Literary Studies
Students pursuing the Literary Studies track will engage with a range of methodologies and critical perspectives associated with the study of literature. From survey courses organized around literature from different historical periods to courses devoted to exploring specific topics, the Literary Studies track provides students with opportunities to gain a more complete understanding of literature, literary history, and, more broadly, the world around us. Our award-winning professors specialize in an array of methods and theoretical models.
We teach courses about literatures in the American and British traditions and we teach students how to read from transnational perspectives. We also regularly offer courses on the topics of translation, gender/sexuality, race and ethnicity, narrative, medicine, material cultures, film, cities, disability, and the borderlands. The diverse course offerings in Literary Studies allow students to pursue their interests, develop specific skills, and, no less important, cultivate their love of reading. Students will read texts in light of various historical and social contexts and will learn cutting-edge theories about how to interpret and understand current issues, problems, and social concerns.
Choosing the Literary Studies track also means developing skills directly related to life beyond the university. Our students are proficient in critical and analytical thinking, multicultural literacy, interpersonal communication, and reading and writing—all skills highly valued in the workplace. As a student in this track, you will be training in emerging interdisciplinary fields that are the source of the newest exciting work in literary studies. These fields allow us to ask questions we never thought could be answered, questions that are now at the heart of the most important issues we face here in the 21st century. Join us in the study of literature and empower yourself to be a more conscientious citizen of the world.