Young Critics Program
Criticism as an artistic discourse.
Overview
The Young Critics Program (YCP) is an international, online knowledge exchange platform that reimagines the function of criticism in a world increasingly shaped by speed, spectacle, and the commodification of thought.
Criticism, in this context, is not a matter of opinion or passive review; it is a rigorous, ethical, and political practice that engages with structures of power, representation, and meaning-making.
Who is “Young”?
The word young in the Young Critics Program does not indicate age. It marks a moment in practice, wherever one may be in their journey of discovery, curiosity, and exploration.
Whether you are from the arts, sciences, humanities, or any other field, if you believe art can be a tool of convergence and inquiry, and you consider yourself at an early stage of engaging with criticism as a method of understanding the world, this program is for you.
Core Principles
-> Critique as Artistic Discourse: YCP frames criticism as a mode of artistic practice and critical consciousness, not confined to any academic or institutional form.
-> Collective Creation: The program fosters a collaborative ecosystem of unguarded knowledge exchange, shared thinking, and speculative exploration.
-> Non-Hierarchical Learning: There are no gatekeepers. All formats of expression and inquiry are welcome, as long as they are rooted in a commitment to care, rigour, and radical respect.
-> Community as Sustainability: YCP is not a one-time initiative; it seeks to cultivate ongoing relationships and sustainable communities of thinkers and doers who challenge, support, and grow with each other.
Methodology
In today’s oversaturated media environment, where meaning often collapses under the weight of information, the critic’s role becomes vital. YCP does not train content reviewers; it cultivates philosophical readers of the present.
Participants explore criticism as a tool of interpretation, resistance, and epistemic repair, questioning the frameworks through which culture is created, distributed, and consumed.
The program engages with archival knowledge, oral histories, and contemporary technological methodologies, with particular attention to South Asia and the Global South, and the diasporic realities surrounding them. It aims to understand how historical narratives shape contemporary cultural dynamics and how critique can function as an act of care, confrontation, and cultural preservation.
Program Structure
- Format: Fully online, transnational, dialogue-based.
- Engagements: Critical mentorship, curated readings, collaborative discussions, and public conversations.
- Disciplines: Participants will engage with cinema, text, image-making, politics, and theory from varied lenses, postcoloniality, queer theory, media studies, decolonial critique, speculative thought, and beyond.
- Culmination: A collaborative project, which may take the form of a critical publication, performative symposium, or discursive archive.
Participation & Process
- Format: Fully online, transnational, dialogue-based.
- Engagements: Critical mentorship, curated readings, collaborative discussions, and public conversations.
- Disciplines: Participants will engage with cinema, text, image-making, politics, and theory from varied lenses, postcoloniality, queer theory, media studies, decolonial critique, speculative thought, and beyond.
- Culmination: A collaborative project, which may take the form of a critical publication, performative symposium, or discursive archive.
Why Now? | Social and Timely Relevance
As mainstream criticism is increasingly co-opted by market forces and algorithmic populism, YCP offers a counter-space to reclaim criticism as a public, intellectual, and ethical tool.
In a global context where cultural expressions risk being homogenised, this program insists on the value of localised knowledge systems, plural epistemologies, and diverse voices.
It challenges participants to read generously, think deeply, speak cautiously, and write with consequence.
FAQ
YCP is open to anyone, from any discipline or geography, who is curious about the intersection of culture, criticism, and society. We encourage applications from individuals who are:
- Early in their critical practice or research
- Artists, writers, theorists, activists, or researchers
- Committed to collaborative learning and respectful dialogue
Interested in how criticism can function as a form of public engagement and cultural care
- The program is fully online and designed to accommodate different time zones.
- It includes weekly sessions over several weeks, involving workshops, reading circles, dialogic encounters, and collaborative projects.
- A detailed calendar will be shared with selected participants.
Participants are expected to commit fully and punctually for the entire duration.
The program is built on peer-to-peer learning, dialogic exchange, and critical inquiry. Methods include:
- Curated reading materials and open-ended discussions
- Guest sessions by international thinkers and practitioners
- Group work, collaborative projects, and experimental formats
- Focus on archival knowledge, oral histories, and technological methodologies
- Cross-disciplinary engagement: cinema, literature, media, theory, politics, and more
Participants are expected to:
- Attend all sessions and actively engage
- Be respectful, open-minded, and thoughtful in dialogue
- Complete reading materials and contribute to discussions
- Submit a final collaborative or individual project
Credit all materials ethically (APA citation style) and license work under Creative Commons for public sharing
The selection involves three stages:
- Written application
- Online interview
- Confirmation with commitment fee
We value sincerity, curiosity, and a willingness to think critically over formal qualifications or prior experience.