Graduate Degrees

The primary goal of graduate study in comparative literature is to prepare students to engage in original literary research and teaching after acquiring: (1) a broadly based knowledge of literature's formal or generic development extending across linguistic boundaries; (2) an understanding of literature's historical development within a number of specific cultural or ideological contexts; and (3) an appreciation of the principles of literary criticism and theory essential to the sophisticated analysis, interpretation and evaluation of individual works. Traditionally, the discipline of comparative literature has insisted on advanced linguistic skills in several languages to insure that research is conducted in the original languages.

Graduate students follow personal programs which combine the study of a major literary tradition in one language with one or more comparative fields consisting of a second literary tradition; a specific genre, period, cultural context for literary study, tradition or school of literary theory; or an interdisciplinary area. The program has strong faculty resources in the major literary genres and periods of the Western tradition, in selected genres and cultural issues within the East Asian tradition, and in a variety of methodological approaches within contemporary literary criticism and theory. Literature and gender studies is a particularly strong area of interdisciplinary work.

Admission Requirements

Requirements for admission to graduate study in comparative literature include: a B.A. in literature or the equivalent; scores satisfactory to the program in both the verbal and quantitative General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations; grades satisfactory to the program from course work completed at other institutions; a written statement of at least 500 words indicating the applicant's interests in graduate study in comparative literature; at least one sample of scholarly or critical writing on a literary work or subject; three letters of recommendation from former instructors; and, for international applicants, a satisfactory score on the TOEFL examination. In addition, M.A. applicants should have the ability to do advanced course work (400-level or higher) in at least one language other than English, and Ph.D. applicants in two. All applicants must be fluent in English before being admitted to the program.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Master of Arts in Comparative Literature

Course Requirements

The master's degree may be earned under one of two options. Common to both options is the completion of at least eight courses (29-32 units) distributed as follows: (1) three courses in one major literary tradition, which is understood to be a national literature (e.g., Russian or Japanese); several literatures of one language (e.g., Francophone literatures of Europe, Africa and the Americas; peninsular and Latin American literatures in Spanish); or a bilingual tradition like classics (Greek and Latin); (2) at least two courses in a minor field, which is understood to be a second literary tradition, a major literary genre, period, or movement, literary theory, a comparative cultural context for literary study (e.g., East-West literary relations), or an interdisciplinary area (e.g., literature and gender studies); and (3) three additional courses in comparative literature, including COLT 501, 502 and one other COLT course related to the student's major literary tradition or minor field. No more than one of the required eight courses may be in directed research (590). COLT 501 and 502 must be completed by the end of each student's second semester in the program.

Students may transfer up to four units toward the M.A. and 30 units toward the Ph.D. There is no time limit on the validity of credits applied toward either degree.

Examination

Option 1 (for students who do not wish to advance to Ph.D. study): A written examination on the student's major literary tradition, normally to be taken at the end of the semester in which course work is completed and after language requirements have been met. For this examination the student will prepare, in consultation with the COLT graduate advisor, an individual reading list based on COLT program reading lists.

Option 2 (for students who wish to qualify for advancement to Ph.D. study): The same examination will serve as the Ph.D. Screening Procedure, to be taken at the end of the semester in which eight courses are completed (for students entering with a B.A.) or at the end of the second full semester (for students entering with an M.A.).

Foreign Language Requirement

Foreign language requirements for the master's degree may be met under one of two options, depending on whether the student wishes to qualify for advancement to Ph.D. study. All M.A. candidates, however, must possess superior language skills in English, which is normally the language of instruction, examination and scholarly writing in the COLT program.

Option 1 (for students who do not wish to qualify for advancement to Ph.D. study): The successful completion of at least two advanced courses (400-level or higher) in the original language of a literary tradition other than the Anglophone.

Option 2 (for students who wish to qualify for advancement to Ph.D. study): The successful completion of at least three advanced courses (400-level or higher) in the original languages of two literary traditions other than the Anglophone. Alternatively, students may combine the successful completion of two such courses in one literary tradition with an examination administered by the COLT program demonstrating a linguistic ability and literary knowledge equivalent to an advanced course in the other literary tradition.

Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995
univpub@stuaff.usc.edu