Cultural studies, the analysis of all forms of culture and of the social and historical contexts of cultural practices, broadens the scope further by reconfiguring traditional disciplinary boundaries in the humanities. 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.

The Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies program has built a framework that allows faculty from a variety of departments effectively to interact with a diverse group of students in pursuing individually-designed programs of study. The program is supported primarily by the Departments of Communication, English, and World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, but the program also has affiliated faculty members in several programs and departments in the humanities and social sciences, including Anthropology, Art, Classics, Theatre, History, Philosophy, Sociology, Education, as well as interdisciplinary programs such as African and African American, Latin American and Latino, Middle Eastern, Indigenous, Jewish, and Gender Studies.

Our main aim is to train students to think about the nature, function, and value of literature and culture within our current and future times. We achieve this goal by offering students an opportunity to participate in lecture series, go to conferences, publish articles, obtain internships, and conduct research in the U.S. and around the world.