The Philosophy and Critical Theory Lab (PaCT Lab) officially opened in January of 2024. Established by Martin Shuster in 2023, the lab aims to provide a space for the development of novel pursuits and approaches in philosophy and critical theory, especially with an eye towards expanding our understanding of what these can be. It orients itself around an ethos of experimentation in the midst of practical and theoretical inquiry.
A fundamental feature of the PaCT Lab is a belief that neither philosophy nor critical theory belong solely in (or to) the academy. The perspectives and approaches involved in either of these endeavors can continue to be broadened, and in ways that may not be obvious at the present moment (hence the stress on experimentation). While housed in a university setting, the lab sees philosophy and critical theory as more than merely preparation for additional schooling or for the challenges of the workplace (even as benefits for these endeavors are not denied).
The PaCT Lab is oriented around the belief that such benefits, including the training of additional scholars or educators and the cultivation of their work capacities, must always be supplemented by an explicit commitment to the cultivation of citizens who are informed and creative. In addition to the well-known rewards of a university education that stresses critical thinking, deep global contextualization, and familiarity with a variety of perspectives, the PaCT Lab suggests that comfort with experimentation, launching new projects, pursuing novel initiatives, and creating unique possibilities are all crucial values worth cultivating. Call this spiritual or critical entrepreneurship (hearkening back to the 15th century origins of the word, an origin that prioritized a spirit of daring, referring not solely to an interest in market affairs). Such citizens, in addition to honed critical faculties, need to have broadened imaginative and work capacities. The environment of a lab–with its promise of experimentation and its etymological root of labor–situates itself as a central node for such aims and desires.