I noticed UC Berkeley said this on its page describing their "Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory" PHD program facet: http://guide.berkeley.edu/graduate/degree-programs/critical-theory/
Critical theory is often associated with the Frankfurt School, a group of intellectuals who, starting in the 1920s, developed critiques of modern capitalist society, fascism, and the new global dispensations that followed in the aftermath of World War II. In doing so, the Frankfurt School constructed modes of social theory distinct from established forms of philosophy.
When I read that, I smelled it as a roundabout way to say marxism. Sure enough, when you read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_critical_theory you get this list of branches:
African-American Studies
Gender studies
Marxist theory
Postcolonialism
Structuralism
Post-structuralism
Deconstruction
Postmodernism
Reconstructivism
Psychoanalytic theory
Queer theory
Semiotics
Cultural anthropology
Theories of identity
Linguistical theories of literature
I don't know how the hell you stop this train before it wrecks itself if it's being glorified and taught in college to the next generation.
Constant Snopes, WaPo, Leftist websites, and other "fact checkers" have gone so far as to deny the existence of the Frankfurt School or claim it's totally irrelevant.
Marcuse was the classroom professor for many "Shakurs" and some Weathermen.