Best schools for Comparative Literature?

[tinylightsbelow]

Hey! I'm a junior and I'll be applying to grad schools around November, and I wanted to know if any of you know which schools are ranked most highly for the field of Comparative Literature. I am going to specialize in Latin American literature. Ideally, I would like to get into a top 20 school. I have a couple of programs that interest me, but it is hard to find any definitive data on how regarded these programs are in the field. Most rankings for literature Ph.D programs all seem to only talk about English literature which is not my main area of interest.

 

Thanks

[thegirldetective]

Perhaps, given how specific your interests are, you should identify who the leading scholars in that sub-field are and see where they teach?

[tinylightsbelow]

Great idea! Thank you. I did hear once that Mario Vargas Llosa is a visiting professor at Princeton and that seriously wowed me. Guess I'd better get researching!

[hj2012]

If you're primarily interested in Latin American Lit, you might consider Hispanic Studies or Spanish Lang/Lit programs as well. This would be especially prudent if you don't have other languages under your belt; if I recall correctly, most comparative lit programs require you to do work in a minimum of three languages (excluding English.)

With the additional caveat that rankings are nearly meaningless in the comparative literature context, the NRC rankings might be a good place for you to start your research. I'd cross-analyze with Spanish to get a sense of the overlap (likely many faculty members will hold dual appointments in both departments.)

http://m.chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124718/

Edited March 2, 2014 by hj2012

[tinylightsbelow]

Thanks, that's more of what I was looking for. Definitely won't make or break my decision but it's a great starting point. The suggestion to go for Spanish is helpful too!