Critical social theory challenges contemporary forms of political-economic power. In coursework and internships, the Minor in Critical Social Thought program draws from Marxism, socialism, anarchism, the Frankfurt School, radical environmentalism and anti-consumerism, postmodernism and post-structuralism, globalization studies, feminism, queer theory, postcolonial and subaltern studies, disability studies, critical race theory, theories of art and visual representation, and other systems of thought that pay attention to the questions of power and exploitation in world politics, culture, economics, and the formation of identities.
The minor seeks to address the way that so much of contemporary social thought is uncritical. It is guided by the belief that a better world is possible and that social thought has an important role in outlining the form such a world might take and identifying the agents who might be capable of bringing it about.