Students already in the program may receive the AM degree, but application for admission must be made to the PhD program.
Students take a combination of Comparative Literature courses and courses in the departments of their elected literary fields. Courses in other disciplines may be included when appropriate in individual programs. Most of the department’s faculty also participate in one of the other departments of language and literature; members of those departments are regularly engaged in the work of this department and are generally available upon request for consultation.
All graduate students in the department are required to take the Proseminar (Comp. Lit. 299ar) during their first year of residence; candidates for the doctorate are encouraged also to take at least one further course in theory and method, critical, historical, or linguistic.
The only exception to this policy is for undergraduates in Harvard College with advanced standing who may apply to work toward a combined AB/AM degree. To obtain this degree the candidate must complete eight half-courses. One of these half-courses must be the Proseminar, another one must be in Comparative Literature, and the remaining six must include three in the first literature and two in the second literature. No more than one of the eight half-courses may be a reading course. Candidates are required to have at least as many 200-level as 100-level courses, and only in rare exceptions will courses below the 100-level be allowed to count toward the degree. The candidate must demonstrate proficiency in three languages, one of which may be English.
Students take a combination of Comparative Literature courses and courses in the departments of their elected literary fields. Courses in other disciplines may be included when appropriate in individual programs. Most of the department’s faculty also participate in one of the other departments of language and literature; members of those departments are regularly engaged in the work of this department and are generally available upon request for consultation.
All graduate students in the department are required to take the Proseminar (Comp. Lit. 299ar) during their first year of residence; candidates for the doctorate are encouraged also to take at least one further course in theory and method, critical, historical, or linguistic.
The only exception to this policy is for undergraduates in Harvard College with advanced standing who may apply to work toward a combined AB/AM degree. To obtain this degree the candidate must complete eight half-courses. One of these half-courses must be the Proseminar, another one must be in Comparative Literature, and the remaining six must include three in the first literature and two in the second literature. No more than one of the eight half-courses may be a reading course. Candidates are required to have at least as many 200-level as 100-level courses, and only in rare exceptions will courses below the 100-level be allowed to count toward the degree. The candidate must demonstrate proficiency in three languages, one of which may be English.