COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND CULTURAL STUDIES
A degree with a future...
A Message from the Director
I invite you to join our community of international scholars in a path of discovery and transformation where progress and not perfection is expected. Study with students and faculty from around the world in an environment in which students from a variety of cultures mutually explore the literatures and cultures of different nations as they tune their critical analysis.
As an international community of students and scholars, our program is fertile ground for innovative and critical approaches to the literatures and cultures of the world. Here you will design your own study plan, with the support of committed faculty from different departments, so you can discover and awake your intellectual talents. Our program provides students with the tools to succeed in a changing and challenging world.
Dr. Erika Almenara
CLCS Program Director & Associate Professor of Spanish
What We do
The Comparative Literature & Cultural Studies (CLCS) program provides advanced level research training in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies for students with previous education in various languages & cultures, national literatures, or literary genres to earn either a Master's or Doctoral degree. Our program prepares students to perform critical analysis, cross-cultural communication, and international understanding so they can become workers able to be adaptable and excel in multicultural and intercultural competence. This preparation allows students to communicate difficult ideas clearly and be at ease working and engaging with people in multiple cultural and linguistic contexts.
As our program considers the relevance of technology moving forward, we incorporate this field to our students’ education by offering classes related to digital humanities. Our curriculum includes courses that reinforce our students’ soft skills so they can integrate cultures, processes, and technology in their research projects. This broader approach is ever more crucial to our times.
Unlike most academic degrees, the Comparative Literature & Cultural Studies program gives the freedom to students to develop their own individually designed schema based on their academic interests, as opposed to offering a definitive course catalog for each concentration. Students are welcomed to pick from courses available all throughout campus to later align with the degree requirements or to complement their development. This does present its own challenge, but you can work with your advisors each semester to pick classes that will benefit your research and prepare you for the comprehensive exams.