Comparative literature is the study of cultural expression across linguistic boundaries. At Brown, the Department of Comparative Literature is distinct in its conviction that literary research and instruction must be international in character, and its undergraduate and graduate programs are considered among the finest in the country. Undergraduate students study a generous range of literary works – from Western cultures, both ancient and modern, to Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic – to develop a critical understanding of how cultures differ from one another.
Comparative Literature
Comparative Literature
Comparative Literature
In the spirit of Brown's Open Curriculum, a concentration in Comparative Literature affords great academic freedom.
The graduate program in Comparative Literature at Brown offers a vigorous and comprehensive exploration of literature and culture.
Recent News
Check out the latest news in CompLit@Brown. You can find more stories on the News & Events page.
The Cogut Collaborative Humanities Fellowship supports graduate students at any stage of their pursuit of the Doctoral Certificate in Collaborative Humanities and relieves students in the second, third, or fourth year of their doctoral program from all teaching duties in their home department.
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The American Comparative Literature Association 2023 Annual Meeting is coming up later this month, and a handful of CompLit@Brown members will be presenting. The ACLA is the foremost scholarly organization in the US for scholars whose work encompasses multiple literatures and cultures as well as the intercultural study of literature.
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Brown University Library News
Brown Library Selects Comp Lit Prof. Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg’s Project for Digital Publication
In December 2022, the Brown University Library announced the selection of the next four scholarly works to be developed by Brown University Digital Publications. Of those four projects, the University Library, along with the Digital Publications Faculty Advisory Committee, selected the work of Comparative Literature Professor Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg’s.
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The Brown Daily Herald
Author R.F. Kuang addresses campus at comparative literature department event
Written by Comp Lit concentrator, Seoeun Choi: During her lecture, best-selling Chinese American fantasy author and translator Rebecca Kuang addressed the themes of mimicry, a practice where colonizers force colonies to take up the colonizer’s language, and the ambivalence of colonial discourse. “There’s something very sad about this mimicry … but it can also be an insurgent act,” she said. “Mimicry radically revalues the priority of race, writing and history. It deauthorizes the colonizer.”
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“What I Am Thinking About Now” is an informal workshop/seminar series where faculty and advanced students present recently published works and works in progress for early-stage feedback and development.
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