The Comparative Literature GIS is a 12-credit specialization that supports current OSU graduate students’ development of expertise in literary analysis and comparison of works in more than one language or tradition. As a credential, the GIS makes language skills and interpretative training visible on your C.V. As an academic experience, the GIS will connect you to scholars of literature beyond your home department, opening up opportunities for new approaches and collaborations.
Note: Students seeking information on the graduate program in Comparative Studies should visit this link: https://comparativestudies.osu.edu/graduate/prospective-graduate-students. The Department of Comparative Studies does not offer M.A. or Ph.D. training in Comparative Literature. The GIS is akin to a graduate minor.
Second, after reviewing the information on this page and in the links above, students should submit a Minor and Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization form in GRADFORMS. The form serves as the student’s application. The coordinator of the minor/GIS will be notified to review the application, and the student’s advisor will receive an email notice that the student submitted the form.
While there is not a language prerequisite, it is assumed that students in the GIS have demonstrated proficiency in at least two languages. Students should consult with an advisor in the target department to ensure that their linguistic proficiency is sufficient to participate in a graduate-level course.
Students enrolled in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Comparative Literature will be assigned to an advisor. The advisor will help students select courses from the various language, literature, and cultures, Theatre, and Comparative Studies graduate programs—and as appropriate from other departments—to form a coherent program that is tailored to their individual needs and interests. The Advisory Board for the GIS in CL will approve the list of selected courses.
An Advisory Board for the GIS in Comparative Literature will be established. In consultation with the student’s advisor, it will monitor the student’s progress and confirm completion of the approved program of study. The Graduate School will certify that the student has completed all the requirements pertaining to the interdisciplinary specialization. The graduate interdisciplinary specialization will be awarded only on completion of the MA or PhD.
1. Comparative Studies 7301 Theorizing Comparative Literature
2. French 8203 Modern and Contemporary Studies. [Topic: The Postmodern Novel]
3. French 8204 Francophone Studies. [Topic: The novel in Francophone Context]
4. Comparative Studies 8805 Seminar in Literature in Global Context
1. Comparative Studies 7301 Theorizing Comparative Literature
2. English 7864 Postcolonial/Transnational Literatures
3. Spanish 7560 Studies in Independence and 19th-Century Latin American Literature
4. AFAM 7756 Theorizing Race and Ethnicity
List of Courses Available for Completion of the GIS
Note: Additional relevant courses may be approved by the CL-GIS advisor upon petition by the graduate student pending a review of the syllabus and subject to the approval of the advisory board.
AFRICAN AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES
Requires Fluency in English, though another research language might be helpful
AAAS 6757.01 Introduction to Grad Studies in African American and African Literature, 1746-1900
AAAS 6757.02 Introduction to Grad Studies in African American and African Literature, 1900-Present
AAAS 7751 Introduction to Graduate Studies in African Literature.
AAAS 7756 Theorizing Race and Ethnicity
CLASSICS
Requires Fluency in Greek
Greek 6891 Greek Survey: Prose
Greek 6892 Greek Survey: Poetry
Greek 7890 Graduate Seminar on Greek Literature and Culture
Modern Greek 5210 Studies in Modern Greek Literature
Modern Greek 8110 Modern Greek Seminar
Requires Fluency in Latin
Latin 6891 Latin Survey: Prose
Latin 6892 Latin Survey: Poetry
Latin 7890 Graduate Seminar, Latin
COMPARATIVE STUDIES
Requires Fluency in English, though another research language might be helpful
Comparative Studies 7301 Theorizing Comparative Literature
Comparative Studies 7300 Theorizing Genre
Comparative Studies 8802 Seminar in Life Narrative
Comparative Studies 8805 Seminar in Literature in Global Context
Comparative Studies 8888 Interdepartmental Seminar in Critical Theory
EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
Requires Fluency in English, though another research language might be helpful
EALL 5475 Women Writers, Culture and Society in East Asia
Requires Fluency in Chinese
Chinese 7461Modern Chinese Poetry
Chinese 7462 Modern Chinese Prose
Chinese 7463 Modern Chinese Fiction
Chinese 7464 Modern Chinese Drama
Chinese 7465 Literature in Socialist/Postsocialist China
Chinese 7466 Lu Xun
Chinese 7467 Taiwan Literature
Chinese 7470 Ethnic Literature and Culture in China
Chinese 8471 Traditional Chinese Poetry
Chinese 8472 Traditional Chinese Fiction
Chinese 8473 Traditional Chinese Drama
Chinese 8474 Traditional Chinese Prose
Chinese 8475 Chinese Literary Criticism
Requires Fluency in Japanese
Japanese 7451 Studies in Japanese Poetry
Japanese 7452 Studies in Japanese Prose Literature
Japanese 7453 Studies in Japanese Drama
Japanese 7454 War Tales in the Japanese Tradition
Japanese 7455 Tale of Genji
Japanese 8477 Topics and Problems in Japanese Literature
Requires Fluency in Korean
Korean 6445 Studies in Korean-American Literature
Korean 6454 Korean Literary Traditions
ENGLISH
Requires Fluency in English
English 7851 Seminar in Critical Approaches to Black Literatures
English 7858 Seminar in U.S. Ethnic Literatures and Cultures
English 7860 Seminar in 20th Century British and/or American Literature
English 7861 Studies in Narrative and Narrative Theory
English 7864 Postcolonial/Transnational Literatures
English 7871 Seminar in the Forms of Literature
English 7876 Seminar in Critical Theory
English 7879 Seminar in Rhetoric
English 7890 Seminar in Feminist Studies in Literature and Culture
English 7891 Seminar in Disability Studies in Language and Literature
English 8888 Interdepartmental Seminar in Critical Theory
FRENCH AND ITALIAN
Requires Fluency in French
French 8201 Medieval and Renaissance Studies
French 8202 Classical and Enlightenment
French 8203 Modern and Contemporary Studies
French 8204 Francophone Studies
French 8205 French and Francophone Studies Across Boundaries
French 8401 Cultural Studies
French 8701 French and Francophone Cinema
Requires Fluency in Italian
Italian 8221 Studies in Italian Literature
Italian 8231 Dante Studies
Requires Fluency in French or Italian or both
FRIT 8206 Comparative French and Italian Studies
French 8601/ Italian 8601 French and Italian Theory and Practice
French 8602/ Italian 8602 Comparative French and Italian Studies
GERMANIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
Requires Fluency in German
Germanic 8200 Seminar in Literature and Literary Culture
Germanic 8300 Seminar in Intellectual History and Cultural Studies
NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
Requires Fluency in English, though another research language might be helpful
NELC/CS 73201 Theorizing Literature
NELC 7401 Ottoman Manuscript Culture
NELC 7402 Cultural Currents of the Late Antique Middle East
Requires Fluency in Arabic
Arabic 6401 The Experience of Modernity and Its Aesthetic Representations:
Europe and the Middle East
Arabic 7601 Studies in Arabic Poetry
Arabic 7602 Studies in Arabic Prose
Arabic 7604 The Arabic Detective: Classical and Modern Crime Narratives
Arabic 7604 The Poetics of Arabic Narrative
Arabic 8891 Seminar in Arabic Studies
Requires Fluency in Hebrew
Hebrew 7601 Studies in Hebrew Poetry
Hebrew 7602 Studies in Hebrew Prose
Hebrew 8891 Seminar in Hebrew Studies
SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
Requires Fluency in Russian
Russian 6252 Issues in 19th-century Russian Literature
Russian 6253 Issues in 20th- and 21st-Century Russian Literature
Russian 6254 Russian Literary Genres
Russian 7250 The Russian Writer
Russian 7356 Gender, Feminism, and Russian Women's Culture
Russian 8550 Seminar in Russian Literature, Film, or Cultural Studies
Requires Fluency in English, though another research language might be helpful
Slavic 7370 Violence and Alterity in the Balkans
Slavic 8675 Seminar in Slavic and East European Literature and Culture
SPANISH and PORTUGUESE
Requires Fluency in Spanish
Spanish 6700 Literary and Cultural Analysis
Spanish 7410 Mapping Medieval and Renaissance Iberian Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 7430 Mapping Modern and Contemporary Iberian Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 7450 Mapping Indigenous, Colonial and 19th-Century Latin American Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 7470 Mapping Modern and Contemporary Latin American Literatures, Cultures
Spanish 7510 Studies in Medieval Spanish Literature
Spanish 7520 Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Iberia
Spanish 7530 Studies in Modern Iberian Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 7540 Studies in Contemporary Iberian Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 7550 Studies in Indigenous and Colonial Latin American Literature
Spanish 7560 Studies in Independence and 19th Century Latin American Literature
Spanish 7570 Studies in Modern Latin American Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 7580 Studies in Contemporary Latin American Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 7590 Comparative Topics in Iberian and Latin American Literature
Spanish 7595 Comparative Topics in Luso-Hispanic Literature and Culture
Spanish 7900 Foundations of Contemporary Critical Theory
Spanish 8510 Seminar in Medieval Iberia
Spanish 8520 Seminar in Renaissance and Baroque Iberia
Spanish 8530 Seminar in Modern Iberian Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 8540 Seminar in Contemporary Iberian Literatures and Cultures
Spanish 8550 Seminar in Indigenous and Colonial Latin American Literature
Spanish 8560 Seminar in Independence and 19th Century Latin American Literature
Spanish 8570 Seminar in Modern Latin American Lit & Cultures
Spanish 8580 Seminar in Contemporary Latin American Lit & Cultures
Spanish 8595 Seminar in Comparative Luso-Hispanic Literature and Culture
Spanish 8800 Seminar in Literary and Cultural Theory
Spanish 8894 Literatures and Cultures Colloquium
Requires Fluency in Portuguese
Portuguese 7400 Literatures and Cultures in Portuguese, from the Middle Ages to Neoclassicism
Portuguese 7420 Literatures and Cultures in Portuguese, from Romanticism to Modernism
Portuguese 7460 Literatures and Cultures in Portuguese, from Modernism to the Present
Portuguese 7500 Studies in Literatures and Cultures of the Porguguese-Speaking World
Portuguese 8500 Seminar in Comparative Luso-Hispanic Literature and Culture
THEATRE
Requires fluency in English, though another research language might be helpful
Theatre 7701 Greek, Roman and Medieval Theatre and Performance: History, Literature and Theory
Theatre 7702 Early Modern to Enlightenment: Theatre, Performance, Theory, Text
Theatre 7703 Mass Entertainment, Modernism and the Rise of Realism
Theatre 7704 Contemporary Theatre and Performance: Experimentation and New Media
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