Welcome to the Comparative Literature Program

Comparative Literature at UNC-Chapel Hill (CMPL) builds upon a strong foundation of foreign language learning, to promote the comparison of national literatures in their original languages as well as to enable the study of literary theory and interdisciplinary approaches to literature. CMPL's scope has been international and multicultural, reaching across boundaries of many sorts, including not only national and linguistic boundaries, but also disciplinary and cultural ones. CMPL exposes students to a number of approaches without exclusive adoption of any one of them.

CMPL students consider such issues as: What is literature? What is its relationship to language, philosophy, and religion, to political and social movements, to such arts as painting, music, and film, and to culture generally? How do literary movements originate and find expression across national boundaries? What critical approaches or reading strategies are most appropriate to any given text?

Contact Information

Mark Richardson, Undergraduate Literature Program Assistant
Dr. Inger Brodey, Dir. Undergrauate Studies
Dr. Jessica Wolfe, Dir. Graduate Studies
Dr. Eric Downing, Dir. Program of CMPL
Dr. Beverly Taylor, Chair Dept. English and CMPL