UB Programs At-A-Glance

Comparative Literature

Department of Comparative Literature
College of Arts and Sciences
638 Clemens Hall
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260

Phone: 716.645.2066
Fax: 716.645.5979
Web: wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/AandL/col/

Shaun Irlam
Chair

About the Program

*Not a baccalaureate degree program

Comparative literature offers interdisciplinary and international study of literature, philosophy, and culture, from Plato to "Blade Runner." Rather than specializing in periods and nationalities, we ask fundamental questions about what makes culture work, how language operates, what is the relationship between politics and art, and what are the underlying motives for religion. This is why we teach enduring works of literature (e.g. by Cervantes, Flaubert, Dostoyevsky, Woolf, Borges, and Kafka). Our courses thus establish a meeting ground between philosophy, psychoanalysis, feminism, political theory, ethics, and religion. They regularly include major thinkers including Plato, Freud, Nietzsche, Foucault, and Derrida. Artists, whether of “high art” or the mass media, are central to our curriculum because they have posed indispensable questions about the nature of culture, literature, and community. Our literary and cultural offerings have traditionally been small and intensive, focusing on individualized education. Because Comparative Literature is such a small department, our undergraduate courses are seminar classes. This means that students sit around a conference table in and discuss the texts and ideas in detail. The Comparative Literature department offers a small college experience and intellectual community in a huge multiversity. Of recent years, an increasing number of UB undergraduates have opted either for the Minor in Comparative Literature or the Special Major offered under the auspices of the College of Arts and Sciences. Many students taking a comparative literature minor find that it provides an indispensable background to almost any major in the College of Arts and Sciences. Because of its rigorous training in analytical and interpretative skills, comparative literature also provides an invaluable preparation for graduate school and for careers in law, medicine, psychology, the media, history, sociology, anthropology, and arts management.

About Our Degrees

The minor in Comparative Literature consists of two mandatory courses in literary theory (see COL 301 and COL 302), as well as a choice of up to five additional courses at lower and upper levels. Specific requirements vary slightly according to affiliation with the College of Arts and Sciences as opposed to other divisions. Certain courses from romance languages, English, and media study can be credited toward this minor.

Acceptance Criteria - Minor

Minimum GPA of 2.0 overall.

Degree Requirements

See the Undergraduate Catalog.

About Our Courses

The mandatory courses for the minor in Comparative Literature, COL 301 History of Literary Theory and COL 302 Contemporary Literary Theory, make splendid elective courses in culture for students in all fields. They afford students a working knowledge of the current models of cultural interpretation (e.g., psychoanalysis, Marxism, feminism, Frankfurt School, post-Colonialism, structuralism, and post-structuralism). These courses dramatically enhance the power with which students are able to decode and enjoy, among other things, paintings, films, plays, poems, and performance art. These courses are acceptable for the critical methods component of the English major.

Other comparative literature undergraduate offerings are designed to be in synch with the broader issues, questions, and methods raised in COL 301 and COL 302. From semester to semester, the Department of Comparative Literature offers a wide range of courses in literature, film, popular culture, and gender and post-colonial studies. These courses are constantly being updated to maintain their relevance.

Recent elective comparative literature undergraduate offerings have included: “The Culture of Rebellion,” “The Quarrel between Philosophy and Literature,” “Literature and Desire,” “Literature into Cinema,” “The City in Literature,” “Women and Literature,” “Literature and War,” and “Signs and Representation.” These courses all satisfy the General Education Humanities requirement. They also form part of a splendid cultural background, whether taken as part of the comparative literature minor and special major or not.

For course descriptions, please see the Undergraduate Catalog.

About Our Faculty

The faculty of the Department of Comparative Literature have distinguished themselves over recent years through both the quality and the quantity of their book publications. The department's scholars have also achieved national and international esteem for the quality and magnitude of their research. A large number of the department's faculty members have been the recipients of distinguished grants, such as Guggenheim, Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and American Council of Learned Societies fellowships.

The entire faculty regularly participates in major national and international conferences and other significant intellectual events. Since the faculty's professional activities represent an especially lively part of the department, students have the opportunity to study with noted scholars who are strongly committed to research.



See a list of our undergraduate faculty.

Practical Experience and Special Academic Opportunities

The special major in comparative literature is an individualized program of study that students design in conjunction with comparative literature faculty advisors. Participation in this program requires independent studies courses with the comparative literature faculty.

The department offers a regular summer study abroad program in Africa, and, in its emphasis on foreign languages and multicultural study, encourages undergraduates to take advantage of any and all appropriate study abroad opportunities.

Extracurricular Activities

Over the duration of its history, the department has organized a stellar sequence of lectures by outside guests and a series of annual theme-centered academic conferences. Visitors to the Comparative Literature department have included such world-renowned scholars and intellectuals as the late Paul de Man, Jacques Derrida, J. Hillis Miller, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Jean-Luc Nancy, Julia Kristeva, Lucette Finas, Samuel Weber, and Dalia Judovitz. Undergraduates as well as graduate students are encouraged to participate in these events, which constitute a significant intellectual resource on campus.

The department also sustains a “Philosophy Goes to the Movies” film series and a Theory Reading Group.

See the UB Student Association.

Complementary Programs and Courses

As suggested above, comparative literature offerings naturally complement any of the majors in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. They enhance pre-legal study and interdisciplinary programs in the humanities and social sciences.

Career Information and Further Study

In the context of a rapidly and dramatically changing society, the skills that comparative literature teaches—interpretation, analysis, communication, the deciphering of cultural codes, written expression, and foreign language—give students in this competitive job market a decisive cutting edge. Current economic trends suggest a high value on intellectual and entrepreneurial independence, which the discipline of comparative literature stresses. While the workplace and even the nature of jobs themselves may change, these fundamental skills, abilities, and international perspectives that students gain are sure to retain their value.

Links to Further Information About This Program

Last Modified: Tuesday, 7-Nov-2006 10:26:06 EST