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Undergraduate Programs
in Comparative Literature and Comparative Arts
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What
is Comparative Literature?
Comparative Literature offers
a broad range of perspectives on the human cultural heritage.
Individual comparatists choose areas of study from an immense
field: they study literary works written in any of the ancient
or modern languages and from any historical period; comparatists
also explore the relationships between literature and the
other arts and the areas shared by literary study and other
disciplines. Specifically, comparatists contrast as well as
compare. We may look for similarities and differences between:
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literature
written in two or more languages
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the literatures
of several nations or cultures
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multicultural
relations within one nation, or within a geographical area
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literary works
written at widely separated historical periods (such as
ancient and modern lyric poems, plays by Shakespeare and
Sophocles, 19th-century novels
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recurring themes
(feminist issues, for example, or the role of the artist)
in literature from several parts of the world, or from various
historical periods
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literature
and other disciplines--philosophy, psychology, history,
science, anthropology
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literature
and the other arts--music, drama, dance, the visual arts,
film
Why Major
in Comparative Literature?
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Read the most
exciting writing from around the world
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Explore other
cultures through their writings and arts
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Study other
languages in order to expand your own experience
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Discover correlations
between literature, the arts, and other fields of knowledge
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Learn analytical
and critical skills useful in interpreting texts of all
sorts, from political speeches to religious classics as
well as literary work
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Understand
your own culture from new perspectives
As the study of
literature has become an ever more international project, the
perspectives of comparative study, particularly literary theory,
inform to an ever greater extent the critical analyses of literary
scholars in a variety of departments across the Washington University
campus, not only in the Humanities (the other literature departments)
but also among the Social Sciences as well. The insights you
gain from the critical reading of literary texts can also inform
your reading in areas such as Art History and Anthropology.
A Major
in Comparative Literature Offers Many Possibilities
Comparative Literature majors
find internships and jobs--in the United States and abroad--where
they do research, write and edit, or teach, while gaining
experience and learning about fields as diverse as the environment
and the record industry.
Majors in Comparative
Literature can enter degree programs in professional fields
including Journalism, Law, Librarianship, and Business. You
can study Education, to become certified to teach literature
or languages in a high school. Or you can pursue a graduate
degree in Comparative Literature or a national literation in
preparation for a career in teaching and research at a college
or university, in a language and literature, Comparative Literature,
or English department.
A.B.
in Comparative Literature or Comparative Arts at Washington
University
Requirements
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Courses in
Comparative Literature and in one or more national literatures
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Advanced study
in one or more languages besides English
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For students
majoring in Comparative Arts, courses in fine arts, dance,
drama, music, or creative writing
Flexibility
to Design Your Program
Because comparatists
must make choices about which languages and which national literatures
they will study, you will find that the requirements for both
majors encourage students to plan individualized programs of
study in consultation with their advisors.
Help
Making Your Choices
Course programs
are planned by you and your faculty advisor, who will help
you decide which literature courses to take, whether to start
a third language, and where you would like to go if you study
abroad. Your advisor will also help make arrangements for
study abroad, get you together with other students who have
studied abroad or are going to do so in order to share the
experience.
Language
Study
At Washington University
you can take courses for four years in these languages:
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Arabic
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Chinese
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French
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German
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Greek
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Italian
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Japanese
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Latin
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Modern Hebrew
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Persian
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Russian
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Spanish
You can also take
courses in Dutch, Korean, and Swahili.
Study
Abroad
All majors in Comparative
Literature and Comparative Arts are encouraged to study abroad
for periods of time ranging from a summer to a full calendar
year. Washington University offers Study Abroad programs in
these countries:
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Chile
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China
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Egypt
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England
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France
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Germany
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Greece
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Israel
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Italy
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Japan
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Kenya
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Netherlands
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Russia
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Spain
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Taiwan
By special arrangement
our students may study in other countries as well (a recent
graduate spent a summer in Iran, and study in Korea can be arranged).
Senior
Honors
If you choose to work toward Honors,
you will have the opportunity during your Senior year to do
research and write a long essay on a topic that interests
you. You will work under the guidance of a professor whose
field of specialization includes your topic. Recent topics
that majors have chosen include:
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Audiences of
Shakespeare's Globe
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Hamletmachine
by Heiner Müller
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Paradox and
Dualism in Don Quixote and the Satires of Lucian
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Thema (Omaggio
a Joyce): A Reading by Luciano Berio
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Carnival Aspects
in Ulysses and De donde son los cantantes
For Additional
Information, contact:
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