Welcome to the Unit for Criticism

For more than twenty-five years, the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory has been at the forefront of debates within the US academy about poststructuralism and cultural studies, Marxism and postcolonial theory, and the politics of disciplinarity and knowledge production. Drawing upon the expertise and resources of twenty-one humanities and social sciences departments, the Unit for Criticism promotes a broad range of teaching, research, and related scholarly activities. Through a variety of programs—including regular criticism seminars, monthly colloquia, visits to campus by distinguished scholars from other universities, agenda-setting conferences, and designated courses—the Unit provides both students and faculty with an interdisciplinary vantage point for their own teaching and research. Books derived from Unit conferences, such as Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture and Cultural Studies, have been landmarks of US critical discourse.