Language Requirements

Candidates for the M.A. offer one principal and one secondary language (non-native speakers of English may offer English as one of the two languages). All students must have fulfilled their language requirements before they are allowed to take the M.A. examination (see above, Language Requirements, Option A and Option B).

Course Requirements

Thirty credits of graduate work (including no more than three credits of CLT 597 or CLT 599). The following core courses must be taken by all M.A. students:

1. CLT 500 History of Literary Theory
2. CLT 501 Comparative Literature Methodology
3. Three CLT courses numbered 600 and higher

First-Year Evaluation

In the middle of the student's second semester of graduate work, the Director of Graduate Studies prepares a file for the student's first-year evaluation. It consists of: 1) the student's grades; 2) letters from the professors in all the student's classes; 3) if the student is a teaching assistant, a) a letter of evaluation from appropriate faculty and b) student evaluations from the section taught. Students may submit any other additional relevant material they choose. The Graduate Studies Committee will evaluate the dossier and decide whether the student should continue in the program.
 
 

Satisfactory Progress for the M.A.

Because so many factors influence students' satisfactory progress towards the degree, it is important for students to be aware of and to monitor their own progress. The following define the minimum limits for satisfactory progress for full-time students:

1. Maintain a 3.5 grade point average, with no course below B-, in each semester of graduate study, as well as remove all Incomplete grades by the first deadline for doing so. Students who fail to fulfill these requirements in any semester will be automatically placed on probation during the following semester and will be subject to possible dismissal;

2. Receive a satisfactory First-Year Evaluation in the spring semester of the first year of study.

Master's Examination

The Master's Examination Committee consists of three members of the faculty, at least two of whom are members of the Comparative Literature graduate faculty. The student's advisor normally chairs the Committee, and the other two members are chosen by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the student and his/her advisor.

Reading List for the Examination:

The student, in consultation with the Examination Committee, prepares lists of works in each of the following three areas: A) History of criticism from the Greeks to the present; B) a literary genre; C) a literary period. The reading list for A is set. Each of the other reading lists will consist of 15-20 primary texts. (The number of required titles for the genre will be increased if the student chooses short works; whatever the genre, the reading required should approximate that imposed by 15-20 novels.) The list, signed by the student and all members of the Examination Committee, must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval by the Graduate Studies Committee at least four weeks prior to the examination date.

The Master's Examination will consist of a one-hour oral exam at which at least two of the three members of the Examination Committee mujst be present.

Thesis Substitute for Master's Examination

Instead of taking the Master's Examination, students may substitute a thesis for the Master's Examination. The thesis must be on a substantive topic in Comparative Literature requiring original research. The student will form a committee of three faculty, at least two of whom must be from the comparative literature graduate faculty, who will supervise the project and give final approval. The student's committee and project proposal must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee prior to embarking on the thesis.