Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies
The Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (CLCS) major at FUS invites students to become active, astute and creative participants in today's globalized world through an understanding of the nature, function and impact of storytelling across literatures and cultures. The topic-based courses in CLCS take the insights of how narrative works in different literary genres and linguistic traditions and applies them to other fields, such as law, environmental studies, history, film and visual culture, and politics. In other words, we not only deploy literature as a window on the world, but we also ask how the world is molded by the stories we tell about it.
By emphasizing literary criticism, cultural theory and textual analysis, students are trained to become nuanced critics of the narrative forms and structures that provide the framework for cultural phenomena. By comparing a wide range of cultural narratives, CLCS majors gain a cross-disciplinary perspective on contemporary challenges as they learn to navigate multiple discourses and to propose creative, ethical solutions for the world.
This approach is not only theoretical, but also experiential and hands-on, with on-site travel courses and professional pathways playing a key role in student learning. On Academic Travel, for instance, CLCS majors study how collective memory in the wake of the Holocaust is shaped in Poland, Germany and France; they consider how culture and place shape and determine our food choices in Europe; how capital cities like Paris and Berlin become protagonists of our lives and narratives; and they explore, in a variety of global contexts, how LGBTQ+ identity politics are celebrated and problematized.
In professional pathways, students are encouraged to investigate human rights and policy; ethics, food and sustainability; or storytelling and performance across media, by using a key CLCS course to lead into a number of courses in related disciplines so as to afford an interdisciplinary perspective. Those who wish to gain hands-on experience in the field may opt to complete an internship option.
The professions embarked on by CLCS students typically include careers in academia, entrepreneurial initiatives, law, teaching, cultural consultancy and diplomacy, media production, political advocacy and government. Some top CLCS graduates have been successfully admitted to advanced degree programs, in various academic areas, at some of the most prestigious universities around the world including Cambridge, Oxford and Columbia.
Major Requirements (42 Credits)
The Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (CLCS) major curriculum is interdisciplinary and topic-based, providing in-depth exploration of specific cultural phenomena. Interdisciplinary streams designed to link to specific professional pathways further distinguish the CLCS major in its flexibility and responsiveness to student initiatives. Students participate in the design of the professional pathways by choosing three additional courses in consultation with CLCS faculty and their major advisor (see description below).
Foundation Courses (6 Credits)
Two of the following, one of which must be LC 100 or LC 110:
| CRW 100 | Introduction to Creative Writing | 3 |
| LC 100 | The Stories We Live By | 3 |
| LC 110 | Reading Cultures: Approaches to Cultural Studies | 3 |
| LC 150 | Reading Film | 3 |
Major Courses (6 courses; 18 Credits)
200-level courses
Three of the following, at least two of which must have a CLCS prefix:
CLCS 199
| First Year Seminar in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies | |
| CLCS 200 | Gender and Sexuality in a Global Context | 3 |
| CLCS 220T | Inventing the Past: The Uses of Memory in a Changing World | 3 |
| CLCS 225 | Music and Popular Culture from the 1950s to the 1990s | 3 |
| CLCS 230 | Science / Fiction: Envisioning the Possible | 3 |
| CLCS 238T | Reading the Postcolonial City: Berlin and Hamburg | 3 |
| CLCS 241 | Forbidden Acts: Queer Studies and Performance | 3 |
| CLCS 242 | Representations of Poverty in Literature, Film and the Media | 3 |
| CLCS 243 | The Cultural Politics of Sports | 3 |
| CLCS 244 | Enslaved: American Slavery and its Legacies in Literature, Film and Culture | 3 |
| CLCS 247T | French Cultural Institutions: Power and Representation | 3 |
| CLCS 248T | European Food Systems: You Are Where You Eat | 3 |
| CLCS 250 | Ecocritical Approaches to Film | 3 |
| CLCS 253T | On Refugees: Representations, Politics and Realities of Forced Migration: Greece | 3 |
| IS 274 | Italian and Italian-American Cinema | 3 |
| LIT 243 | On Being Human | 3 |
| LIT 254 | Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures and Theories | 3 |
| LIT 258 | Literary Adaptations | 3 |
300-level courses
Three of the following, at least two of which must have a CLCS prefix:
| CLCS 300 | Masculinities in Literature and Film | 3 |
| CLCS 320 | Culture, Class, Cuisine: Questions of Taste | 3 |
| CLCS 330 | The Politics of Mobility: Exile and Immigration | 3 |
| CLCS 350 | Culture and Human Rights | 3 |
| CLCS 360 | Critical Race Studies in a Global Context | 3 |
CLCS 370
| Topics in Literary and Cultural Studies | 3 |
| CLCS 371 | Law and Culture | 3 |
| CLCS 372 | Tales of Catastrophe | 3 |
| CRW 325 | Advanced Creative Writing Workshop | 3 |
| GER 376 | Screening Swissness: An Introduction to Swiss-German Film | 3 |
| GER 374 | Strangers in Paradise?: Historical and Cultural Texts on Immigration into Switzerland | 3 |
| FRE 374 | Introduction to French Cinema | 3 |
| FRE 376 | French Cinema: The New Wave | 3 |
| ITA 375 | Italian Film Adaptation: From the Page to the Screen | 3 |
| LIT 305 | Home | 3 |
Professional Pathways and Interdisciplinary Approaches (3 courses in addition to the CLCS foundation course: 12 credits)
Four courses (12 credits) within one of four interdisciplinary, professional pathways as designated below to complement one topic-based CLCS course already completed in the major courses. One of these professional pathway courses may take the form of an internship (CLCS 498). Students may also create their own pathway in close consultation with their advisor. Individually designed professional pathways must be approved by the advisor and the department chair. No overlap allowed with major courses. Please note that upper-division courses may have pre-requisites.
Food and Sustainability:
| CLCS 320 | Culture, Class, Cuisine: Questions of Taste | 3 |
| Or | |
| CLCS 248T | European Food Systems: You Are Where You Eat | 3 |
Three of the following:
| COM 230T | Communication, Fashion, and the Formation of Taste (Italy) | 3 |
| ENV 200 | Understanding Environmental Issues | 3 |
| ENV 220 | Ecocritical Approaches to Literature | 3 |
| SJS 100 | Sustainability and Social Justice: Ethics, Equality, and Environments | 3 |
CLCS 498
| Internship | 3 |
Human Rights and the Non-Profit Sector:
Three of the following:
| BUS 135 | Introduction to Business Systems | 3 |
| HIS 325 | Human Rights in History | 3 |
| LIT 254 | Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures and Theories | 3 |
| POL 321 | International Organization | 3 |
| POL 398 | Human Rights in International Law and Politics | 3 |
| PSY 220 | Multicultural Psychology | 3 |
CLCS 498
| Internship | 3 |
Law:
Three of the following:
| HIS 273 | History of the United States | 3 |
| POL 208 | Introduction to the United States Constitution and Legal System | 3 |
| POL 321 | International Organization | 3 |
| POL 311 | Contemporary Diplomacy | 3 |
CLCS 498
| Internship | 3 |
Storytelling and Performance:
| CLCS 230 | Science / Fiction: Envisioning the Possible | 3 |
| Or | |
| CLCS 241 | Forbidden Acts: Queer Studies and Performance | 3 |
Three of the following:
| AHT 334 | Artists' Biopics | 3 |
| IS 278 | Italian Genre Crossings, Transmedia, and Hybridity | 3 |
| IS 280T | Italian Cinema on Location: Projections of the Eternal City in Italian Film and Cultural Studies | 3 |
| LIT 255T | Scotland, Story and Song | 3 |
| LIT 258 | Literary Adaptations | 3 |
CLCS 498
| Internship | 3 |
Capstone Requirement (6 Credits)
The CLCS capstone includes a first semester of research in preparation for the second semester of thesis or internship work.
| LC 497 | Capstone: Comprehensive Readings in CLCS and Literature | 3 |
One of the following:
| LC 498 | Capstone: Internship in CLCS or Literature | 3 |
| LC 499 | Capstone: Thesis in CLCS or Literature | 3 |
A thesis is recommended for students interested in pursuing graduate studies. An internship is recommended for students interested in entering a professional field. Students should take the first capstone course in their penultimate semester or in the second semester of their junior year.
It is strongly recommended that CLCS majors take at least one Academic Travel course with a CLCS, LIT or LC designation.