• Introduction
• Undergraduate Program
• Graduate Program
  • About the PhD Program
  • -- Introduction
  • -- Admissions
  • -- Degree Requirements
  • -- Dept Requirements
  • Grad Student Handbook
  • Graduate Students
• About the Faculty
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• Contact Information

Comparative Literature

Coursework
Students are required to complete 16 term courses, at least 7 of these in the Department of Comparative Literature. Students must take at least 10 courses in the field of Renaissance Studies (offered in several departments), including 2 terms of the Renaissance Studies Core Course and 3 courses in two disciplines other than literature (such as History, History of Art, or Religious Studies). At least 3 of a student’s overall list of courses must be in literary theory, criticism, or methodology.

Language Requirement
Latin and Italian, as set by Renaissance Studies – one hour of Renaissance Latin prose; one hour of sixteenth-century Italian prose, one of modern Italian scholarship – and two additional languages, at least one of them European.

Exams and related matters
An oral examination of 2 hrs, 15 minutes, consisting of 9 15-minute questions, three on topics in Renaissance literature from a comparative perspective, three on non-Renaissance topics in Comparative Literature, including at least one theoretical or critical question, two on Renaissance topics in non-literary disciplines, and a standard question on the bibliography for Renaissance Studies across the disciplines. Orals to be completed not later than the end of the sixth semester, dissertation prospectus to be completed in September of the fourth year.

Procedures regarding the dissertation will follow departmental practice, though the board of readers will normally include at least one member of the Renaissance Studies Executive Committee.