My Favorite Class: Critical Approaches in Social & Cultural Theory
Walking into my first class with Professor Alexander Pittman, I was unsure of what “Critical Approaches in Social and Cultural Theory” even meant. I had found the class by searching something randomly on the course directory before my first fall at Barnard. I found the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies department to be intriguing, but had no profound prior knowledge before taking this class. Prior to this first session I’d glanced briefly at the course description detailing an emphasis on “interdisciplinary studies of race, gender, sexuality, capital, nation, and globalization,” which was enough to draw me in.
The structure of the class varied slightly by units--which spanned from Hegemony, Culture and Ideology to Liberalism, Neoliberalism, and the Subject of Rights--but were mostly lectures from the wonderfully brilliant professor. He always broke things down in a manner that was clear and super engaging, even for someone like myself who wasn’t familiar with the content beforehand. It was one of the smaller lecture-based classes I’ve taken, with fewer than 100 students. Throughout the class, we also had opportunities to explore the texts with a few people around us, which made me feel more comfortable getting to know my peers and ask questions.
As a first-semester, first-year student, I was thoroughly intimidated by the intellectual contributions made by the older students in the class. I scribbled down notes in awe of people who made connections between the texts on our syllabus and things they were engaged with in other courses. I also worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace but even a couple weeks in, I was so interested in the topics and drawn to the professor’s way of teaching that I embraced the challenge and stayed in the class. About a month into the semester, I ended up getting to know another first-year who always sat in front of me and is now one of my closest friends.
The assignments consisted mainly of writing papers, for which the prompts were given in advance and we had considerable flexibility and creativity with. Prof. Pittman was incredibly approachable in terms of answering questions and providing guidance for any of the papers. He frequently asked for people to share their reflections in class and always made a point to remember our names, which is just a small example of how engaging and meaningful the class was.
Even during my third semester at Barnard, I still look back on Critical Approaches in Social and Cultural Theory as one of my favourite classes that exposed me to a whole world of theory and academic passions I am still exploring through other classes. Whenever someone asks for a class recommendation, this one is always at the top of my list and I am always flattered when someone takes it and enjoys it as much as I did!