Comparative Literature Program

In 2017 the Literature In Translation component of the curriculum was given a new direction with the creation of a position in Comparative Literature. This new direction is meant to open up the LIT offerings at Washington and Lee towards heightened degrees of multiculturalism, multi and trans-disciplinarity and various levels of comparative analyses among national literatures as well as between literature and other disciplines such as Literature and Philosophy, Literature and Religion, Literature and Psychology, Literature and Sociology, Literature and Politics, Literature and the Visual Arts.

Expected Student Learning Outcomes for LIT and Comparative Literature Courses

1. Acquire knowledge about literary aesthetic forms, genres, periods, movements, tropes.
2. Develop analytical and critical skills in the exploration of literary texts of diverse historical periods and genres.
3. Expand imaginative universes and develop interpretative skills in dealing with literary texts, images, structures.
4. Master strategies of analyses of literary languages and write cogently about aspects of artistic craft as well as thematic and topical trends and ideas.
5. Demonstrate understanding of historical, cultural, biographical, and socio-political contexts in which literary products emerge.