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.
Back to Top 
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. Each student must
also complete two terms of work in doctoral seminars in comparative topics, and
one seminar in each of two minor fields (one of which has to be in literature
and literary theory) apart from the student's primary literature or field.
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.
TM. 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.
Back to Top
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.
Back to Top
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.
Back to Top
