Greetings from the Director!
Welcome to the website of the Ph.D. in Comparative Studies. Our programs seek to provide students at the doctoral level with training that goes beyond the margins of purely discipline-based research. At the same time, enrollment in any of the Ph.D. programs provides students with a solid grounding in several disciplines. This is mainly done through course work, research, colloquia and lecture series, and other aspects of interaction with graduate students and faculty.
There are three programs in the Ph.D. in Comparative Studies: the Public Intellectuals Program (PI), the Program in Literatures, Literacies & Linguistics (LLL), and the Program in Fine and Performing Arts (FPA). The goal of the Public Intellectuals Program is to combine theoretical with concrete analysis, preparing students who are theoretically confident and knowledgeable about the world they hope to understand and change. The objectives of the LLL Program are to produce scholars who will be able to teach at the university level in more than one academic discipline and in interdisciplinary programs, and who will be able to conduct research that crosses over traditional boundaries in an effort to develop new insights. The mission of the FPA Program is to provide a breadth of training and experience across the traditional divisions of the Arts for those who already have developed professional skills in one or more areas, such as dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts.
Studying for the Ph.D. in Comparative Studies is a rigorous venture, to be sure, as one commits to a period of intense reading, analysis, and writing. At the same time, we are confident that the various modes of interaction by which students navigate their course work assist in constructing an energetic, productive, and pleasurable learning community.
We look forward to welcoming you into one of our unique intellectual programs.
Sincerely,
Susan Love Brown
Interim Director
