Jean Baudrillard was a major French thinker of the second half of the twentieth century. Baudrillard developed a totally new system of thought and was widely acclaimed both by media studies and the art world. The course suggests keys to Baudrillard's thinking that spans over four decades and many different theories and social critique. Starting with the early critique of Marxism, we then move to seduction theory and to simulacra, and finish with current strategies of "terror", "capital" and "the revenge of the sign". Works of Art and literary texts will offer not only superb illustrations to his concepts but also a necessary critique.