Comparative Literature

The Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan is one of the oldest and best established centers for the study of comparative literature in the United States. Founded in 1937, our program is a magnet for innovative research and undergraduate and graduate courses that encourage interdisciplinary and multilingual perspectives on literature and culture.

Our faculty and graduate students work in more than 35 languages. We offer undergraduate and graduate training in translation studies. Comp Lit faculty are leaders in the American Comparative Literature Association and Modern Language Association. Our graduate students, whose dissertations have received the ACLA's Charles Bernheimer Prize and ProQuestDistinguished Dissertation Award, edit Absinthe: World Literature in Translation and have been organizing the annual conference CLIFF for nearly 30 years.

In 2022 Comp Lit awarded its 100th doctorate since the start of the millennium. Check out our timeline, 85 Years of Comp Lit at Michigan.