Will Harris

What does it mean to be a critic? And how do you write good criticism? In this class, we will study and practice criticism as an art—a medium of creative writing designed to provoke thought, offer ways of viewing the world, and leave readers entertained. Alongside pieces of criticism from various fields—literature, music, film—we’ll read reflections and manifestoes on the purpose of criticism, and reflect ourselves on the landscape of criticism today. Where in our own time is criticism practiced? Strung between rapidly changing media and academic worlds, criticism is widely seen as being endangered, and yet, with the past decade’s resurgence of small, lively intellectual and cultural magazines, others have claimed that we live in a golden age of criticism. We will try to make sense of this, while meanwhile taking ourselves seriously as critics: sharing with each other the work of critics we admire and writing our own critical essays.