One of the Institute's primary goals is to provide institutional support for cross-disciplinary and
cross-regional comparative work, acknowledging the force of recent
changes in the humanities, the social sciences, law, and architecture.
The work of the Institute is fully historical in its range. Of particular
interest to the Institute is the post-Cold War rethinking of area studies
paradigms in relationship to new developments in the discipline of
comparative literature itself. Our curricular planning relies heavily
on cross-disciplinary team-teaching. In the curriculum, as well as in
our conferences, lecture series and workshops, we bring a
literature-focused study of language and culture to the area studies as
they rethink their mandate; and, conversely, we try to give substance
and recognition to those directions in comparative literature that can
benefit from the breadth of knowledge produced by a reshaped area
studies. In this effort, we work collaboratively with the social
sciences. The name of our endeavor -- Institute for Comparative Literature
and Society -- acknowledges that goal.
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