Welcome to the Department of Comparative Literature!

Letter from the Chair

We are a thriving community of teachers and scholars working on a wide variety of topics and areas, ranging from literary analysis, media studies, critical theory, and ecocriticism to studies of race and empire in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. We are proud to be the intellectual home of students who have an abiding interest in languages and cultures, media and the arts, and interdisciplinary research.

Comparative literature is a discipline defined by its twin commitments to deep knowledge of specific cultural contexts and interdisciplinary methodologies that enable us to apprehend them in new ways. Our department offers a wide variety of courses on topics such as cultures of Latin America, Southeast Asian literature and film, fictions of Africa, psychoanalysis and the arts, and queer cinema, to name a few. Through coursework, immersive language study, bibliographic and archival research, and fieldwork, students of comparative literature create a unique path of study that prepares them for a wide variety of career paths, including law, journalism, entertainment, and education.

The Department of Comparative Literature also houses the PhD in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture, a cutting-edge interdisciplinary program with tracks in Comparative Media and Culture, Comparative Literature, French and Francophone Studies, and Spanish and Latin American Studies. In addition, the department administers the Graduate Certificate in Translation Studies, a rigorous certificate program in translation theory and practice. Our graduate students produce original scholarship on topics ranging from gender and sexuality and animal and plant studies to translational ethics and experimental cinema from the early modern period to the present day across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

It’s a great pleasure and a privilege to chair the Department of Comparative Literature, and I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, and students in this exciting and innovative intellectual hub. I would be happy to meet with new students, whether they are interested in pursuing a major, minor, or PhD in comparative literature, or simply taking courses in the department.

I invite you to explore our website and familiarize yourself with the many opportunities in the Department of Comparative Literature. And I look forward to crossing paths in a classroom or at one of our many events in the near future!

Sincerely,
Olivia C. Harrison
Chair, Department of Comparative Literature

Explore USC’s Comparative Literature Department

  • What is Comparative Literature?
  • What Does USC COLT do?

What is Comparative Literature?

The discipline of comparative literature was originally based in the study of literary works across linguistic, national, and historical boundaries with the goal of taking up a comparative perspective on different literary traditions. This makes it an excellent choice for students with proficiency in one or more languages who wish to expand and hone their knowledge of literature in culture context. Over time the field has broadened to encompass the study of literary theory and cultural criticism globally and to incorporate the comparison of literature with other arts and media, including film, visual art, digital and new media, and performance. Comparative literature is a great field for students with interdisciplinary interests and/or with a focus on innovative, experimental, and radical cultural critique. It is also an excellent choice for students who wish to supplement or enhance work in history, anthropology, media studies, and/or gender and race studies (among many other fields).

Students in comparative literature are trained to ask broader and better questions about the many forms of cultural production surrounding them. And they know they have to look at cultures comparatively because they’ve learned that no one language culture has all the answers. As a discipline, comparative literature seeks out and encourages multicultural and hybrid cultural experiences. As a result of their comparative study of literature and the other arts, as well as different cultures, graduates with this degree tend to see the world differently. It becomes a larger place than it was before, more varied, less uniform, with many histories rather than just one.

What Does USC COLT do?

We prioritize working with each student in our program to help craft a trajectory and experience that are most meaningful for them. Our courses are small, and our faculty are passionate about working closely with students to help them explore their own interests in comparative contexts. For students who want to pursue more advanced research, we encourage them to work with faculty in the Comparative Literature Honors Program on an extended research project of their choice and/or to take graduate seminars. We also invite our majors and minors to seek our research opportunities with our faculty.

Our graduates pursue vibrant careers in diverse fields, including law, education, journalism and communications, writing and editing, media and entertainment, the travel industry, translation, medicine, and post-graduate study in the humanities (among others). Our most recent alumni have gone on hold Fulbright Fellowships, to attend Stanford University (Law), Harvard University (Comparative Literature), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Cambridge University (Literature), and to work for DC Comics, Entertainment Weekly, Creative Artists Agency, and Teach for America. Our students get extensive training in writing effectively, thinking critically, reading thoughtfully, and deepening and enriching their understanding of cultures around the world.

Comparative Literature is the home for everything you’re passionate about and more. It’s a rabbit hole of ideas that lead to endless doors holding the deeper meanings behind all of our favorite stories, and where they can go.

Mandie Zamora’23

COLT Programs

Undergraduate Studies

Our undergraduate program is more broadly conceived than at many other universities. While we offer traditional comparative literature courses that cross the boundaries of national literatures and study literary periods, movements, and genres, our courses also allow students to explore literature in its interaction with philosophy, to discover the relation of literature to other arts and media, and to reflect on practices of translation as themselves modes of transcultural exchange and production.

Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture PhD Program

Inaugurated by USC Dornsife in 2011, the Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture Doctoral Program is a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary program that cultivates the common ground tying Comparative Literature, Comparative Media and Culture, French and Francophone Studies, and Spanish and Latin American Studies, while carrying out path-breaking research in each of these disciplines.

Translation Studies Graduate Certificate

Translation Studies is a discipline that considers the production and analysis of translation and interpretation. Housed in the Department of Comparative Literature, this certificate offers graduate students the opportunity to supplement their graduate degree with specialized training in the theory and practice of translation.

Department Chair

Olivia Harrison

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Gian-Maria Annovi

Director of Graduate Studies (CSLC)

Sherry Velasco