Welcome to the Ph.D. in Comparative Studies!

At the heart of our program is our strong belief that human societies, cultures, languages, and literatures are most fruitfully understood through comparative modes of analysis that include an ever-changing landscape of theory and methodologies. The objectives of the CLL, CSP, and DAA programs are to  produce scholars who will teach at the university/college 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. While most graduates of the program will prepare for the challenges of the academy in an increasingly globalized society, others will prepare for a variety of nonacademic positions in public and private organizations.

The  CLL track  focuses primarily on humanities research and has areas of strength in Literature and Migration, Rhetoric and Composition, U.S. Multiethnic Literatures, Science Fiction, Early Modern Literatures, Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment, Modernity and Postmodernity, Space and Place in Literature, Postcolonial Literature and Culture, Literatures and Cultures of the Americas, and Peace, Justice and Human Rights.  

The  CSP track  focuses on social science research and has areas of strength in (Anthropology) sociocultural and medical anthropology, bioarcheology, ethnoarcheology, zooarchaeology, and primatology; (Sociology) studies of gender, agriculture, adulthood, adolescence, childhood, race, social class and economics; (Political Science) comparative politics, American politics, international relations, public policy and law, post-conflict resolution, democracy and democratization, political behavior, and quantitative methods.

The  DAA track  focuses on the philosophy of aesthetics and the fine arts, including especially somaesthetics (the specialty of Academic Program Head  Richard Shusterman), the theory and philosophy of design (a strength bolstered by a partnership with the Shenkar College of Engineering, Design, and Art in Ramat Gan Israel), architecture, visual art, visual culture, art history, and multimedia (including digital games). Musicology and theatrology are also possible academic paths.

The curriculum in each of these tracks also draws from many disciplines in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and across the broader university. With accomplished faculty and  Eminent Scholars, our program is proud to offer an innovative, rigorous, transdisciplinary course of study. Each year we offer to the most qualified candidates excellent teaching and research fellowships  (https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/comparativestudies/admiss/support/). Our faculty, students and staff collaborate in constructing an energetic, productive and pleasurable learning community.