Courses

The Department of Comparative Literature offers a wide range of courses at all levels of the curriculum.  Our classes are open to students from other departments in LS&A, and from other units across the university. None of our courses have pre-requisites.

Faculty members in Comparative Literature teach First Year Literary Seminars (COMPLIT 140). They also teach larger lecture/discussion courses of general interest, such as “Global X” (COMPLIT 100) and “Global Humanities” (COMPLIT 300).  

Students can fulfill the First-Year Writing Requirement by taking “Writing World Literatures" (COMPLIT 122).  Students can also fulfill the Upper-Level Writing Requirement by taking “Translating World Literatures” (COMPLIT 322).  Both of these writing courses are offered every semester.

In addition, the Department of Comparative Literature offers courses at the 300 and 400 levels, with more specialized topics that vary each semester. Some of our courses can be counted toward the “Comparative Culture & Identity” track in International Studies.   

We encourage students to explore our full course sequence in World Literatures: 

• COMPLIT 122 (Writing World Literatures; meets FYWR)
• COMPLIT 222 (Great Books in World Literatures; meets HU requirement)
• COMPLIT 322 (Translating World Literatures; meets ULWR)
• COMPLIT 323 (Adapting World Literatures; meets ULWR)
• COMPLIT 422 (Comparing World Literatures and Cultures)

For more information, see our Curriculum Overview with a general description of Comparative Literature courses.  For more detailed descriptions of specific courses and instructors listed for each semester, see the LS&A Course Guide.  In addition, we post flyers with course descriptions on the bulletin board along with our Comp Lit Corridor, on the second floor of Tisch Hall.