical Theory both informs and is furthered by feminists, critical race and postcolonial critics, and theorists of ecological crisis. Among other theorists, the course will include key readings by Karl Marx, Georg Lukács, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, Nancy Fraser, Bolívar Echeverría, Amy Allen, Patricia Hill Collins, and Maya Gonzales. [Track C]