MTLIT-MA - Modern Thought and Literature (MA)

Modern Thought and Literature (MTL) is an interdisciplinary humanities graduate program advancing the study of critical issues in the modern world. Since 1971, MTL students have helped to redefine the cutting edge of many interdisciplinary fields and to reshape the ways in which disciplinary scholarship is understood and practiced. MTL graduates are leaders in fields such as American studies, ethnic studies, film studies, social and cultural studies, and women's studies, as well as English and comparative literature.

The program trains students to understand the histories and methods of disciplines and to test their assumptions. It considers how disciplines shape knowledge and, most importantly, how interdisciplinary methods reshape objects of study. MTL students produce innovative analyses of diverse texts, forms, and practices, including those of literature, history, philosophy, anthropology, law, and science; film, visual arts, popular culture, and performance; and material culture and technology.

Each student constructs a unique program of study suited to his or her research. Students have focused on such areas as gender and sexuality; race and ethnicity; science, technology, and medicine; media and performance; legal studies; and critical and social theory. The program's affiliated faculty is drawn from fields throughout the humanities and humanistic social sciences, as well as from education and law. As interdisciplinary study is impossible without an understanding of the disciplines under consideration, each student is expected to master the methods of literary analysis and to gain a foundation in a second field or discipline.

Units from courses taken from other Departments/Programs within Stanford may count for Major/Minor requirements if course equivalence is petitioned and approved by the the Director or Program Coordinators. Units from courses taken at institutions that are not Stanford may count for Major/Minor requirements if course equivalence is petitioned and approved by the Associate Director.

The Program in Modern Thought and Literature is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. When most effective, this advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement by both the adviser and the advisee.

Faculty advisers guide students in key areas such as selecting courses, designing and conducting research, developing of teaching pedagogy, navigating policies and degree requirements, and exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways. 

Upon arrival, incoming MTL Ph.D. students are assigned first-year faculty advisers who help students select classes with the student’s academic interests as well as the program requirements in mind. Advising arrangements are made for coterminal M.A. students at the time of their admission to the program.

Prior to advancement to TGR status, all Ph.D. students should also meet with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) each quarter to discuss overall progress. After reaching TGR status, students should check in with the DGS at least once a year.

As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. For both Ph..D and M.A. students, at least two consultations per quarter with the DGS and the primary adviser are highly recommended to foster an effective advising relationship. Both the adviser and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.

After the first year of study, when Ph.D. students have a better sense of their academic trajectories, they may choose to change advisers with the approval of the director and the DGS.

For a statement of University policy on graduate advising, see the "Graduate Advising" section of this bulletin

The purpose of the master's program is to further develop knowledge and skills in interdisciplinary literary studies and to prepare students for a professional career or doctoral studies. This is achieved through completion of courses, in the primary field as well as related areas, and experience with independent work and specialization.

The Ph.D. is conferred upon candidates who have demonstrated substantial scholarship and the ability to conduct independent research and analysis in interdisciplinary literary studies. Through completion of advanced course work and rigorous skills training, the doctoral program prepares students to make original contributions to the knowledge of interdisciplinary literary studies and to interpret and present the results of such research.