Our doctoral program offers graduates a uniquely open degree structure. Our students carry out research at the crossroads of disciplines and practice the methods and theories of Comparative Literature, taking courses in departments across campus and developing their professional skills and disciplinary knowledge through our innovative Field Exam system. We offer a graduate Emphasis in Translation Studies and our graduate students can also choose from six additional graduate emphases. Alumni from our graduate program have secured research positions, teaching appointments, and post-doctoral fellowships in humanities departments at Dartmouth, Harvard, Rutgers, CU Boulder, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, Yale and many other outstanding colleges and universities around the country and world.

Our undergraduates benefit from the opportunity to work closely with faculty in their fields of study, explore the interactions of literary cultures across borders, and take courses in the literatures of the world on such topics such as "Global Humanities," "World Literature and Cognitive Science," "Children’s Literature," "Fantasy and the Fantastic," and "the Jewish Graphic Novel." We also offer an innovative Minor in Translation Studies.

Read Our Values Statement

The Comparative Literature program is proud to foster an open and intellectually adventurous environment for students and faculty alike, where scholars from a broad range of racial, ethnic, socio-economic, gender, disabled and neurodiverse groups can work together in a thriving scholarly community. Scholars from all different backgrounds and with all kinds of interests are encouraged and supported both intellectually and financially in their pursuit of scholarly excellence.

Admission into the program is open to all and based on a combination of prior academic achievement, significant research interests, and evidence of the potential for success at the graduate level. 

University awards in support of these values include the multi-year Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship and the Doctoral Scholars Fellowship, which provide four- to five-year support packages that combine stipends of $24,000 for two years with two to three years of teaching assistantships and payment of fees, tuition and health insurance.