Comparative Literature

OUR PROGRAM

Students in Comparative Literature come from over twenty-five countries and are native speakers of as many languages. They bring a range of cultural and intellectual interests and have given the program in Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center an international character second to none that mirrors New York City in all its depth and complexity.

In recent years our students have accepted teaching positions at Barnard, Williams, Yale, Hamilton, Mount Holyoke, Vanderbilt, Harvard, UCLA, Penn State, Rutgers, The University of Massachusetts, and at a number of CUNY colleges. They have also found positions in Italy, Germany, and Turkey.

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OUR COURSES

The M.A. and Ph.D. Program in Comparative Literature offers courses in Comparative Literature, as well as coordinated courses in English, American, French, German, Italian, Latin American, Iberian and Latino Cultures, Slavic, Ancient Greek, and Latin literatures.

Students at the Graduate Center are encouraged to tailor a course of study that reflects their own interests and orientation, while meeting the requirements for the terminal degree. By the completion of the degree, students will be able to read two modern languages with complete fluency and demonstrate competence in at least one national literature taught at the Graduate Center.

The Graduate Center also encourages its students to take advantage of the Greater New York interuniversity doctoral consortium. Our partnership with other schools gives students the opportunity to register for courses at such institutions as Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, Rutgers University, and the New School of New York.

Students can find resources, including the Comparative Literature Student Handbook, to assist them during their studies at the Graduate Center on the Student Resources page.

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Our Approach

The Program is committed to train students in both literary history and literary theory, and students should master and practice a range of critical approaches, from the established to the very recent. Most of our doctoral faculty have joint appointments with other programs at the Graduate Center, and therefore seminars and tutorials cover a broad variety of subjects and methodologies. Students may study courses in a variety of disciplines, from the visual arts, music, theatre, and cinema to history, anthropology, and philosophy. Students are encouraged to pursue course work in these areas, as well as in the Graduate Center's Ph.D. programs in foreign languages and literatures.

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