Welcome to the study of world literatures!
World Literatures REQUIREMENTS. Print version.
The major in World Literatures is an interdepartmental major in the humanities administered through the Department of Comparative Studies.
The World Literatures major is designed for students who are interested in both literature and globalization. In this new major, students are encouraged to explore a wide range of literary texts in English translation produced across major geo-political regions of the world: Africa; East and South Asia and the Pacific Islands; Europe and North America; Latin America and the Caribbean; and the Middle East. Advanced study of a foreign language is encouraged, but is not required to complete the major.
As a World Literatures major, you will develop critical and analytical skills through close readings of representative literary texts and also through the study of historical and theoretical questions related to
- the translation and transmission of literary works,
- the cultural and historical contexts of literary production,
- the roles of literature in the contemporary world.
This major will help you develop the knowledge you will need in order to understand the many complex interrelationships among societies with very different modes and habits of cultural expression, and also to understand those differences within nations such as the U.S. that are themselves broadly multicultural. As you begin to understand the distinctive literary and cultural histories of the world's regions, your will expand your ability to respond to the future challenges of an inextricably interdependent and conflicted world.
Questions? Contact the World Literatures Program Coordinator, Dr. Ashley Pérez
Some links on this page are to .pdf files. If you need these files in a more accessible format, please contact compstudies@osu.edu. PDF files require the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open them. If you do not have Reader, you may use the following link to Adobe to download it for free at: Adobe Acrobat Reader.