[CompLit/Language Department Questions]

On 9/19/2020 at 5:10 PM, Glasperlenspieler said:

But then again, out of curiosity, I took a look at recent comparative literature dissertations from Princeton (which seems to do a better than average job of placing their grads), and I have to say that more than a few of them struck me as the sorts of projects that could have easily been done in national language/literature departments. So ymmv.

yeah I've noticed that too! It does strike me as slightly peculiar...

[English or Comp Lit or just something else?]

On 5/26/2020 at 4:23 AM, EM51413 said:

I just went through the last cycle as a theory-heavy comp lit applicant, and what I'll say is that language is less of an emphasis for certain departments, while others REALLY want you to know your languages/literatures and don't care much about theory. Many English departments are having an anti-theory moment right now and a more traditional Critical Theory WS might not go well in those places. Columbia is an exception, but still the theory they are into aren't the traditional kind. If you want to continue your MA work it might make more sense to seek out theory departments that are disguised as comp lit/interdisciplinary studies departments. Duke literature comes to mind (though they are very Marxist and have the most dreadful interviews), and so does Emory comp lit (which is very continental thought and has a minimal language requirement). Chicago's Social Thought also comes to mind, and I've heard good things about Stanford MTL. As others have mentioned, though, if you want to stay in academia after graduation, traditional theory isn't having a great moment right now--there's a good reason why many comp lit departments are moving toward a national literature direction.

@EM51413 would you mind listing a few more top-ranking colleges according to whether they focus more on language/literature or theory? or perhaps more easily/importantly... how does one figure out the historical and current leanings of each department? department website, faculty research, current grad student theses, ... are there other ways of truly uncovering the nature / flavour of a department?

[Will you take the GRE for Fall 2021?]

Only some of the schools I'm interested in have waived the GRE, so I'm taking it, especially since I'm confident of a good score

[UT Austin Comparative Literature]

@ambermt90 any updates on funding and treatment of grad students in UT Austin?

[CompLit/Language Department Questions]

On 10/28/2019 at 1:00 PM, Glasperlenspieler said:

I think showing diverse interests is good and showing that there are multiple academic trajectories you could pursue. But my impression is that for success in getting admitted to a comparative literature program, you need to propose a project that is genuinely comparative in some way.

@Glasperlenspieler I wonder if you wouldn't mind elaborating a bit on what a good project proposal / statement of purpose for complit would look like? I studied multiple languages and literatures in my BA, but there wasn't really a complit option. Does a comparative project necessarily have to involve more than one language? Couldn't it be within a single language but across different mediums and authors? Or two languages / literary traditions for a specific time period and theme? Any and all guidance would be much appreciated  

[French PhD 2021]

On 9/7/2020 at 1:07 PM, frenchphd said:

Yale and Princeton will only accept a handful.

Is it officially confirmed that the cohort will be smaller?

[Academic Writing Sample?]

silly question: double spaced, 12 pt, TNR/Arial, 1-inch margins?

[Need Advice in Choosing My Field of Study (Humanities)]

definitely keep working on your French and Japanese. You can prove your competence not just via options in college, but also proficiency tests (DELF and JLPT, although I don't know if these are still taking place during the pandemic); you'll have the chance to talk about / prove your competence (and potential) in your statement of purpose and/or letters of recommendation.

If you don't have time to work on both, then work on your French to a C1 or C2 level, I think.

[No GRE Requirement]

Wondering - if a school doesn't require GRE scores, would it still be worth sending them? (Ignoring schools that explicitly say that they will not look at scores even if submitted)

[2021 Applicants]

Oh. I'm also looking at programs adjacent to CompLit, such as Romance Studies, Modern Theory and Literature, etc. I suppose it would be good to decide on which colleges to apply to by... the end of this month...? 

[2021 Applicants]

hello all, just joined the forum and thought I'd introduce myself. I'm planning to apply to CompLit programs this cycle (despite some being sadly suspended - Columbia, NYU, Oregon...). Currently figuring out which programs to apply to (and how many - 6? is 6 a good number?).

I'm looking at programs that are heavily interdisciplinary (history, material culture, etc) and theoretical (queer theory, postcolonial theory), and/or colleges that have good faculty in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese (where my intersections lie -- I'll probably narrow down from these 4 though). 

I'm very interested in hearing where everyone else is applying to for CompLit, and what programs are well-regarded (beyond Harvard, Princeton, etc.), especially since I did my BA in the UK and am a tad less familiar with US colleges.  

[2021 Closed Admissions]

For CompLit specifically: Oregon, Columbia, Chicago, NYU, Notre Dame have suspended admissions. USC and Northwestern have yet to update.

Any colleges I missed out..?