EDI in the Literature and Critical Theory Program
The Literature and Critical Theory program focuses on close, contextualized analysis of literary texts and other discursive forms that originate in different languages, geographical locations, and historical periods. As such, the program has long been a leader within the University of Toronto in moving towards an understanding of literature and other media that decentres European and “Western” cultural productions. As part of its interdisciplinary approach, LCT faculty and courses consider a wide variety of representational media, issues of translation, and oppressive institutional forms as they are mediated or contested in literary and other forms of discourse. Courses within the LCT program take on, among other issues, the history of conceptions of race and racialized practices, colonialism, anti-colonial resistance, historically and geographically diverse constructions of gender, artist-activist responses to the climate crisis, and critiques of oppressive economic and political structures. Instructors in the program approach these issues not only at a theoretical level but through their engagement with current issues as they relate to literary and other texts of the past as well as the present. They also develop innovative pedagogical methods that encourage active and creative interactions with course materials. The program welcomes critical reflection on epistemological questions, on taken-for-granted, often Euro-centric, intellectual frameworks, and on the frequently inequitable institutional conditions of higher education. These priorities are also manifest in the events sponsored by the program, its staffing and hiring goals, as well as in the academic culture fostered by LCT students and their student union.
LCT Courses with EDI-related Content
LCT courses focus on conceptual themes and questions and the materials considered in any particular class can vary significantly from year to year. While some courses (e.g. LCT 203H-Empires I, LCT205-Empires II, LCT303H-Memory and Trauma, LCT305H-Institutions and Power, LCT308H-Identities,) lend themselves more explicitly to the consideration of equity, diversity, and inclusion, many LCT courses examine these issues in a sustained and theoretically sophisticated manner. For an up-to-date list of LCT courses being taught this year, and an expanded description of each instructor’s approach, follow the link below: