Mission Statement and Program Learning Objectives
Mission Statement
In CWL we focus on world literature in comparative contexts. Comparative literature is the place where various disciplines meet. We look at the dialogue between cultures, and in so doing, we always underscore the sociohistorical contexts behind texts in the broader acceptance of the meaning of text. Our classes often are organized around cross-disciplinary topics, such as Film and Novel, Art and Literature, Music and Literature, Literature and Medicine, Science Fiction and Technology, and challenge students to be perceptive readers, thinkers, and writers. Faculty strengths include literary theory, cultural studies, diaspora studies, visual studies, disability studies, and health humanities. Our mission is to produce students who are culturally sensitive and critical readers and writers, skilled at constructing persuasive arguments, and dedicated to leaving no page unturned!
Program Learning Objectives
Comparative Literature majors from all three Emphases should be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of world literary traditions and the continuing influence of those traditions on world cultures, as well as identify emergent global literary trends.
- Develop skills in literary analysis and critical writing, and apply comparative methodologies and literary theory to evaluate literary texts and other cultural products.
- Interpret and criticize literary texts within social, cultural, and historical contexts.
- Produce analyses of the relationship between literature / other cultural production and the identity formation of individuals and their communities, and discuss literary texts as part of discursive systems.