CPLIT-BA - Comparative Literature (BA)

The mission of the undergraduate program in Comparative Literature is to develop students’ verbal and written communication skills, their ability to read analytically and critically, and their global knowledge of literary cultures and the specific properties of literary texts. The program provides students with the opportunity to study imaginative literature with several methods and a consciousness of methodology.

A Comparative Literature major prepares a student as a reader and interpreter of literature through sophisticated examination of texts and the development of a critical vocabulary with which to discuss them. Along with providing core courses that introduce students to major literary phenomena in a comparative frame, the program of study accommodates the interests of students in areas such as specific regions, historical periods, and interdisciplinary connections between literature and other fields such as philosophy, music, the visual arts, gender and queer theory, and race and ethnicity. Attention to verbal expression and interpretive argument serves students who will proceed into careers requiring strong language and communication skills and cross-cultural knowledge of the world.

The Chair of Undergraduate Studies may accept up to 5 units of transfer credit towards the 25 units of flexible electives.

The department expects undergraduate majors in the program to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are used in evaluating students and the department's undergraduate program. Students are expected to demonstrate:

1. the ability to interpret a literary text in a non-native language or to compare literary texts from different linguistic traditions, which may be read in translation.

2. a self-reflective understanding of the critical process necessary to read and understand texts.

3. skills in writing effectively about literature.

4. skills in oral communication and public speaking about literature.