DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE • NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
19 UNIVERSITY PLACE, RM. 303 • NEW YORK, NY 10003 • (212) 998-8780
director: prof. avital ronell
The Advanced Certificate Program in Poetics and Theory is a transdisciplinary initiative that provides an institutional framework for diverse theoretical initiatives and practices at NYU. By offering an integrated approach to theoretical concerns in the Humanities, it responds to frequently voiced desires for a theory initiative across the disciplines. Rather than pure theorizing, the program focuses on sharing theoretical approaches and fosters interdisciplinary and international collaboration.
The program traces a historical progression from the ancient practices of poetics and rhetoric to their modern theoretical counterparts. The intimate but vexed relations between aesthetics and hermeneutics, philosophy and literature, social institutions and the work of art, form the core of study. The transdisciplinary orientation of the Certificate complements disciplinary study and sharpens students’ career profiles.
The Poetics and Theory program currently comprises three elements: a reading group composed primarily of Poetics and Theory members but open to all graduate students and faculty; an annual schedule of events, including lectures, seminars, and conferences; and the certificate program itself.
The Program in Poetics and Theory ∙ Department of Comparative Literature ∙ New York University ∙ 19 University Place, Rm. 303 ∙ New York, NY 10003