Undergraduate
Why Major in Comparative Literature?
- Read the most exciting writing from around the world
- Explore other cultures through their writings and arts
- Study other languages in order to expand your own experience
- Discover correlations between literature, the arts, and other fields of knowledge
- Learn analytical and critical skills useful in interpreting texts of all sorts, from political speeches to religious classics as well as literary work
- Understand your own culture from new perspectives
Comparative Literature studies literature across national, cultural, and linguistic borders. The international and comparative range of the discipline provides students a broad critical understanding of what literature is and does. Since knowing the language is essential to understanding a given literature and culture, all majors study a second language and literature at an advanced level. At the same time, the study of works in translation, especially those originally written in non-European languages, provokes cross-cultural comparisons and helps prepare students for a multilingual, pluralistic, and global world. Comparison of literature to other kinds of arts, media, and writing further extends understanding of literature and culture. Two programs of study are offered: the Major in Comparative Literature and the Major in Comparative Arts.
A Major in Comparative Literature Offers Many Possibilities
Comparative Literature majors find internships and jobs--in the United States and abroad--where they do research, write and edit, or teach, while gaining experience and learning about fields as diverse as the environment and the record industry.
Majors in Comparative Literature can enter degree programs in professional fields including Journalism, Law, Librarianship, and Business. You can study Education, to become certified to teach literature or languages in a high school. Or you can pursue a graduate degree in Comparative Literature or a national literature in preparation for a career in teaching and research at a college or university, in a language and literature, Comparative Literature, or English department.