- Advising and Declaring
- Courses
- Student Spotlights
- Major in Comparative Literature, Arts, and Media
- Major in Translation
- Minor in Translation Studies
- First Year Writing Prize
- Senior Prize in Literary Translation
- Transfer Students & Transfer Credits
- Accelerated MA Program in Transcultural Studies
- Comp Lit Plagiarism Statement
- Activities
- Peer Mentors
- Careers in Comp Lit & Translation
Comparative Literature Welcomes Transfer Students
Transfer students interested in the Humanities and foreign languages have a home in the Department of Comparative Literature. If you haven’t heard of Comparative Literature before, we are an interdisciplinary, multilingual field of study in the Humanities. We cultivate the study of foreign languages and cultures into a field of Global Humanities: language, literature, and culture understood together and in mutually-illuminating contrast. Many of our instructors and courses focus on translation and the field of translation studies, as both a process and product. More information about what we do is here.
We are happy to work with you to evaluate and approve credits from your previous college or university, in the US or elsewhere. For more information on how we can incorporate your previous coursework into your Comparative Literature curriculum here at UM, and how evaluating transfer credits works, see our departmental approval process below:
Transfer Credits
EFFECTIVE FALL 2025. Click here for previous requirements.
Our majors and minor are very flexible, and we’re eager to work with you to incorporate your previous coursework into your Comparative Literature curriculum at UM. Courses you have taken in departments like English, History, Philosophy, Sociology, Art History, Film, Music, Anthropology, and American Culture can count toward your work in UM Comparative Literature. Humanities courses taken in foreign language departments (i.e., the courses you take after you’re proficient in the language) can count too.
- Transfer credits in the Comparative Literature, Arts, and Media major. 9 credits of transfer courses may be applied toward the 27 required credits of Comparative Literature major. The Comparative Literature Core (12 required credits in Comp Lit core courses), 3 credits of the focus requirement, and COMPLIT 495 must be taken in residence.
- Transfer credits in the Translation major. 9 credits of transfer courses may be applied toward the 27 credits required for the Translation major. The two Comparative Literature Core Translation Courses, the Capstone Seminar, and at least 3 credits of the focus requirement must be taken in residence.
- Transfer credits in the Minor in Translation Studies. 9 credits of transfer courses may be applied toward the minimum 15 credits required in the Minor in Translation Studies. The remaining 6 credits must be completed in residence.
- Transfer credits from Study Abroad. For details on Study Abroad Credits in the Comparative Literature, Arts, and Media Major, the Major in Translation, or the Translation Studies Minor, see the departmental approval process below.
Transfer Credit Approval Process for Currently Enrolled UM Students
- If the class is listed on the LSA Transfer Credit Equivalency Website (e.g. COMPLIT 376), then no further steps are required. The course has been counted as Comparative Literature, and the level has been established. It can now be counted toward your major or minor.
- If the class is listed on the LSA Transfer Credit Equivalency Website as departmental credit (e.g. "COMPLIT DEPT", "HISTORY DEPT", etc. ), contact the Student Services Team in Comparative Literature at complit.student.services@umich.edu. Please send all the information about the course that you have available in your message. Especially important is the complete syllabus for the class that you wish to count toward your work in Comparative Literature. The advisor will use this information to determine:
- Whether the subject matter of the transferred course is appropriate for the Major or Minor,
- The level at which the course was taught (100, 200, 300, 400),
- What departmental course, if any, the course corresponds to.
- If the class is not listed on the LSA Transfer Credit Equivalency Website, submit an evaluation request using the UM Transfer Credit Equivalency Request Form. If as a result of this evaluation request you are informed that the class transfers with COMPLIT departmental credit (e.g. "COMPLIT DEPT", "HISTORY DEPT", etc. ), please follow the same steps contacting the Student Services Team as listed above, including all course information and the complete syllabus.
Transfer Credit Approval Process for Prospective Transfer Students
- First, check the LSA Transfer Credit Equivalency Website to see if the class has already been approved for transfer.
- If a class is not listed at all on the LSA Transfer Credit Equivalency website, this means that no student has ever submitted it for evaluation. Contact the Student Services Team in Comparative Literature at complit.student.services@umich.edu. Please send all the information about the course that you have available in your message. Especially important is the complete syllabus for the class that you wish to count toward your work in Comparative Literature. The advisor will use this information to determine:
- Whether the subject matter of the transferred course is appropriate for the Major or Minor,
- The level at which the course was taught (100, 200, 300, 400),
- What departmental course, if any, the course corresponds to.
- We will be in touch once an advisor has reviewed and evaluated the course.
