Comparative Literature

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2017-18 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

Overview

Literature is a cultural site where the present is negotiated, the past excavated, and the future envisioned. In a globalized world where the circulation of blogs, legal documents, political manifestos, manuscripts, online journals, and images constantly shapes and reshapes human experience, understanding texts is utterly essential. 

Comparative Literature provides students with tools for analyzing texts, writing, editing, translating, and thinking across disciplinary and national boundaries. Our graduates engage a variety of literary traditions and historical periods, from Latin American concrete poetry to the discourses of political and race theory to Yiddish experimental fiction. The department offers rigorous training in the following areas of strength of our internationally recognized faculty: French, German, Italian, Hebrew Studies, Classics, Critical Theory, East Asian Literatures and Arts, Performance Studies, Film and Media, Poetry and Poetics, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Postcolonial Theory, English and American Literatures, Early Modern and Renaissance Studies, and Slavic Literatures and Cultures.

All members of the department are deeply invested in the academic development of our students and value you as an integral part of the Comparative Literature community at UC Berkeley. The department aims to develop your creative and intellectual interests and talents. Students receive the opportunity to pursue rigorous research in a variety of fields according to your interests; engage in team-based projects; participate in discussions about political, aesthetic, and social issues; and develop a nuanced cross-cultural understanding of historical and social processes.  All of our students work closely with cutting-edge scholars in their fields in small seminars, with extensive individualized work. Our students form a well-integrated community, and have access to all of the resources of all other Berkeley campus departments and faculty: in fact, our program requires that students take seminars in other departments for interdisciplinary training. We have one of the most successful placement records for our graduates of any program in the country, and of any Berkeley graduate program.  Our doctoral graduates are prominent comparative literature and national literature faculty across the country and the world.

Our students benefit from training in comparative literature and go on to work in a variety of professions, including journalism, media, publishing, translation, theater, and politics, as well as taking many roles in the legal, corporate, social, medical, and arts sectors. Additionally, we prepare our students to enter top graduate programs in the U.S. and abroad.

"That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you are not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong." —F. Scott Fitzgerald

Undergraduate Program

Comparative Literature: BA

Graduate Program

Comparative Literature: PhD

Visit Department Website

Courses

Comparative Literature

COM LIT H1A English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2007, Fall 2005, Fall 2004
Expository writing based on analysis of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature. Limited to 10 qualified freshmen and/or sophomores who meet for round-table discussions and attend weekly tutorial sessions. Individual assignments provide each student with the opportunity to exploit his or her linguistic and literary training. H1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and H1B satisfies the second half.
English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT H1B English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2007, Spring 2006
Expository writing based on analysis of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature. Limited to 10 qualified freshmen and/or sophomores who meet for round-table discussions and attend weekly tutorial sessions. Individual assignments provide each student with the opportunity to exploit his or her linguistic and literary training. H1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and H1B satisfies the second half.
English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT N1A English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2011 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2005 10 Week Session, Summer 2004 10 Week Session
Expository writing based on analysis of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT N1B English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2011 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2010 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2009 Second 6 Week Session
Expository writing based on analysis of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT R1A English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Expository writing based on analysis of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half.
English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT R1B English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2018
Expository writing based on analysis of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half.
English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT R2A English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and French Literature 5 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2001, Fall 2000, Fall 1999
Expository writing done in connection with the reading of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature and the study of selected French texts read in the original. Course will prepare students for more advanced work in French. R2A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R2B satisfies the second half.
English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and French Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT R2B English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and French Literature 5 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2007, Spring 2006
Expository writing done in connection with the reading of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature and the study of selected French texts read in the original. Course will prepare students for more advanced work in French. R2A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R2B satisfies the second half.
English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and French Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT R3A English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and Hispanic Literature 5 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Expository writing done in connection with the reading of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature and the study of selected Spanish texts read in the original. Course will help prepare students for more advanced work in Spanish. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition Requirement.
English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and Hispanic Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT R3B English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and Hispanic Literature 5 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010
Expository writing done in connection with the reading of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature and the study of selected Spanish texts read in the original. Course will help prepare students for more advanced work in Spanish. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition Requirement.
English Composition in Connection with Reading of World and Hispanic Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 20 Episodes in Literary Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
An introductory level exploration of a specific author, work, theme or literary movement in an international context. Emphasis on the ways in which literature has played (and continues to play) a crucial role in the relationship between different cultures, traditions, and languages. Readings and topics to vary from semester to semester.
Episodes in Literary Cultures: Read More [+]

COM LIT 20A Introduction to Comparative Literature: Literature and Philosophy 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered
An introduction to problems of the comparative study of literature and philosophy. Emphasis on principles of comparative methods and literary and philosophical analysis with focus on selected literary, philosophical, critical, and theoretical texts from antiquity to the present. Readings in English.
Introduction to Comparative Literature: Literature and Philosophy: Read More [+]

COM LIT 20B Episodes in Literary Cultures: Literature and Society 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered
An introductory level exploration of the study of social and cultural issues in relation to literature. Examining some of the conceptual and thematic places where literature and social sciences topics (race, gender, social and class structure, law) cross over into each others' domains, we will ask what it means to read literary texts along with social sciences methodologies. The focus will be on reading of fiction and alongside methodological texts of the social sciences (linguistics, sociology, law, anthropology, social and cultural theories of gender and ethnicity). Readings and topics to vary from semester to semester.
Episodes in Literary Cultures: Literature and Society: Read More [+]

COM LIT 20C Episodes in Literary Cultures: Literature and History 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018
An introductory level exploration of the study of literature and history. Examining the literature and historical events of a chosen period (ancient, medieval, renaissance and early modern, modern, contemporary), we will engage in readings of literature, art, and critical texts in order better to understand the imaginative and real worlds of other times and places. Readings and topics to vary from semester to semester.
Episodes in Literary Cultures: Literature and History: Read More [+]

COM LIT 24 Freshman Seminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to fifteen freshmen.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

COM LIT 39H Freshman/Sophomore Seminar 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2011
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Enrollment limits are set by the faculty, but the suggested limit is 25.
Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

COM LIT N40 Women and Literature 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2002 10 Week Session, Summer 2001 10 Week Session, Summer 1999 10 Week Session
A study of women as portrayed in literature, and of women writers. Selected readings on a topic which varies from summer to summer, detailed consideration of both literary techniques and the problems of women.
Women and Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 41A Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Epic 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2010, Spring 2008, Fall 2006
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Epic: Read More [+]

COM LIT 41C Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Summer 2010 Second 6 Week Session
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Novel: Read More [+]

COM LIT 41D Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Drama 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2009, Spring 2007
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Drama: Read More [+]

COM LIT 41E Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Cinema 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Summer 2009 10 Week Session, Summer 2009 Second 6 Week Session
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Cinema: Read More [+]

COM LIT N41 Introduction to Literary Forms 0.0 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: Read More [+]

COM LIT N41A Introduction to Literary Forms: The Epic 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: The Epic: Read More [+]

COM LIT N41B Introduction to Literary Forms: The Lyric 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: The Lyric: Read More [+]

COM LIT N41C Introduction to Literary Forms: The Novel 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2003 10 Week Session, Summer 1998 10 Week Session
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: The Novel: Read More [+]

COM LIT N41D Introduction to Literary Forms: The Drama 3 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Comparative study of masterpieces of world literature.
Introduction to Literary Forms: The Drama: Read More [+]

COM LIT 50 Creative Writing in Comparative Literature 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2008
A creative writing workshop for students who wish to study the theory and practice of writing as they work in a variety of forms and media.
Creative Writing in Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 60AC Topics in the Literature of American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Study of the ethnic diversity of American literature. Topics will vary from semester to semester, but may include such themes as Cultures of the City, Gender, Race, Ethnicity in U.S. Literature, Race and Identity. Students should consult the department's course bulletin well before the beginning of the semester for details.
Topics in the Literature of American Cultures: Read More [+]

COM LIT N60AC Topics in the Literature of American Cultures 3 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2017 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session
Study of the ethnic diversity of American literature. Topics will vary from summer to summer but may include such themes as gender, race, ethnicity, marriage, sexuality, identity, and the supernatural. Students should check the department's bulletin boards for summer course listings and further details.
Topics in the Literature of American Cultures: Read More [+]

COM LIT W60AC Topics in the Literature of American Cultures 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 8 Week Session
Study of the ethnic diversity of American literature. Topics will vary from semester to semester, but may include such themes as Cultures of the City, Gender, Race, Ethnicity in U.S. Literature, Race and Identity. Students should consult the department's course bulletin well before the beginning of the semester for details.


Topics in the Literature of American Cultures: Read More [+]

COM LIT 98 Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2014
Group study in a field that may not coincide with that of any regular course and must be specific enough to enable students to write essays based upon their studies.
Directed Group Study for Freshmen and Sophomores: Read More [+]

COM LIT 100 Introduction to Comparative Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
An introduction to problems of the comparative study of literature and culture. Emphasis on principles of comparative methods and analysis with focus on selected literary, critical, and theoretical texts from antiquity to the present. Readings in English.
Introduction to Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 100A Introduction to Comparative Literature: Literature and Philosophy 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered
An introduction to problems of the comparative study of literatures of the world in international and cross-cultural perspective along with philosophical texts and approaches. Emphasis on principles of comparative methods and analysis with focus on issues of philosophy and ethics along with selected literary, critical, and theoretical texts. Readings in English.
Introduction to Comparative Literature: Literature and Philosophy: Read More [+]

COM LIT 100B Introduction to Comparative Literature: Society and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered
An introduction to problems of the comparative study of literatures of the world in international and cross-cultural perspective. Emphasis on principles of comparative methods and analysis with focus on contemporary social and cultural issues in at least one foreign culture along with selected literary, critical, and theoretical texts. Readings in English.
Introduction to Comparative Literature: Society and Culture: Read More [+]

COM LIT 100C Introduction to Comparative Literature: Literary and Cultural History 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered
An introduction to problems of the comparative study of literature and historical study. Emphasis on principles of comparative methods and analysis with focus on selected literary, critical, and theoretical texts from antiquity to the present. Readings in English.
Introduction to Comparative Literature: Literary and Cultural History: Read More [+]

COM LIT 100D Introduction to Comparative Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Not yet offered
An introduction to problems of the comparative study of literatures of the world in international and cross-cultural perspective . Emphasis on principles of comparative methods and analysis with focus on contemporary social and cultural issues in at least one foreign culture along with selected literary, critical, and theoretical texts.
Readings in English.

Introduction to Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 112A Modern Greek Language 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This is a course of beginning Modern Greek involving speaking, reading and writing. Modern Greek pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and syntax is studied. In this course there is also an emphasis in practice of oral language skills.
Modern Greek Language: Read More [+]

COM LIT 112B Modern Greek Composition 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Modern Greek pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and syntax studied. The forms of writing (prose, poetry, drama) are studied through literary texts as auxiliary to the acquisition of compositional skills.
Modern Greek Composition: Read More [+]

COM LIT 120 The Biblical Tradition in Western Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Spring 2011, Fall 2008
Examination of selected aspects of the Biblical tradition and their relevance to the study of later literature.
The Biblical Tradition in Western Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 151 The Ancient Mediterranean World 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2013, Spring 2012
The literature of Greece, Rome, the Biblical lands, and other ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean basin.
The Ancient Mediterranean World: Read More [+]

COM LIT 152 The Middle Ages 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
The literature of the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages: Read More [+]

COM LIT 153 The Renaissance 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2015, Spring 2013
European literature of the Renaissance.
The Renaissance: Read More [+]

COM LIT 154 Eighteenth- and 19th-Century Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2007
Literature of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Eighteenth- and 19th-Century Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 155 The Modern Period 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Literature of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Modern Period: Read More [+]

COM LIT 156 Fiction and Culture of the Americas 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2012, Fall 2011
Comparative study of American, Native-American, Spanish-American, Caribbean, and Brazilian literature and culture. Readings chosen to illustrate diverse attitudes of Americans toward their culture, politics, and environment.
Fiction and Culture of the Americas: Read More [+]

COM LIT 165 Myth and Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Fall 2012
Study of the earliest myth texts and of the progressive growth of literature out of myth to the present day. Myth and oral composition. Emphasis on the meanings of myth as reflected in varying idioms.
Myth and Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 170 Special Topics in Comparative Literature 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2014
An independent studies course designed to fulfill a need intrinsic to the undergraduate major's program which cannot otherwise be satisfied because it involves either a literature not covered in regularly scheduled course offerings or a special methodological framework or bias of selection.
Special Topics in Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 171 Topics in Modern Greek Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
This course frames methodologically selected topics in Modern Greek Literature and places them in their historical, social or cultural context.
Topics in Modern Greek Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 190 Senior Seminar in Comparative Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Seminar-style treatment of a major topic in Comparative Literature. Substantial paper required.
Senior Seminar in Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT H195 Honors Course 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Preparation and writing of an honors thesis under the supervision of a member of the faculty.
Honors Course: Read More [+]

COM LIT 198 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Group study in a field that may not coincide with that of any regular course and must be specific enough to enable students to write essays based upon their studies.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

COM LIT 199 Supervised Independent Study and Research 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Enrollment restrictions apply.
Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

COM LIT 200 Approaches to Comparative Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2016
Lectures on literary theory, on the study of criticism, and on the methods of comparative literary theory.
Approaches to Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 201 Proseminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This course is designed to give all new graduate students a broad view of the department's faculty, the courses they teach, and their fields of research. In addition, it will introduce students to some practical aspects of the graduate career, issues that pertain to specific fields of research, and questions currently being debated across the profession. The readings for the course will consist of copies of materials by the department's faculty.
Proseminar: Read More [+]

COM LIT 202B Approaches to Genre: Lyric Poetry 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2016
Application of the methods of Comparative Literature to the study of genres.
Approaches to Genre: Lyric Poetry: Read More [+]

COM LIT 202C Approaches to Genre: The Novel 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2013
Application of the methods of Comparative Literature to the study of genres.
Approaches to Genre: The Novel: Read More [+]

COM LIT 210 Studies in Ancient Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Comparative investigation of a topic in ancient literature between the eighth century B.C.E. and the fourth century C.E. with some attention to subsequent developments.
Studies in Ancient Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 212 Studies in Medieval Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Comparative investigation of a topic in literature and culture between the fifth and the fourteenth centuries.
Studies in Medieval Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 215 Studies in Renaissance Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Comparative investigation of a topic in Western literature in the Renaissance period.
Studies in Renaissance Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT C221 Aesthetics as Critique 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2013, Spring 2011
A close reading and discussion of the major texts of modern aesthetics, from the 18th century to the present, with emphasis on the Continental tradition of Kant, Adorno, and Derrida.
Aesthetics as Critique: Read More [+]

COM LIT 223 Studies in the 19th Century 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2013, Spring 2010
Comparative investigation of major themes in nineteenth-century literature and culture.
Studies in the 19th Century: Read More [+]

COM LIT 225 Studies in Symbolist and Modern Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Comparative investigation of a topic in literature and culture of the modern period.
Studies in Symbolist and Modern Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 227 Studies in Contemporary Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2014
Comparative investigation of a topic in contemporary literature and culture.
Studies in Contemporary Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 232 Studies in Near Eastern-Western Literary Relations 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Spring 2008, Fall 2006
Comparative investigation of a literary topic requiring the study of both Near Eastern and Western documents.
Studies in Near Eastern-Western Literary Relations: Read More [+]

COM LIT 240 Studies in the Relations Between Literature and the Other Arts 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2016
Comparative study of the historical and systematic relations between literature and other arts such as the visual arts, music, and film.
Studies in the Relations Between Literature and the Other Arts: Read More [+]

COM LIT 250 Studies in Literary Theory 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Comparative investigation of a topic in the theory of literature.
Studies in Literary Theory: Read More [+]

COM LIT 254 Studies in East-West Literary Relations 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2015
Comparative investigation of a literary topic requiring the study of both East Asian and Western documents.
Studies in East-West Literary Relations: Read More [+]

COM LIT 256 The Craft of Critical Writing 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2006
The course will proceed chiefly through exercises in writing reviews and critical essays, with class discussion of the work that will be done by members of the seminar. Some analytic attention will also be devoted to existing models of critical prose. The class will deal with the minute details that make for lucidity and felicity of style and will also consider larger issues of organization, critical focus, and audience.
The Craft of Critical Writing: Read More [+]

COM LIT 258 Studies in Philosophy and Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Fall 2011, Spring 2011
Comparative investigation of a topic in the relationship between philosophy and literature.
Studies in Philosophy and Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 260 Problems in Literary Translation 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2015
Theory and practice of translation. Students will complete a project in literary translation.
Problems in Literary Translation: Read More [+]

COM LIT 265 Gender, Sexuality, and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Fall 2010, Spring 2010
Comparative investigation of a topic related to the study of gender and/or sexuality in literature and culture.
Gender, Sexuality, and Culture: Read More [+]

COM LIT 266 Nationalism, Colonialism, and Culture 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2012
Comparative investigation of a topic in ideology, politics, and identity and its relation to the formation of national, colonial, and/or post-colonial literatures and cultures.
Nationalism, Colonialism, and Culture: Read More [+]

COM LIT 270C Continuing Seminars: Renaissance 2 Units

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Discussion on problems of the literature of the period.
Continuing Seminars: Renaissance: Read More [+]

COM LIT 298 Special Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Primarily for students engaged in preliminary exploration of a restricted field, involving the writing of a report. May not be substituted for available seminars.
Special Study: Read More [+]

COM LIT N298 Special Study 2 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Summer 2018 8 Week Session, Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Summer 2016 8 Week Session
Primarily for students engaged in preliminary exploration of a restricted field, involving the writing of a report. May not be substituted for available seminars.
Special Study: Read More [+]

COM LIT 299 Directed Research 1 - 12 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2018 Second 6 Week Session
Writing of the doctoral dissertation.
Directed Research: Read More [+]

COM LIT 300 Supervised Teaching in Comparative Literature 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Course credit for experience gained in academic teaching through employment as a graduate student instructor.
Supervised Teaching in Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 375 Methods of Teaching Literature and English Composition-Comparative Literature 2 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Discussion of the theory and practice of teaching composition at the college level in a department of comparative literature. Prerequisites: Appointment as a graduate student instructor or consent of instructor.
Methods of Teaching Literature and English Composition-Comparative Literature: Read More [+]

COM LIT 601 Individual Study for Master's Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Individual study for the comprehensive or language requirements in consultation with the Graduate Adviser. Units may not be used to meet either unit or residence requirements for the master's degree.
Individual Study for Master's Students: Read More [+]

COM LIT 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students 1 - 8 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Individual study in consultation with the Graduate Adviser intended to provide opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D. May not be used for unit or residence requirements for the doctoral degree.
Individual Study for Doctoral Students: Read More [+]

Faculty and Instructors

+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Faculty

Frank Bezner, Associate Professor. Medieval Latin literature; Medieval literary culture; Neo-Latin; Intellectual history.
Research Profile

+ Karl A. Britto, Associate Professor. Africa, cultural studies, the Caribbean, literature, francophone literature, colonial and postcolonial literature, Vietnam, gender and identity.
Research Profile

Judith Butler, Professor. Critical theory, gender and sexuality studies, comparative literature, 19th and 20th century continental philosophy, social and political thought, philosophy and literature.
Research Profile

Anthony J. Cascardi, Professor. English, comparative literature, literature, Spanish, Portuguese, philosophy, aesthetics, early modern literature, French, Spanish Baroque.
Research Profile

Anne-Lise Francois, Associate Professor. Popular culture, English, comparative literature, the modern period, comparative romanticisms; lyric poetry; the psychological novel, novel of manners; gender, critical theory; literature, philosophy; fashion.
Research Profile

+ Timothy Hampton, Professor. Culture, politics, English, comparative literature, French, renaissance and early modern European culture, the romance languages, the ideology of literary genre, the literary construction of nationhood, the rhetoric of historiography.
Research Profile

Victoria Kahn, Professor. Rhetoric, comparative literature, Renaissance literature, poetics, early modern political theory, the Frankfurt School.
Research Profile

Robert G. Kaufman, Associate Professor. Modern/contemporary poetry and poetics; aesthetics, literary theory, & history of criticism; Frankfurt School Critical Theory and the arts.
Research Profile

Chana Kronfeld, Professor. Comparative literature, modernism, Hebrew, Yiddish, modern poetry, minor literatures, politics of literary history, feminist stylistics, intertextuality, translation studies.
Research Profile

+ Leslie V. Kurke, Professor. Classics, Greek literature and culture, archaic Greek poetry, Herodotus.
Research Profile

Niklaus Largier, Professor. Religion, literature, German, history of medieval and early modern German literature, theology, mysticism, secularism, senses, sensuality, history of emotions, passions, asceticism, flagellation, sexuality.
Research Profile

Michael Lucey, Professor. Pragmatics, the novel, sexuality studies, comparative literature, French, French literature, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, British literature and culture, social and literary theory, cultural studies of music, studies of language in use, theories of practice, twentieth-century American literature.
Research Profile

Eric Naiman, Professor. Sexuality, history, comparative literature, Slavic language, ideological poetics, history of medicine, Soviet culture, the gothic novel.
Research Profile

Ellen Oliensis, Professor. Latin Literature, Ovid.
Research Profile

Harsha Ram, Associate Professor. Russian and European romanticism and modernism, Russian and European avant-gardes, Russian, European, Near Eastern and South Asian poetic traditions, Indian literature, Italian literature, Georgian history and literature, theories of world literature, literary theory, comparative poetics, genre theory, literary history, comparative modernisms and modernities, vernacular and high culture, cultural and political history of Russia-Eurasia and the Caucasus, postcolonial studies, theories of nationalism, imperialism and cosmopolitanism, the city and literature.
Research Profile

Miryam Sas, Professor. Comparative literature, 20th century avant-gardes, Japanese literature, film, theater and dance, contemporary art, critical theory, gender theory.
Research Profile

Barbara Spackman, Professor. Feminist theory, psychoanalysis, culture, fascism, gender studies, comparative literature, Italian studies, narrative, European decadence, travel writing.
Research Profile

Sophie Volpp, Associate Professor. East asian languages and cultures, history of performance, gender theory, the history of sexuality, material culture, material objects in late-imperial literature.
Research Profile

Dora Zhang, Assistant Professor. Critical theory, linguistics, narrative & the novel, 20th and 21st century Britain.
Research Profile

Lecturers

Maria Kotzamanidou, Lecturer.

Annalee Rejhon, Lecturer.

Emeritus Faculty

Robert B. Alter, Professor Emeritus. Comparative literature, Near Eastern studies, 19th-century European and American novel, modernism, literary aspects of the bible, modern and biblical Hebrew literature.
Research Profile

+ Bertrand Augst, Professor Emeritus. Literary criticism, semiology.
Research Profile

Phillip W. Damon, Professor Emeritus.

Eric O. Johannesson, Professor Emeritus.

+ Francine R. Masiello, Professor Emeritus. Gender theory, culture, globalization, comparative literature, Spanish, Latin American literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, comparative North and South literatures.
Research Profile

James T. Monroe, Professor Emeritus.

Contact Information

Department of Comparative Literature

4125 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-2712

Visit Department Website

Department Chair

Sophie Volpp

4125 Dwinelle Hall

volpp@berkeley.edu

Undergraduate Adviser

Anatole (Tony) Soyka

4118 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-1202

complituga@berkeley.edu

Head Graduate Adviser

Frank Bezner, PhD

4335 Dwinelle Hall

fbezner@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Services Adviser

Sandra Richmond

4120 Dwinelle Hall

Phone: 510-642-2629

complitga@berkeley.edu

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