History of Consciousness
315 Humanities 1
(831) 459-4324
https://histcon.ucsc.edu/
Programs Offered
History of Consciousness Minor
History of Consciousness Ph.D.
History of Consciousness Designated Emphasis
Other Programs of Interest
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies B.A.
Feminist Studies B.A.
History of Consciousness is an interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate minor program centered in the humanities, with links to the social sciences and the arts. It is concerned with forms of expression and social action as they are manifested in specific historical, cultural, and political contexts. The program stresses flexibility and originality. Interest is focused on problems rather than disciplines. Although students are prepared to teach in particular fields, the emphasis is on questions that span a number of different approaches.
History of consciousness fosters problem-driven research vital to new forms of knowledge and intelligibility and to meet the challenges of imagining new modes of scholarship for the arts, social sciences, and humanities. The department emphasizes a variety of topics in its seminars and research pursuits. These areas of research include studies at the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender; global capitalism and cultural processes; psychoanalytic and semiotic theories of the image; science and technology studies; theories and histories of religion; social movements; and literary studies and poetics. Seminars are regularly offered in these and other areas of ongoing faculty research.
History of consciousness facilitates its expansive intellectual and pedagogical mission by maintaining strong cooperative relations with affiliated faculty from other campus programs who offer seminars and participate in advising, qualifying examinations, and dissertation committees. The formal list of affiliated faculty is a non-exhaustive indication of advising possibilities beyond the program’s core faculty. Campus research organizations, such as the UCSC Center for Cultural Studies, the Humanities Institute, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, the Science and Justice Working Group, and the Research Center for the Americas, also provide venues for collaborative work.