• UNM Catalog 2022-2023
• >Colleges
• >College of Arts and Sciences
• >Languages, Cultures, and Literatures
• >Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies

Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies

Undergraduate Program

Program Director and Undergraduate Advisor
Rajeshwari Vallury, Ortega Hall 319C
rvallury@unm.edu

College of Arts and Sciences and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies Major Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work.

• Transfer students must have a 2.00 transfer GPA.
• Continuing UNM students must have a 2.00 institutional GPA.

Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the following:

• Completion of General Education Curriculum: Communication.
• Completion of General Education Curriculum: Mathematics and Statistics.
• Completion of General Education Curriculum: Second Language.

Completion of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies major admission coursework with grades of "C" or better:

• COMP 2222 or COMP 2240.
• ENGL 2510.

Degree Offered

• Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (B.A.)
  Concentrations: Comparative Literature; Cultural Studies.

Major Study Requirements

Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary major with concentrations in Comparative Literature and in Cultural Studies. Students complete 30 credit hours of coursework. The Introduction to World Cultures and Critical Theory component provides students with a survey of world literatures and cultures and introduces them to analyzing cultural productions through critical and cultural theory. The Cultures and Literatures component of the major broadens a student’s awareness of the diversity of cultural productions around the world. The Concentration component offers the opportunity to pursue an individualized interdisciplinary program of study by taking courses chosen in consultation with the coordinator. Students may choose to write an honors essay as the capstone to their work. Because this is an interdisciplinary program offered by the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Literatures in conjunction with affiliated departments, students must work closely with the coordinator in order to construct an appropriate program of study. Courses not listed below may sometimes be taken, subject to approval of the program coordinator.

I. The Introduction to World Cultures and Critical Theory–9 credit hours

ENGL 2510 and 6 credit hours from the following courses: COMP 2240; ENGL 2650, 2660.

II. Cultures and Literatures–9 credit hours

Literature, culture and theory courses at the 300-level or above offered by the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Literatures and programs and departments affiliated with the Program in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies. These courses must broaden a student’s knowledge of the forms of representation and cultural production that emerge from specific historical periods and places.

III. The Concentration–12 credit hours

Students choose a concentration in either Comparative Literature or Cultural Studies.

Concentration in Comparative Literature: Courses chosen in this concentration are divided between literatures in two different languages (one of which may be English or American Literature). Courses may include studies in theory, history, film and the arts, as well as in literary texts.

Concentration in Cultural Studies: Courses chosen in this concentration normally focus on critical and cultural theory and provide students with tools for analyzing literary and cultural problems while broadening their knowledge of world cultures and forms of representation in different media.

Second Major Study Requirements

Students complete 27 credit hours of coursework, as described below. For specific courses in categories II and III, see corresponding categories in the major.

• 9 credit hours: COMP 2240; ENGL 2650, 2660.
• 6 credit hours in literature, culture and theory courses.
• 12 credit hours in cultural studies or comparative literature.

Minor Study Requirements

Students complete 21 credit hours of coursework, as described below. For specific courses in category III, see category III in the major.

• 6 credit hours from the following courses: COMP 2240; ENGL 2650, 2660.
• 6 credit hours taken in the following courses: COMP 330–340, 432, *480.
• 9 credit hours in cultural studies or comparative literature, as described above.

Graduate Program

Program Director and Graduate Advisor
Rajeshwari Vallury, Ortega Hall 319C
rvallury@unm.edu

Degree Offered

• Master of Arts in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (M.A.)
  Concentrations: Classics; Comparative Literature; Cultural Studies.

Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies is an interdisciplinary Master of Arts (M.A.) program administered by the coordinator and the Advisory Committee (see above).

Master of Arts in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies

The Master of Arts is offered as an interdepartmental program that may be completed by fulfilling the requirements under Plan I or Plan II set forth in the Graduate Program section of this Catalog.

• Plan I: 25 credit hours of graduate coursework plus 6 credit hours of COMP 599 Thesis.
• Plan II: 34 credit hours of graduate coursework.

Students following Plan I or Plan II complete Languages, Cultures, and Literatures examination requirements for the degree by their final semester of study.

The requirement for second-language proficiency for students in the Cultural Studies concentration may be satisfied after a student has been admitted to the program by taking a four-semester language sequence, or by passing a proficiency examination or proof of equivalent knowledge acquired elsewhere. Students in the Comparative Literature concentration are expected to be proficient in two languages, one of which can be English. In addition, M.A. candidates must demonstrate proficiency in a third language through a four-semester sequence of coursework, a proficiency examination, or proof of equivalent knowledge acquired elsewhere. Because this is an interdisciplinary program offered by the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Literatures in conjunction with affiliated departments and programs, students must work closely with a program coordinator to construct an appropriate plan of study. The coordinator determines which courses outside of Languages, Cultures, and Literatures may be applied to the M.A. degree in consultation with a student’s Committee on Studies.

Only 3 credit hours of problems courses may be counted toward the M.A. under Plan I and only 6 credit hours under Plan II.

The course lists as described below are:

• Theory and Criticism: AMST 517; ANTH 547; CJ 500, 501; COMP 580; ENGL 510, 511; FREN 580, 582, 611; GRMN 555; SOCI 500, 513.
• Greek and Latin: GREK *301, *302; LATN *303, *304, 503.
• The Classical World and its Legacy: ENGL 551; HIST 503, 526; PHIL 564.

I. The Core (7 credit hours)

COMP 505; MLNG 501; one course from the Theory and Criticism course list.

II. The Concentration

Concentration in Classics: 

• Plan I: (18 credit hours). 12 credit hours from the Greek and Latin course list plus 6 credit hours chosen from either the Theory and Criticism or The Classical World and its Legacy course lists.
• Plan II: (27 credit hours). 15 credit hours from the Greek and Latin course list plus 12 credit hours chosen from either the Theory and Criticism or The Classical World and its Legacy course lists.

Concentration in Comparative Literature: 

• Plan I: (18 credit hours).
• Plan II: (27 credit hours).

Students split credit hours evenly between literatures from two different languages, one of which may be a literature in English: AMST 550, 556, 558, 560; ENGL 545, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 561, 562, 564, 565, 568, 570, 572, 574, 579, 580, 581, 582, 586, 587; FREN 502, 512, 522, 524, 532, 542, 552, 570, 580, 582, 584, 585, 588, 600, 611; GREK *301, *302; GRMN 549, 550, 552, 553, 555, 556, 581, 585; LATN *303, *304, 503; PORT 514, 516, 517, 521, 557, 558; SPAN 504, 519, 520, 522, 526, 529, 578, 579, 629, 639.

Concentration in Cultural Studies: 

• Plan I: (18 credit hours).
• Plan II: (27 credit hours).

Students take half of the concentration credit hours from the Theory and Criticism course list.

The second half of the concentration credit hours is taken in an interdisciplinary field defined with advisement from the Committee on Studies drawing on graduate courses from: American Studies; Anthropology; Communication and Journalism; English; Film and Digital Arts; Fine Arts; Languages, Cultures, and Literatures; History; Law; Linguistics; Philosophy; Political Science; and Spanish and Portuguese.

Graduate Minor

The Program offers a graduate minor in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies. Students choose to focus their studies in one of three focus areas: classics, comparative literature, or cultural studies. Proficiency in a foreign language must be demonstrated by taking the first two semesters of a language sequence or by passing a proficiency examination.

18 credit hours are required for the graduate minor:

• COMP 500.
• 15 credit hours of courses in one of the following areas of focus:

Classics: 9 credit hours in either Greek or Latin from the Greek and Latin course list (see above) plus 6 credit hours chosen from either the Theory and Criticism or The Classical World and its Legacy course lists (see above).

Comparative Literature: 15 credit hours, 9 of which must be in a literature in a language other than English (see above). No more than 3 of these credit hours may be in a foreign literature course taught in translation.

Cultural Studies: 9 credit hours of courses the Theory and Criticism course list (see above) plus 6 credit hours in an interdisciplinary field defined in consultation with the coordinator (see above).