PhD in Comparative Literature in Urbana United States | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Comparative Literature Ph.D. program offers intensive education in diverse languages and literary traditions, comparative cultural approaches, and theoretical analysis, preparing graduates for academic and professional paths. Our international faculty and student body explore, instruct, and produce scholarship on literary works in numerous languages spanning various historical eras. The curriculum requires study of three or more national literatures and connected disciplines, forming a foundation for research in translation studies, intellectual history, gender and women's studies, film and media, Holocaust research, language diversity, postcolonial theory, environmental and medical humanities, global studies, and world literature. Scholars in our program additionally engage with areas intersecting with literature, such as visual arts, cinema, music, historical studies, legal theory, philosophical inquiry, and medical science.