Critical Theory across the Humanities and Social Sciences has never been more urgently needed. As we witness a wide sweeping movement to annul many of the gains of the past century in terms of human freedom and dignity, there is an intellectual responsibility to answer such a threat. Just as basic premises of social justice quickly erode, the very concept of the public university is more and more jeopardized or simply co-opted in what amounts to a struggle for democratic participation and agency. The seminar aims at bringing together a number of scholars and critics to commonly reflect on the intersections between theory, politics and the present.