DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
435 Humanities Instructional Building; (949) 824-6712
Steven Mailloux, Department Chair
Faculty
Dina Al-Kassim, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature (British, American, French, Arabic, Anglophone and Francophone modernism; postcolonial critique)
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 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, Professor of English (critical theory, African-American cultural studies)
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 (Victorian literature, the novel, cultural studies and criticism)
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)
Mark Goble, Ph.D. Stanford University, Assistant Professor of English (twentieth-century U.S. literature; film and media studies)
Oakley Hall, M.F.A. University of Iowa, Professor Emeritus of English (fiction writing, contemporary fiction)
Andrea K. Henderson, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, Associate Professor of English (romantic literature, poetics)
John Hollowell, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Director of Composition and Senior Lecturer with Security of Employment (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)
Susan Jarratt, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, Campus Writing Director and Professor of English (histories and theories of rhetoric, composition pedagogy and teacher preparation, feminist theory and pedagogy)
Adriana M. Johnson, Ph.D. Duke University, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature (Latin American literature, nineteenth- and twentieth-century Latin America, cultural and postcolonial studies)
Laura H. Y. Kang, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Comparative Literature (feminist epistemologies and theories, cultural studies, ethnic studies)
Ketu H. Katrak, Ph.D. Bryn Mawr College, Department Chair and Professor of Asian American Studies and Professor of English (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 Russian 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 English and 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, Department Chair of English and Comparative Literature and 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 and Creative Writing (contemporary poetry, poetry writing, prosody, Joyce)
J. Hillis Miller, Ph.D. Harvard University, UCI Distinguished Research 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)
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Director of the International Center for Writing and Translation and UCI Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature (African and Caribbean literatures, theater and film, performance studies, cultural and political theory)
Margot Norris, Ph.D. State University of New York, Buffalo, Professor of English (modern Irish, British, American and continental modernism; literature and war)
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 with Security of Employment Emerita, English (American literature, children's literature)
Hugh Roberts, Ph.D. McGill University, Associate Professor of English (Romantic literature, eighteenth-century literature, Victorian poetry, literary theory, New Zealand literature)
John Carlos Rowe, Ph.D. State University of New York, Buffalo, Director of African-American Studies, Acting Director of the Critical Theory Institute, and 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 Comparative Literature (feminist theory and criticism, queer theory, contemporary American literature, gender and literature)
Gabriele Schwab, Ph.D. University of Konstanz, UCI Chancellor's Professor of English and Comparative Literature (modern literature, critical theory, psychoanalysis, comparative literature)
Martin Schwab, Ph.D. University of Bielefeld, Director of the Minor in Humanities and Law and 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, Associate Professor of English (twentieth-century American literature, film and media studies, corporate culture)
Elisa Tamarkin, Ph.D. Stanford University, Assistant Professor of English (pre-1900 American literature and 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)
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.
CAREERS FOR THE ENGLISH, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE, OR LITERARY JOURNALISM MAJOR
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.
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.
All of the Department's areas of study emphasize a variety of critical approaches in the reading and criticism of literature. Three majors, as well as an emphasis in Creative Writing, are offered:
English. This major seeks to introduce students to the entire range of literatures written in English, from British and American to African, Asian, and Australasian literatures. The major emphasizes the differences among historical periods and various genres, and encourages exploration of a broad range of literary theories. It also offers students the opportunity to do significant work in Comparative Literature and Creative Writing.
Creative Writing is an emphasis within the English major offering concentration in the writing of poetry or fiction; undergraduate courses in nonfiction are also available. The aim of the emphasis 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).
Comparative Literature. The Program in Comparative Literature offers a separate major and minor within the Department of English and Comparative Literature. The program focuses on the study of literatures from around the globe and across history. While students in Comparative Literature will almost certainly read novels, plays, and poems written in English, emphasis is placed on works originally composed in other languages. Most of these will be read in translation, but there is a foreign language requirement to ensure that students have the experience of encountering another culture from the inside. Another key component of the program is the study of critical theory, or the methods required to think analytically and philosophically about works of literature and culture. Comparative Literature is well suited for students interested in international issues, the history of inter- and cross-cultural contact up to the present, and the ways in which literature and cultures dialogue with one another across time and space.
The Comparative Literature 50A, B, C series introduces students to a geographically and chronologically broad selection of texts not limited to the western tradition. The goals of this series are to study literature in dialogue with other literatures and in a historically intensive way, as well as to study literature using the lens of genre and medium. (Transfer students may be required to take one or more courses in this sequence depending on the courses they have taken previously.)
Literary Journalism. This major is designed for students interested in writing creative nonfiction and journalism, and in studying their history. Defined both by its historical and theoretical focus and by its intensive writing seminars, the program contextualizes literary journalism in a wider study of the discourses of fact throughout history, while also attending to the impact of new media technologies on the evolution of the field. While distinct from an applied journalism major in that it does not focus primarily on newspaper writing, the major in literary journalism is excellent preparation for students planning to enter graduate programs in journalism.
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 four of its programs.
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. Descriptions of specific courses are available online at http://www.humanities.uci.edu/ undergrad/crsdesc.htm.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACHELOR'S DEGREE
University Requirements: See pages 54-59.
School Requirements: See pages 224-225.
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; E 102A, E 102B, E 102C, E 102D; either E 105 or CL 105; E 106; and at least three more Departmental courses numbered 102 or above (excluding E 140, E 150, WR 139, or WR 179). At least one of the courses taken for the major must be an upper-division Comparative Literature course.
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 creative 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 department chair.
Departmental Requirements for the Comparative Literature Major
CL 50A, B, C; CR 100A; CL 101; CL 102; CL 106; and four additional upper-division courses, two of which must be Comparative Literature courses, and two of which may be drawn from Comparative Literature, English, Creative Writing, or upper-division literature courses in a foreign language (in addition to any such courses used to fulfill the Comparative Literature foreign language requirement).
Competence in a foreign language at a level to be able to read both literature and other forms of writing (criticism, journalistic prose, history) in the language; completion of two upper-division courses in a foreign language.
NOTE: One approved upper-division course reading foreign literature in translation may substitute for one of the upper-division literature courses in a foreign language. If the latter option is taken, students are usually required to match language and literature (e.g., if the student's foreign language is German, then the student must take a German 150 course). Study abroad is highly encouraged. Some languages, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian, ordinarily require three years of language study as preparation for the study of literature. Students who wish to study these languages may take three years of the language and an approved course reading literature in translation in fulfillment of the Comparative Literature language requirement; here again, literature and language should be matched. If the student intends to continue with graduate work, the study of a second foreign language is highly recommended before graduation.
Residence Requirement for the Comparative Literature Major: CR 100A, CL 101, and three upper-division literature courses must be completed successfully at UCI.
Departmental Requirements for the Comparative Literature Minor
CL 50A, B, C, CR 100A, CL 101, one upper-division CL course, and one foreign language literature course or a third year of language in languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.
Residence Requirement 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 by the appropriate program advisor or chair.
Departmental Requirements for the Literary Journalism Major
LJ 20 and two courses from the following list: 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 Literary Journalism 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; LJ 101A, LJ 101B (three times, on various genres); at least three more Departmental courses numbered 102 or above (excluding E 140, E 150, WR 139, or WR 179); either E 105 or CL 105; two upper-division History courses in a single regional or thematic focus area; and LJ 197.
Residence Requirement for the Literary Journalism Major: LJ 20, CR 100A, LJ 101A, and two LJ 101B courses must be completed successfully at UCI.
PLANNING A PROGRAM OF STUDY
Students should plan coherent programs of study with their faculty advisors, including undergraduate seminars, workshops and seminars in writing (for students choosing a Literary Journalism major or Creative 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, Comparative Literature, or Literary Journalism 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 four principal areas of work on the undergraduate level--English and American Literature, Comparative Literature, the English major with a creative writing emphasis, and Literary Journalism--are reflected in the graduate programs: M.A. and Ph.D. in English, M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, M.F.A. in English (Creative Writing), and an emphasis in Creative Nonfiction within the Ph.D. degrees in English and Comparative Literature. A student's courses for the M.A. and Ph.D. in English may include a specialization 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 Comparative Literature may stress by adding the Schoolwide Critical Theory emphasis. 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 Creative Nonfiction
Students admitted to the emphasis in Creative Nonfiction must meet all course, language, and examination requirements for the Ph.D. in English or Comparative Literature. Their course work must include: (a) three writing workshops in nonfiction; (b) three courses in nonfictional literature or rhetoric; and (c) if needed for the projected dissertation, one course outside the Department. Students must also conduct a dissertation defense.
School Emphases
Schoolwide graduate emphases are available in Asian American Studies, Critical Theory, and Feminist Studies. Refer to the appropriate sections of the Catalogue for information.
ENGLISH
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.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
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, visual studies, women's studies, ethnic studies) will be considered, provided that a sufficient background in literary and cultural studies, as well as in at least one foreign language, is demonstrated.
For the graduate student in Comparative Literature, proficiency in foreign languages is essential. Professional competency in at least one foreign language is expected of all doctoral students; the area of a student's specialization will dictate the relevant language. The ability to study the core texts of the modern theoretical and literary traditions in their original languages (e.g., Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Russian) is usually expected, and a classical language (Arabic, Greek, and Latin) may prove indispensable for work in many fields of study. The student's own area of specialization may require the mastery of still other languages. Competence in two foreign languages is required for the Ph.D.; this competence is verified through examination.
UCI's Program in Comparative Literature is designed to prepare the student for a professional career in literary, rhetorical, and cultural studies. To this end, the Program maintains a flexible curricular structure that enables students to make the most of faculty expertise and programmatic strengths both in the Program and across the School of Humanities while also maintaining the freedom to develop independent and innovative projects. Faculty advisors work to ensure each student's progress toward creating a successful, professional profile. Although not required to do so, in the course of their studies, students may elect to follow a course of study consonant with a track in (1) Comparative Literature with an emphasis in a literary tradition, (2) Comparative Literature with an emphasis in Translation Studies, or (3) Comparative Literature with an emphasis in Critical Theory. (See the departmental graduate student handbook for a description of these emphases.) Within these specializations, students enroll in sequences of courses designed to highlight individual interests and expertise such as: (1) CL 200A (History of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory), CL 200B (Theories of Translation), and either CL 200C (Theories of Globalization, Inter-Nationalism, and Postcolonialism) or CL 200D (Cultural Rhetoric and Rhetorical Theory), along with an emphasis in a specific national literary and cultural focus; (2) CL 200B (Theories of Translation) and those workshops and courses designated as required for the emphasis in Translation Studies; or (3) CL 200A (History of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory), CL 200D (Cultural Rhetoric and Rhetorical Theory), and either CL 200B (Theories of Translation and Mediality) or CL 200C (Theories of Globalization, Inter-Nationalism, and Postcolonialism), and the Schoolwide Critical Theory emphasis. In consultation with faculty advisors, students may also develop individualized curricula of their own that cut across these and other offerings in the Department, Program, and School.
A minor field specialization is also recommended; this optional component of the program is designed to promote engagement with a field or methodology outside of the student's main area of specialization; it may be of a national, historical, disciplinary, or methodological nature, with the student of western post-modern literary theory and forms engaging in a focused study of ancient Greek or Roman philosophy and culture, for example, or the student of East Asian languages and diasporic literatures working in the fields of anthropological or ethnographic approaches. This optional component of the student's program may be fulfilled through seminar course work, independent studies, or specialized Qualifying Examination topic.
Graduate students in Comparative Literature may also choose the emphases in Asian American Studies, Feminist Studies, and Critical Theory available in the School of Humanities. They may also complete a course of study with an emphasis in Translation Studies or an emphasis in Chinese Language and Literature, Classics, East Asian Cultural Studies, French, German, Japanese Language and Literature, or Spanish.
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 the research and teaching of literary studies and cultural studies; some students also choose to enter professions (e.g., specialized research institutes and consortia, philanthropic organizations, international cultural exchange) in which the specialized work in a specific field indicated by an advanced degree is highly desirable. 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.
