435 Humanities Instructional Building; (949) 824-6712
Margot Norris, Department Chair
Faculty
Elizabeth Allen, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Assistant Professor of English (medieval literature, narrative and poetic form, literary history, theories of reception and hermeneutics)
Etienne Balibar, Docteur en philosophie, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, Professor of French, and of English and Comparative Literature (critical theory, political philosophy)
Stephen A. Barney, Ph.D. Harvard University, Professor Emeritus of English (medieval literature and culture, allegory)
Lindon W. Barrett, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Associate Professor of English (critical theory, African-American cultural studies)
Homer Obed Brown, Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University, Professor of English (eighteenth-century, novel, theory, Romanticism)
James L. Calderwood, Ph.D. University of Washington, Professor Emeritus of English (drama, Shakespeare)
Michael P. Clark, Ph.D. University of California, Irvine, Associate Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Planning and Professor of English (Colonial American literature, critical theory)
Jacques Derrida, Doctorat d'Etat es Lettres, Sorbonne, Professor of French, Philosophy, and Comparative Literature (philosophy, critical theory)
Robert Folkenflik, Ph.D. Cornell University, Professor of English (eighteenth-century, novel, biography, and autobiography)
Natalka Freeland, Ph.D. Yale University, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Victorian literature, the novel, cultural studies and criticism)
Laura García-Moreno, Ph.D. Cornell University, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature (twentieth-century Latin American literature, literary theory, gender and cultural studies)
Alexander Gelley, Ph.D. Yale University, Professor of Comparative Literature (eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European novel, critical theory, comparative literature)
Linda Georgianna, Ph.D. Columbia University, Professor of English (medieval literature and culture)
Oakley Hall, M.F.A. University of Iowa, Professor Emeritus of English (fiction writing, contemporary fiction)
John Hollowell, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Director of Composition and Senior Lecturer in English (rhetorical theory, teaching of composition, American literature)
Renée Riese Hubert, Ph.D. Columbia University, Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature and French (literature and fine arts, modern poetry, surrealism, Romanticism, comparative literature)
Wolfgang Iser, Ph.D. University of Heidelberg, Professor of English (eighteenth-century English literature, modern novel, critical theory)
Laura H. Y. Kang, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, Assistant Professor of Women's Studies and Comparative Literature (feminist epistemologies and theories, cultural studies, ethnic studies)
Ketu H. Katrak, Ph.D. Bryn Mawr College, Director and Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Asian American literature, post-colonial literature)
Richard W. F. Kroll, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Associate Professor of English (rhetoric, Restoration and eighteenth-century British literature, literary theory)
Dragan Kujundzic, Ph.D. University of Southern California, Director of Russian Studies and Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Russian and Slavic literatures, Russian film, critical theory, modernism)
Michelle Latiolais, M.F.A. University of California, Irvine, Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing (creative writing, fiction)
Karen R. Lawrence, Ph.D. Columbia University, Dean of the School of Humanities and Professor of English (twentieth-century literature, travel writing, women's writing, the novel)
Julia Reinhard Lupton, Ph.D. Yale University, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature (Renaissance literature, literature and psychology)
Juliet Flower MacCannell, Ph.D. Cornell University, Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature (eighteenth-century French literature, modern semiotics, comparative literature)
Steven Mailloux, Ph.D. University of Southern California, UCI Chancellor's Professor of Rhetoric (rhetoric, critical theory, American literature, law and literature)
James McMichael, Ph.D. Stanford University, Director of Poetry, Programs in Writing, and Professor of English (contemporary poetry, poetry writing, prosody, Joyce)
J. Hillis Miller, Ph.D. Harvard University, UCI Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Victorian literature, critical theory)
Robert L. Montgomery, Ph.D. Harvard University, Professor Emeritus of English (Renaissance literature, critical theory, comparative literature)
Jane O. Newman, Ph.D. Princeton University, Director of the Comparative Literature Program and Professor of Comparative Literature (sixteenth- and seventeenth-century German literature, contemporary theory and criticism, feminism)
Robert Newsom, Ph.D. Columbia University, Associate Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education and Professor of English (Victorian literature, theory of fictions)
Margot Norris, Ph.D. State University of New York, Buffalo, Department Chair and Professor of English and Comparative Literature (modern British literature)
Laura O'Connor, Ph.D. Columbia University, Assistant Professor of English (British and American modernism, Irish literary studies, postcolonial theory)
Robert L. Peters, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Professor Emeritus of English (Victorian literature, contemporary poetry)
Barbara L. Reed, Ph.D. Indiana University, Senior Lecturer in English (American literature, children's literature)
Hugh Roberts, Ph.D. McGill University, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Romantic literature, eighteenth-century literature, Victorian poetry, literary theory, New Zealand literature)
John Carlos Rowe, Ph.D. State University of New York, Buffalo, Professor of English (American literature, modern literature, critical theory, comparative literature)
Michael Ryan, Ph.D. University of Iowa, Professor of English and Creative Writing (American literature, creative writing, poetry, poetics)
Edgar T. Schell, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor Emeritus of English (medieval and Renaissance literature)
Annette Schlichter, Ph.D. Humboldt University of Berlin, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature (feminist theory and criticism, queer theory, contemporary American literature, gender and literature)
Gabriele Schwab, Ph.D. University of Konstanz, Director of the Critical Theory Institute and UCI Chancellor's Professor of English and Comparative Literature (modern literature, critical theory, psychoanalysis, comparative literature)
Martin Schwab, Ph.D. University of Bielefeld, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature (philosophy, aesthetics, comparative literature)
Victoria Silver, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Associate Professor of English (Renaissance literature, Milton)
Myron Simon, Ed.D. University of Michigan, Professor Emeritus of English (American and Canadian literature, early twentieth-century English poetry, ethnic literature, rhetoric)
James Steintrager, Ph.D. Columbia University, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature (eighteenth-century French, German, and English literature and aesthetics)
Michael Szalay, Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature (twentieth-century American literature, film and media studies, corporate culture)
Brook Thomas, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor of English (American literature, literature and law)
Harold Toliver, Ph.D. University of Washington, Professor Emeritus of English (Renaissance and seventeenth-century literature, theory of genre)
Ann J. Van Sant, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Associate Professor of English (seventeenth- and eighteenth-century literature, eighteenth-century literature, eighteenth-century novel, women and fiction, satire)
Andrzej Warminski, Ph.D. Yale University, Professor of Comparative Literature (Romanticism, critical theory)
Robyn Wiegman, Ph.D. University of Washington, Associate Professor of Women's Studies and English (American literature, women's studies, queer theory)
Albert O. Wlecke, Ph.D. Michigan State University, Professor Emeritus of English (English and American Romanticism, teaching of composition)
Geoffrey Wolff, Novelist and Biographer, Director of Fiction, Programs in Writing, and Professor of English and Creative Writing (creative writing, fiction, biography)
The Department of English and Comparative Literature is concerned with the nature and value of literature, possible approaches to literary works, and the relation of literary criticism to the intellectual issues of the day. Fundamentally it is concerned with the humanistic problem of value. Thus its main literary concern is critical and theoretical. Though not alone in the task, the Department recognizes a continuing obligation to help all students write the English language with clarity and grace.
Students are given the opportunity to participate in departmental affairs through elected representatives to departmental committees. Each quarter both undergraduate and graduate students taking classes within the Department have the opportunity to evaluate their courses and teachers.
The study of literature helps students to express their ideas clearly, do independent research, and think analytically and imaginatively. These capabilities will help qualify majors for careers in education, law, technical writing, communications, journalism, public relations, business, and management. An undergraduate major in either English or Comparative Literature is an especially good preparation for graduate study.
Departmental advisors encourage their students to investigate various careers--especially those outside the traditional fields for such majors (e.g., graduate study and law)--before these students have completed their undergraduate educations.
For those students interested in going on for a credential in secondary school teaching, UCI has a CCTC-approved single-subject-matter preparation program in English.
The UCI Career Center provides services to students and alumni including career counseling, information about job opportunities, a career library, and workshops on resume preparation, job search, and interview techniques. See the Career Center section for additional information.
The Department offers to the undergraduate three areas of study:
The Program in Literary Criticism, which emphasizes a variety of critical approaches in the reading and criticism of English, American, and comparative literature.
The Programs in Writing, which offer an emphasis in the writing of poetry or fiction. Undergraduate courses in nonfiction are also available. The aim of these programs is to encourage the creative powers of students while introducing them to the discipline of reading and practical criticism, often in workshop situations. Under certain circumstances, creative writing courses may satisfy part of the writing requirement portion of the UCI breadth requirement (Category I).
The Program in Comparative Literature, which, though administratively a part of the Department, is basically interdisciplinary in its orientation, drawing on faculty and other resources from the fields of the various modern and classical literatures and drama. The consciousness of the modern educated person is the product of centuries of cultural heritage, including not only works of literature in one's own language but world literature from Homer to Gide and Thomas Mann. At UCI, Comparative Literature is regarded as the study of literature from the international point of view rather than in a national framework. A student who completes a degree in Comparative Literature will be expected to have a grasp of the history of literature in its broad outlines and to be able to deal competently with literary texts, whatever their period or national origins. Comparative Literature is well-suited for students interested in a double major.
Since the Department believes that a student of literature should recognize the importance of understanding theoretical problems in literature, of developing a broad acquaintance with literary texts, and of experiencing the problems of literary creation at first hand, the Department invites students to take work in all three of its programs, with an emphasis in one of the first two (toward a Bachelor's degree in English) or a major in the third (toward a Bachelor's degree in Comparative Literature).
Many of the courses will vary in specific content from year to year, depending on the plans of individual teachers, since the Department recognizes that no course can treat all the major authors and works relevant to a given period or topic.
University Requirements: See pages 54-59.
School Requirements: See page 209.
Departmental Requirements for the English Major
Three courses selected from E 28A (or E 28D), E 28B, E 28C (or E 28E), CL 50A, CL 50B, CL 50C, including either E 28A, E 28D, or CL 50A (in some cases, students who change their majors to English after taking E 6, E 7, E 8 may petition to substitute one of those courses for a course from the E 28 series); CR 100A; CR 100B and CL 100; E 102A, E 102B, E 102C, E 102D; at least three more Departmental courses numbered 102 or above (excluding E 140, E 150, WR 139, or WR 179); and either E 105 or CL 105.
Competence in a foreign language, either classical or modern, equivalent to six quarters of work at UCI (in classical languages, 1A-B-C, 25, 101, 102) plus (in modern languages) one course in a foreign literature in which texts are read in the original language. (Some languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Russian, may ordinarily require three years of language study as preparation for the study of literature; students who wish to use such languages should consult with the Department about satisfaction of this requirement before doing so.)
Students selecting a writing emphasis have some flexibility in substituting writing workshops for period and genre courses; their total courses normally number more than the usual major.
Residence Requirement for the English Major: CR 100A, CR 100B, and three E 102s must be completed successfully at UCI.
Departmental Requirements for the English Minor
Three courses selected from E 28A (or E 28D), E 28B, E 28C (or E 28E), CL 50A, CL 50B, CL 50C, E 6, E 7, E 8, CL 8, including at least one quarter of E 28; and at least five English or writing courses numbered 102 or higher (excluding WR 139), although two courses from the following may be substituted: CR 100A, CR 100B, WR 100B, CL 100, CL 103, CL 104.
Residence Requirement for the English Minor: Four upper-division courses must be completed successfully at UCI. By petition, two of the four may be taken through the UC Education Abroad Program, providing course content is approved in advance by the appropriate department chair.
Departmental Requirements for the Comparative Literature Major
Sufficient competence in a foreign language, either modern or classical, to be able to read any standard literary or critical text in that language. If the student intends to continue with graduate work, the study of a second foreign language is highly recommended before graduation.
Three quarters of lower-division work: Comparative Literature majors are normally required to take CL 50A, B, C. Transfer students may be required to take one or more courses in the sequence depending on the courses they have taken previously.
Normally 10 upper-division courses in addition: usually these will include CR 100A, CL 100 twice, two courses (one 101 and one above 101) in a selected foreign language, or two 101s in two different foreign languages, or two years of a classical language; two courses from CL 103 or CL 104; three additional upper-division courses chosen from the offerings in comparative literature, English, literary criticism, and creative writing. Courses in allied areas, e.g., history, philosophy, social science, may be counted toward the major if they deal with literary or philosophical texts, though prior approval of a faculty advisor is necessary.
Residence Requirement for the Comparative Literature Major: CR 100A and four upper-division English or Comparative Literature courses must be completed successfully at UCI.
Departmental Requirements for the Comparative Literature Minor
CL 50A, B, C, CR 100A, CL 100, CL 103 or 104 (three courses), and one upper-division literature course taught in a foreign language.
Residence Requirements for the Comparative Literature Minor: Four upper-division courses must be completed successfully at UCI. By petition, two of the four may be taken through the UC Education Abroad Program, providing course content is approved in advance by the appropriate department chair.
Students should plan coherent programs of study with their faculty advisors, including undergraduate seminars, workshops in writing (for students choosing a writing emphasis), and courses in allied areas outside the Department. It is possible to combine a cluster of courses in literature with other majors in the sciences and social sciences, and to use an English or Comparative Literature major as preprofessional training in government, law, or medicine. Students who wish advice in planning such programs should consult both the Department and people in their prospective professional areas.
A student who intends to continue with graduate work is urged to study a second foreign language before graduation.
Students are also encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad through the Education Abroad Program. See the Center for International Education section of the Catalogue or your academic counselor for additional information.
Subject-Matter Program in English. English and Comparative Literature majors wishing to obtain a single-subject credential in English may complete a California Commission on Teaching Credentialing (CCTC)-approved subject-matter program in English. The program can be easily satisfied in tandem with major requirements, especially with early and careful planning. Program requirements include specific courses in English and Comparative Literature, course work in linguistics and education, in-class K-12 experience, and a portfolio. Interested students should contact the Department of English and Comparative Literature for further information. Students who intend to pursue a single-subject or multiple-subject teaching credential should consult the UCI Department of Education as early as possible to ensure that they understand the departmental and State requirements.
The Department's three principal areas of work on the undergraduate level--English and American Literature, Comparative Literature, and the English major with writing emphasis--are reflected in the graduate programs: the M.A. and Ph.D. in English, the M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, and the M.F.A. in English (Creative Writing). A student's courses for the M.A. and Ph.D. in English may include or emphasize work in American literature as well. The faculty is particularly equipped to guide students with special interests in criticism and theory, an area which candidates for the Ph.D. in English or in Comparative Literature may stress in their qualifying examinations and dissertations. Ordinarily students are not admitted to the English or Comparative Literature programs unless they plan to continue, and are qualified to continue, to the degree of Ph.D. Students are admitted to the M.F.A. program chiefly on the basis of submitted creative work. A committee of the Department, with the consent of the Dean of Graduate Studies, admits students to these programs. Each program has a director appointed by the Department Chair, but there are close administrative and intellectual ties among the programs.
Specific requirements for the graduate degrees will be established by consultation between members of the faculty and the candidate. The first-year graduate student or the candidate for the Master of Fine Arts in English (Creative Writing) plans a program with an assigned advisor; candidates for the Ph.D. plan with an advisor and three-person committee. At the time of the M.A. examination, the Graduate Committee evaluates the student's graduate career up to that point and offers advice about future prospects. Candidates for literary degrees are encouraged to study philosophy, history, foreign languages and literatures, and the fine arts.
Applicants for graduate degrees in English must submit scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) including the Subject Test in Literature in English; applicants to the Comparative Literature program need not submit the Subject Test in Literature in English.
Only in exceptional circumstances will students be permitted to undertake programs of less than six full courses during the academic year. The normal expectation is enrollment in three courses each quarter; Teaching Assistants take two courses in addition to earning credit for University teaching. Students who are not teaching should be able to complete course work in two years. The Ph.D. qualifying examination should be taken within a couple of quarters after courses are finished. Dissertations can be written in a year. The Ph.D. in English or the Ph.D. in Comparative Literature normally should be completed in six years or less.
The Department recognizes that many of its graduate students intend to become teachers, and it believes that graduate departments should be training college teachers as well as scholars--indeed, that teaching and most literary scholarship complement one another. Thus the Department has initiated a program by which all its Ph.D. candidates, in English as well as in Comparative Literature, may gain supervised training as part of the formal seminar work required for the degree. M.F.A. candidates also have the opportunity to participate in this program. Candidates for the Ph.D. are expected to acquire experience in teaching.
All those interested in graduate study in the Department should obtain the brochure on graduate programs from the departmental office.
The Murray Krieger Endowed Fellowship in Literary Theory was awarded for the first time in the 1996-97 academic year. It is intended for an outstanding entering graduate student who is pursuing the Ph.D. in English or Comparative Literature and who demonstrates a primary interest in theory as theory relates to literary texts. This prestigious grant is the foremost fellowship in the Humanities and one of the largest at UCI. The five-year support package is worth over $92,000. Also included is a readership and study space in the René Wellek Collection at the UCI Library, in addition to benefits such as priority housing and access to child care. A range of other fellowships is also available to students in the Department.
Emphasis in Feminist Studies
A graduate emphasis in Feminist Studies also is available. Refer to the Women's Studies section of the Catalogue for information.
Master of Arts in English
Each candidate for the M.A. will be assigned to a graduate advisor who will supervise the student's program. The M.A. plan of study includes (1) the completion of course work, as advised, for three quarters or the equivalent; (2) demonstrated proficiency in reading a designated foreign language, modern or classical; and (3) the submission of materials (including a statement about work accomplished and plans for future study, and a sample essay) to the Graduate Committee, who will review and assess the student's progress, recommend whether further study toward the Ph.D. is advisable, and, if so, give advice about areas for further study.
The Department of English and Comparative Literature sponsors a Summer M.A. Program in English designed for teachers. The M.A. degree in English is awarded to candidates who complete 32 units of graduate course work through two consecutive summers in the program and submit an acceptable Master's essay. Applicants from outside the State of California may apply for the program.
Master of Fine Arts in English
The Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) is a degree in creative writing. The M.F.A. degree is normally conferred upon the completion of a two- to three-year residence. Each quarter the candidate will be enrolled in either the poetry or fiction section of the Graduate Writers' Workshop, which will constitute two-thirds of a course load, the other course to be selected in consultation with the student's advisor. It is expected that M.F.A. candidates will complete at least one supervised teaching seminar.
In addition to course work, the candidate is required to pass an examination on a reading list of literary works in the genre selected, and to present as a thesis an acceptable book-length manuscript of poetry or short stories or a novel.
Doctor of Philosophy in English
The program for the Ph.D. in English requires about two years of full-time enrollment in regular courses beyond the B.A. (two courses of which may be in the graduate teaching program); proficiency in the reading of two acceptable foreign languages, modern or classical; the dissertation; and satisfactory performance on designated examinations.
The languages acceptable depend upon the nature of the student's program as determined by the student's advisors. Reading competence in one of these languages must be established in the first year of residence, and competence in the second well before the general examination.
Students admitted at the post-M.A. level must provide evidence of satisfactory competence in foreign languages. Competence in the two languages required for the Ph.D. is verified through examination.
Upon completion of course work the student is examined in four areas: (1) literary theory and criticism; (2) literary form; (3) historical period of English and/or American literature; and (4) selected major authors. The student has the opportunity to present personal choices for the examination, but the choices must enable an individual to demonstrate breadth of historical knowledge and literary understanding and therefore must be approved by the advisory committee.
Upon satisfactorily completing the general examination and the oral Qualifying Examination, the student is admitted to candidacy for the degree. As soon after completion of the general examination as is practical, the student presents an essay leading to dissertation for the approval of the doctoral committee. The dissertation itself must also be approved by the committee, which may or may not require an oral examination on it. All work for the Ph.D. degree must be in courses limited to graduate students.
Applicants to the Comparative Literature program must hold a B.A. or equivalent degree and should normally have majored in Comparative Literature, English, or a foreign literature. Majors in other disciplines (e.g., philosophy, history) can be considered, provided that a sufficient background in literature and literary theory, as well as in at least one foreign language, is demonstrated.
For the graduate student in Comparative Literature a professional competence in foreign languages is essential. French and German are usually expected of all doctoral students, but other languages (for instance, Spanish, Italian, Russian, or an Asian language) may be substituted. A classical language may prove indispensable for work in many traditional fields of literary study, and the scholar's own specialization may require the mastery of still other languages. Competence in the two languages required for the Ph.D. is verified through examination.
In addition to the emphases in Feminist Studies and Critical Theory available in the School of Humanities, graduate students in Comparative Literature may choose to complete an emphasis in French.
Master of Arts in Comparative Literature
Entering students are assigned a faculty advisor who usually serves as the chair of the student's M.A. examination committee (which consists of at least two other members of the faculty). The M.A. examination is normally taken during the quarter in which the student completes the course work; nine courses are required. The candidate submits an M.A. paper as well as a statement of purpose outlining past and future course work and preliminary plans for the qualifying examination. The M.A. examination itself consists of a discussion of the student's paper and the statement of purpose. In practice, the examination resembles an extended advising session, but with particularly close attention given to the student's paper.
Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature
The doctoral program in Comparative Literature is designed to prepare the student for a professional career in literary studies. Details of the program may be found in the departmental graduate student handbook. Normally, students who have not done graduate work at another university complete at least 16 courses before the qualifying examination.
Upon completion of the course work, the student takes a general examination based on six topics formulated by the student in consultation with the four faculty members who will make up the examination committee. The topics should combine historical breadth and some generic variety with special fields. The examination is part written, part oral, according to a formula decided by the student and the committee. The examination as a whole should reflect the student's ability to work in at least two foreign languages.
After passing the qualifying examination, the student forms a dissertation committee of three faculty members, formulates a dissertation topic in consultation with them, and submits a prospectus for the dissertation along with a preliminary bibliography. The study toward the Doctor of Philosophy degree culminates in the writing of a suitable dissertation, often on a comparative subject, although subjects lying within a single literature or dealing with general literary and theoretical problems not confined to any specific literatures are also acceptable.
