The Graduate Program

Graduate Degree Programs: Full-Time: M.Phil., Ph.D.

The Institute for Comparative Literature and Society (ICLS) supports interdisciplinary work in the humanities and social sciences as well as in the professional schools (Law and Architecture, Planning and Preservation) and the regional institutes. The Center draws on a large number of comparatists in the language and literature departments as well as in related disciplines. Housed in the Center, the Interdepartmental Committee on Comparative Literature and Society combines rigorous training in the student's home Ph.D. program with the most advanced cross-disciplinary work in the study of comparative literature and society.

Admission

Entering students apply directly to a participating degree program (click here for complete list), clearly indicating their interest in Comparative Literature and Society on the cover of their application or in the subfield section in the Application Part 1. Continuing students may apply to ICLS after completing an M.A. degree in a national or area literature or by completing a comparable course of study in another discipline. Application forms are available on line. This training in a home discipline establishes the intellectual and linguistic foundation for comparative study and constitutes an important asset for later professional activity. Students in the language and literature departments; English; and Classics are eligible to earn the Ph.D. in the home department with a concentration in Comparative Literature and Society. Students in other humanities departments, social sciences departments, and in the Schools of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation; Law; and International and Public Affairs earn degrees in the home department and/or program and the Certificate in Comparative Literature and Society.

All interested students must take the course, Introduction to Comparative Literature and Society, in the first year of graduate study, continuing students in the first year after admission. Social science, Architecture, and Law students have the option of taking it in the second year with the DGS’s permission, if departmental requirements make it necessary. The main focus of Ph.D. work may be either one or more linguistic and literary tradition or work in history, anthropology, art history or other affiliated Columbia departments and schools. Upon receipt of the application, the Center sets up an advisory structure to determine the program of study for each student.

Financial Aid

A comprehensive program of financial aid, including fellowships and appointments in teaching, is available to Ph.D. students through ICLS or their home departments. After the first year, all Ph.D. students admitted to the program receive the prevailing annual stipend and appropriate tuition and health fees through the fifth year, provided that they remain in good academic standing.

Concentration (Language Departments) For the M.Phil. Degree

Courses are selected with the guidance of an advisor with a view toward the fields the student proposes to present at the M.Phil. qualifying examination as appropriate for the home Ph.D. program. The ICLS Director of Graduate Studies is also consulted.

Points of Credit: at least 24 points of graduate work at Columbia. Courses may be both in comparative topics, as offered by the various participating Ph.D. programs, and in the literature of a particular culture, if they are consistent with the student's program. All students are required to take the graduate course, G4900, Introduction to Comparative Literature and Society. Depending on the program structure in the student's home department, each student must also complete two courses chosen in consultation with the DGS of ICLS to emphasize comparative topics. He or she must also take two courses in a language that is not the primary subject of the dissertation research, reading texts in their original language (even in courses where class discussion is held in English). At least one of these courses must be on literature and/or literary theory.

Teaching requirement: participation in the instructional activities of one or more of the participating departments for three years. As a rule, in the second, third and fourth years of study, students gain exposure to teaching as assistants to professors in undergraduate courses, as section leaders in lecture courses, as language instructors or as instructors in the Undergraduate Writing Program. Students who are interested in broadening their teaching apprenticeships are eligible to apply to teach in the undergraduate Core Program, once they have received the M.Phil.

Language requirements vary in each student's program, but in general a Ph.D. candidate is expected to read at least one language other than his or her native tongue to the standard of an undergraduate major before the candidate is admitted to the M.Phil. Program, and to acquire, in the case of the language and literature departments, the same ability in at least two more languages before taking the qualifying examination. It is assumed by ICLS that works in the student's area of specialization are read in the original. The committee furnishes guidelines to advisors on the subject of language qualifications and arranges examinations.

As the alternative to the second required language, students may present a sequence of three courses emphasizing method and theory in another discipline.

M. Phil. Qualifying examination: to be conducted by a board of examiners chosen in consultation with the student's faculty adviser. The precise form of the examination depends on the student's program, but the general requirements are the same as in the student’s home department. The M.Phil examination is administered at and by ICLS. At least one member of the M.Phil committee must have comparativist teaching and research interests.

For the Ph.D.

Dissertation: With the approval of a dissertation prospectus committee where at least one member is interested in Comparative Literature and Society, and with the approval of the ICLS Executive Committee, students may begin working on the dissertation after being awarded the M.Phil. degree, in the home Ph.D. Program and in ICLS. To obtain this approval, the candidate must submit to the committee a detailed prospectus (approximately 10 pages in length), together with a brief bibliography of works to be examined and sources to be used. The prospectus should be given to the Director of Graduate Studies within six months after the orals. It should describe both the topic and the methods the student plans to use. Students should consult their advisers and the Center's Director or the Director of Graduate Studies before drawing up the prospectus. Students should secure not only a sponsor from the list of departmentally approved Ph.D. faculty sponsors, but also a second reader in order to receive advice on the project and on drafts at all stages. After the proposal has been submitted with the signatures of the sponsor and the second reader, the ICLS Executive Committee votes to decide whether or not to accept the proposal.

Defense and Deposit: The dissertation is defended by oral examination before a committee including the sponsor, the second reader, a third reader with a specific interest in comparative literature and society, and two other faculty selected from outside the list of participating faculty listed above whose fields are appropriate to the candidate's dissertation subject. the defense is administered by and at ICLS. After successfully defending the dissertation, students must deposit it before receiving the degree.

The Certificate in Comparative Literature and Society (Social Sciences)

The certificate is granted by the Graduate School on the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society. The certificate is intended for students in the social sciences or other nonliterary fields who pursue cross-disciplinary work that couples social scientific investigation with hermeneutic and semiotic questions about the construction of meaning as traditionally pursued in the humanities. Candidates for the certificate are expected to declare their interest in ICLS at the time of application, and their candidacy as soon as possible after admission to the Graduate School. They are required to meet with the Director of Graduate Studies at the Center who assigns an appropriate ICLS-affiliated faculty member as adviser. Candidates are expected to discuss their programs of certificate study with their advisers at the beginning of each term. Both the ICLS adviser and the adviser in the candidate's home Ph.D. program countersign a statement of the student's program during the registration period of each term of candidacy.

Requirements: (1) either, for those who enter the Graduate School with the B.A. or B.S., the completion of the requirements for the M.A. degree in the candidate's department; or, for those who enter the Graduate School with an M.A. from another institution or with academic achievements that qualify for two terms of advanced standing, the completion of the requirements for the M.Phil. degree in the candidate's department; (2) 24 points (or seven courses), of which 12 points must be taken for E-credit. These seven courses include the Introduction to Comparative Literature and Society (E-credit); two ICLS seminars that are team taught by humanities and social science faculty (one of which must be taken for E credit); one cross-listed comparative literature and society course offered by any one of the literature departments; three courses in the student's home Ph.D. program that require readings in a language other than English; (3) advanced proficiency in a language other than English, which must be fulfilled before a candidate enters the program

For M. Phil and dissertation requirements, please see above.