OVERVIEW
The primary objective of the CTW’s Summer School is to provide an international forum for trans-disciplinary and politically relevant research that contributes to a coherent and systematic elucidation of the contemporary world. Participants are exposed to the work of contemporary thinkers and engage with current debates with leading scholars from around the globe. Special attention is paid to traditions of thought that have been sidelined or suppressed in the academy, including Marxism, the black radical tradition, anticolonial theory, socialist feminism, revolutionary thought from the Global South and radical ecological thought. Past speakers have included Domenico Losurdo (pictured above), Sophie Wahnich, Geneviève Fraisse, Pierre Macherey, Jacques Rancière, Radhika Desai, and Amy Allen (click here for a complete list). Scroll down for testimonials from former participants.

DETAILS
The summer program, which takes place at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in central Paris and online, does not follow the traditional structure of a course or lecture series. Instead, it is organized around two interlocking components:

• Public Debates: the directors and numerous invited speakers from various fields share their work in progress or recent publications in order to engage in public debates about their research to date and their current projects. Rather than long lectures followed by a brief discussion, we aim to facilitate dynamic engagements that bring to life both intellectual and practical work, thereby allowing all of us to collectively work through pressing issues for the contemporary age. We always make a concerted effort, moreover, to have a healthy mix of speakers from various backgrounds and at different stages in their careers, and we regularly include intellectuals who work outside of the academy. Click here to see video recordings of some of the past events.
• Working Groups: the participants in the Summer School have the opportunity, if they would like, to present their own research projects in various working groups and workshop them with other participants.

Although these activities are oriented toward a graduate level of education, anyone with the requisite background is welcome to apply. Participants come from around the globe and often include advanced undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, faculty, autodidacts, artists, writers and independent researchers. In any given year, there are usually participants from about 15 different disciplines or fields of work, who come from 4-6 different continents.

The primary language of discussion is English, but some of the activities take place in French with English summary translations that are projected on a screen. Therefore, it is beneficial, although not at all required, that applicants have a working knowledge of the French language.

Founder and Executive Director
Gabriel Rockhill

Associate Director
Jennifer Ponce de León

Associate Director in Paris
Pierre-Antoine Chardel

Program Administrator and Primary Contact
Rosa Dolet: <criticaltheoryworkshop@protonmail.com>

Primary Partner Institution in Paris
Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Politique (CNRS / EHESS), formerly Institut interdisciplinaire d’anthropologie du contemporain

Location
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and online

Lodging
Participants are welcome to make their own arrangements or reserve a room at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris (approximately $900). In the past, most participants have succeeded in finding reasonably priced apartments via Airbnb or other similar platforms.

Dates
First 3 weeks of July (precise dates vary year to year)

Program Fee
There is a sliding scale down to zero based on income. Scholarships and financial aid are available. Please click here for more details.

Application Deadline
There is a rolling admissions policy, and early applications are welcome. The final deadline for the Paris program is April 30 for the upcoming summer (and June 15 for the online program, whose content is nearly identical).

Application
The application is available here in two formats: pdf and word. If possible, electronic copies of the application should be e-mailed directly to <criticaltheoryworkshop@protonmail.com>.

SUMMER SCHOOL FAQs

Testimonials

Here is a selection of testimonials from participants in the CTW’s Summer School:

“The Critical Theory Workshop is a truly unique educational conference. It brings together thinkers from across a variety of disciplines and backgrounds and emphasizes the importance of political praxis and collaboration among peers in intellectual labor.”
– Eduardo Rodriguez (participant in the 2022 Summer School in Paris)

“The Critical Theory Workshop/ Atelier de Théorie Critique is an energizing and enlightening experience for developing intellectuals and activists of all kinds. Parting with the commodified character of traditional classroom instruction, the CTW/ATC’s method refreshingly emphasizes history, politics, dialogue, and participants’ process of theoretical & practical development. Participants are encouraged to make progress on our ongoing projects by drawing on genuine discussions of contemporary issues with peers and leading intellectuals. Even if your project is in its earliest stages, joining the working groups and presenting your work is a low-pressure—but nonetheless rigorous—opportunity to gather transformative feedback. The online program (where I participated) maintains the CTW/ATC’s intensity—all the speakers, conversations, and resources made available helped me clarify how to make my work impactful. I highly recommend the CTW/ATC and look forward to participating again.”
– Reese Haller (participant in the 2022 online Summer School and PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University)

“The Critical Theory Workshop is truly an invigorating experience. It galvanized my research projects and reaffirmed my commitment to socially conscious scholarship by emphasizing collaborative learning and the political stakes of intellectual labor. Gabriel Rockhill’s energetic and dedicated leadership, combined with a rigorous syllabus and a diverse, highly inquisitive student cohort, creates a valuable counterpoint to the typical strictures and expectations of institutionalized academic study. The CTW/ATC is a unique opportunity for reflection and thought-provoking exchange.”
– Dana Liljegren (participant in the 2019 summer workshop in Paris and PhD Candidate in Art History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York)

“Is your work resistant to or supportive of the powers that be? One of the things I most appreciated in our discussions at the Critical Theory Workshop/Atelier de Théorie Critique was the urgent ways in which this question was posed. It was encouraging to meet several scholars who think and act against capitalism, sexism, racism, colonialism, and all other oppressive systems that instill in us the false idea that a more liberatory existence is impossible.”
– Gustavo Hessmann Dalaqua (participant in the 2019 summer workshop in Paris and doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of São Paulo)

“The Critical Theory Workshop/Atelier de Théorie Critique provides an invaluable collaborative and collective intellectual experience outside the traditional institutionalized academic setting. From a diverse variety of academics, students, and artists, to a host of guest speakers, the workshop furnishes a meeting ground for open dialogue, political organization, and the development of radical critical theory. The CTW/ATC is scheduled in such a way that allows each participant to meet collectively and share their individual work and ideas. These collaborative meetings were especially beneficial to myself as they allowed me a space to share my work, receive feedback, and engage in intellectual dialogue, all of which immensely contributed to the growth of my own writing and theoretical framework.  At a time of political turmoil and academic disconnect, it is essential to have the CTW/ATC as a meeting space for the development of intellectual discourse, political praxis, and radical thought.”
– Mara Cayarga (participant in the 2019 summer workshop in Paris and undergraduate at the University of New Mexico majoring in political science and philosophy)

“The Critical Theory Workshop gave me a rare chance to communicate with advanced scholars. Nowadays, the academic world is inevitably affected by political and social issues. However, this workshop created an objective space to reflect on and critique political and social problems. In this program, committed scholars shared their radical thoughts, and stimulated one other to come up with new ideas. Besides, this intense program not only brought many famous radical professors to share ideas and debate with participants, but it also divided the participants into different small groups in order to comment on and improve their individual research projects. It was an excellent opportunity to work with people who have deep and advanced ideas. Over the course of three weeks in Paris, I absorbed numerous new ideas from other participants’ research and reflected on my own ideas to improve and complete my research.”
– Ziyuan Lin (participant in the 2019 summer workshop in Paris and undergraduate at Villanova University majoring in philosophy and Asian studies)

“At the Critical Theory Workshop/Atelier de Théorie Critique I discovered a space primed for the cultivation of radical theory outside the institutional confines and limitations imposed on many intellectuals in traditional academic settings. The workshop encourages an egalitarian exchange of critical theoretical perspectives that are often marginalized in hegemonic discourses. In this vein, CTW/ATC thrives on developing individual participant’s work via smaller group exchanges between thinkers of tangential academic proclivities while conjunctively challenging its intellectuals to broaden their theoretical base through larger group discussions, which feature backgrounds in a sundry of disciplines and commitments. Despite that these dialogues underscore theoretical dimensions per the design of CTW/ATC, such theoretical foci are nonetheless counterbalanced by serious concerns with political praxis and considerations of “theory in the world.” That being said, contemporary geopolitical crises, social movements, and a variety of other real phenomena color and contextualize the workshop. Hence, the CTW/ATC refreshingly provides a place that strikes needed balances in a turbulent sociality for blossoming intellectuals.”
– Jacob Ring (participant in the 2019 summer workshop in Paris and undergraduate at the University of New Mexico majoring in English literature, psychology and philosophy)

“Spending the Summer in Paris reading and discussing the work of thinkers from various traditions has been, it is not hard to imagine, a great pleasure. More than that, however, what I appreciated the most in the CTW was the opportunity to meet, talk to and get to know the work of its highly committed and engaged participants. Exchanging ideas and feedback within such a diverse and interdisciplinary group was enriching and stimulating, and I am glad for the unique environment the workshop provided for intense, earnest debate, inside and outside of the EHESS.”
– Luiza Duarte Caetano (participant in the 2019 summer workshop in Paris and a PhD student of Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan)

“I was very lucky to have participated in the 2018 Critical Theory Workshop/Atelier de Théorie Critique. It’s rare to find spaces where radical political organisation and rigorous critical intellectual work meet at such a high level, without either taking precedence over the other. To spend three weeks working in Paris with such a talented group of thinkers, activists, artists… incredible!”
– Shannon Walsh (participant in the 2018 summer workshop in Paris)

“The Critical Theory Workshop is incredible: the generosity and creativity of the participants, the commitment to radical pedagogical and conversational experimentation, and our engagement with the politics of the city we were working in were absolutely exhilarating. The workshop is an antidote to the combative everyday world of my (and most of our) academic spaces, and something that will keep me going all year. The workshop is a real resource for collaboration and growth on any project at a variety of stages. It was so good to work alongside people who are resisting and critiquing the types of work that the institutions they are embedded in demand, who care about changing themselves and their worlds, and who are marshalling their resources and perspectives in order to create other ways of looking and building and speaking.”
– Katherine Mitchell (participant in the 2018 summer workshop in Paris)

“The Critical Theory Workshop benefits from a great line-up of speakers, a schedule that faciltates both solitary research and group collaboration, in addition to all the resources Paris offers. Participating as junior faculty, I particularly enjoyed how the conference allowed me to bring my own research project into the workshop and work through my ideas in both small and large groups. Over the course of three weeks, I was able to draft two articles during the daytime while the evening sessions always gave me new perspectives on my own writing and the field as a whole. The break-out sessions were especially valuable in this regard. In particular, listening to what graduate students are currently working on was eye-opening and pushed me to evolve my research to keep up with the ways in which the critical tradition is currently progressing. I also enjoyed the line-up of speakers. Presentations by the likes of David Palumbo-Liu and Seloua Boulbina provided the opportunity to talk with thinkers I might not normally interact with, but who have been successful at promoting minor perspectives within the academy. This interdisciplinary workshop plays an important role at the limits of the university system insofar as it brings together intellectuals from a range of backgrounds all interested in inventing new approaches to teaching, writing, thinking, and activism both within the university and the community at large.”
– John Harfouch (participant in the 2018 summer workshop in Paris)

“At this time where the academic world is continuously modified by the vertiginous relations between different cultures, political perspectives, and societal rhythms, this workshop provides the possibility to respond to this particular contemporary context by conceptualizing our own social and political research in a reflective, critical and dialogical way. We have the opportunity to confront our views with scholars from institutions from different parts of the world, with divergent cultural origins and in different states and depths of research. Two hopes unite us: the belief in social change and that the academic world could have a substantial role in producing it.”
– Luz Azcarate (participant in the 2018 summer workshop in Paris)

“My greatest takeaway from the CTW/ATC is the practice of intellectual labor collaboratively and collectively. Working through ideas and texts with other members, and the experience inside the seminars and outside, whether picnicking by the Seine or at a brasserie, have led to open discourse that inspired my work. This is not attributable to one theorist alone, but is much more true to Marx’s ‘General Intellect,’ making an environment for truly collaborative and radical theoretical practice to take place.”
– Brendan Rome (participant in the 2018 summer workshop in Paris)