Comparative Literature Home

The Comparative Literature Program at UCSB affords maximal flexibility for students wishing to pursue a course of literary study that traverses national and disciplinary boundaries. In the Program’s lecture and seminar offerings, the study of literature intersects with fields such as philosophy, psychoanalysis, media-technology, religious studies, science, art history, and visual culture. The Program’s strengths in literary theory and translation studies further enable students to develop their skills as critical thinkers and analysts of literary and other discourses.

Faculty affiliated with the Comparative Literature Program come from the departments of Art, Black Studies, Classics, East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, English, Feminist Studies, Film and Media Studies, French and Italian, Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies, Religious Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, and Theater and Dance. They include Guggenheim Fellows, National Endowment for the Humanities Awardees, Ford Foundation Fellows, Humboldt Awardees, UC President’s Fellowship recipients, and UCSB Distinguished Teaching Award recipients.

Fostering a vital sense of community and engagement, the Comparative Literature Program provides undergraduates with the opportunity to work closely with faculty in their fields of study. It offers its graduate students extensive guidance and support in their teaching, research and community engagement as they develop into successful professionals. Ph.D.s from our graduate program have secured teaching positions or post-doctoral fellowships in humanities departments at Dartmouth, Harvard,  Loyola, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and at other outstanding colleges and universities.