Requirements for the Major
All majors in Comparative Literature are expected to have completed ten courses, half of which must be devoted to the study of works in cultures other than English in their original languages. 

Five of these courses must be taken in the Department of Comparative Literature.  One of these must be a Core Course, to be taken in the junior or the senior year.  The designated core courses change each semester (for 2009-10, COM L 4220 [fall], COM L 4020 [spring]).  Students must earn a minimum grade of C for a course to be counted toward the major. If elected, an honor’s essay will also count as one of these required five courses.

An honor's essay (Comparative Literature 4930 [fall] and 4940 [spring]) of roughly fifty pages is optional. It is to be written during the senior year under the direction of a faculty member, preferably from within the department, who has agreed to work in close cooperation with the student. Students are urged to begin research on their thesis topic during the summer preceding their senior year.

Students who elect to do a double major with another literature department may count up to three courses from that major toward their requirements in Comparative Literature.

The department encourages students to study abroad in pursuit of their cultural and linguistic interests, and the number of courses that may be counted toward the major will be determined in consultation with the faculty advisor and with the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

The major enables students to pursue this commitment to a comparative study that includes a substantial non-English component by offering two tracks.

A.  Comparative Literary Studies. This track is designed for students who wish to place greater emphasis on literary study in their course work.  Students who select this track are required to complete:

1.  Five courses in Comparative Literature at the 2000 level and above.
2.  Five courses in literature or other areas of the humanities at the 2000 or higher level, to be taken in one or more foreign literature departments.  Texts must be read in the original language.  A student may offer one advanced-level foreign language course (conversation, composition, etc.) towards fulfilling this requirement.

B.  Literary, Visual, and Media Studies.   This track is designed for students who wish to pursue their comparative study of literature and theory by integrating rigorous work on film, video, or other arts and media.   Students who select this track are required to complete:

1. Four courses in literary study at the 2000 or higher level offered by the Department of Comparative Literature or other humanities departments or programs.
2.  Six courses in visual arts or media studies at the 2000 or higher level offered by the Department of Comparative Literature or other humanities departments or programs.

The following guidelines might be used to determine whether a course in Literary, Visual, and Media Studies may be counted toward the five courses in non-English cultural study required of all majors.  Where the media involve a large component of speech or writing (such as film, video or hypertext), the student would need to work with this material in the original foreign language.  Where text or speech in a foreign language is peripheral in a course that focuses on visual material (such as art or architecture) from non-English cultures, the student would need to draw on primary and secondary materials in a foreign language for oral reports, papers, and so forth.  Because of the flexibility and interdisciplinary range of this track, students who select it should work closely with their faculty advisor to organize a coherent plan of study and to determine, with the approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, which courses satisfy the foreign language requirement of the major.