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Major: Bachelor of Arts
MajorOverview
The undergraduate program in Comparative Literature aims to develop students’ verbal and written communication skills, their ability to read analytically and critically, and their global knowledge of literary cultures and the specific properties of literary texts. The program allows students to study imaginative literature with several methods and a consciousness of methodology.
A Comparative Literature major prepares a student as a reader and interpreter of literature through the sophisticated examination of texts and by developing a critical vocabulary with which to discuss them. Along with providing core courses that introduce students to significant literary phenomena in a comparative frame, the program of study accommodates the interests of students in areas such as specific regions, historical periods, and interdisciplinary connections between literature and other fields such as philosophy, music, the visual arts, gender, and queer theory, and race and ethnicity. Attention to verbal expression and interpretive argument serves students who will proceed into careers requiring strong language and communication skills and cross-cultural knowledge of the world.
Requirements
Core Program Requirements
Gateway
This gateway to the major is usually taken by the end of sophomore year. This course fulfills the Writing in the Major requirement.
COMPLIT 101
What Is Comparative Literature?
Core Courses
COMPLIT 121
Poems, Poetry, Worlds
COMPLIT 122
Literature as Performance:
COMPLIT 123
The Novel
All courses applied to the major must be taken for a letter grade, and a grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or better must be achieved in each core course.
Electives
Overview & Requirements
Majors must complete at least 40 units of electives.
15 of the 40 units must be COMPLIT courses (excluding COMPLIT 194). The remaining courses should form a coherent intellectual focus requiring approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). They may be drawn from Comparative Literature offerings, other literature departments, or other fields of interdisciplinary relevance.
Language classes taken for a letter grade (excluding conversational courses) and up to ten units of SLE or COLLEGE courses taught at least partially by a Comparative Literature Department faculty member may be counted towards the elective requirement.
Electives are subject to Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) consultation and approval.
Foreign Language Proficiency Notation (optional)
Students whose major concentration involves languages other than their native language(s) are encouraged to receive the Foreign Language Proficiency Notation. The Stanford Language Center administers the Foreign Language Proficiency Notation, which involves an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and Writing Proficiency Test, and results in a notation on the student’s official Stanford transcript. Successful completion of the OPI is required to proceed with the WPT.
Students are recommended to take the OPI in or before the Winter of their senior year.
Writing in the Major (WIM)
Writing in the Major (WIM)
This gateway to the major is usually taken by the end of sophomore year.
COMPLIT 101
What Is Comparative Literature?
Capstone
Comparative Literature Capstone Experience
This senior seminar is designed as a culmination to the course of study while providing reflection on the nature of the discipline. Topics vary.
COMPLIT 199
Senior Seminar
Comparative Literature and Philosophy Subplan Capstone Experience
Philosophy and Literature Capstone Seminar
Students should discuss their choice of capstone seminar with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Faculty Advisor for Philosophy.
Honors Thesis
Students majoring in any DLCL department (i.e., Comparative Literature, French and Italian, German Studies, Iberian and Latin American Cultures, and Slavic Languages and Literatures) who have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 or above and who maintain a 3.5 (GPA) in their major courses, are eligible to participate in the DLCL’s honors program.
See the Honors webpage opens in a new tab for more information.
Program Requirements
To earn honors, students must complete a minimum of 9 units (3 units per quarter), submit a thesis, and present at the Honors Colloquium at the end of their senior year.
DLCL 189H
Honors Thesis Writing
This option is only available if accepted into the Honors program.
5,000-word Topic Paper
The student will write a 5,000-word paper on a topic of their choosing, serving as the culmination of their work in the field.
To write the paper, students must enroll in a 3-unit, letter-grade independent study with a faculty member (or affiliate) in the Philosophy and Literature Focal Group. The paper must involve philosophy and literature, and the faculty member must approve the topic by the add/drop deadline.
Subplans
OptionalComparative Literature and Philosophy Subplan
Subplan Policies:
The Comparative Literature and Philosophy subplan requires 66 units. Students interested in this option should review the Philosophy and Literature website opens in a new tab.
Substitutions and transfer credits are generally not permitted for the PHIL 170 series class or the PHIL 180 series class and are never permitted for PHIL 80, COMPLIT 181, or the capstone seminar.
Units devoted to acquiring language proficiency are not counted toward the Comparative Literature and Philosophy subplan 66-unit requirement.
Philosophy and Literature Gateway Course
This course should be taken as early as possible in the student's career, normally in the sophomore year.
COMPLIT 181
Philosophy and Literature
Philosophy Literature Requirements
PHIL 80
Mind, Matter, and Meaning
Aesthetics, Ethics, Political Philosophy
Substitutions and transfer credits are generally not permitted for the PHIL 170 series class.
PHIL 170
Ethical Theory
PHIL 170B
Metaphor
PHIL 171
Justice
PHIL 171P
Liberalism and its Critics
PHIL 172
History of Modern Moral Philosophy
PHIL 172B
The History of Early Modern Political Philosophy: Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke
PHIL 174
Ethics Beyond Consequences
PHIL 174L
Justice Across Borders
PHIL 175
Philosophy of Law
PHIL 175A
Ethics and Politics of Public Service
PHIL 175W
Philosophy of Law: Protest, Punishment, and Racial Justice
PHIL 176
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition
PHIL 176A
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought
PHIL 176J
Democracy Ancient and Modern: From Politics to Political Theory
PHIL 176L
That Mortal God: Deifying the Political in Early Modern Politics
PHIL 176M
Meritocracy
PHIL 176P
Democratic Theory
PHIL 176T
Moral Responsibility & Free Will
Language, Mind, Metaphysics, and Epistemology
Substitutions and transfer credits are generally not permitted for the PHIL 180 series classes.
PHIL 180
Metaphysics
PHIL 181
Philosophy of Language
PHIL 181A
Philosophy of Language
PHIL 181B
Topics in Philosophy of Language
PHIL 181C
Linguistic Justice
PHIL 181E
External World Skepticism
PHIL 182D
Ethical Anti-theory
PHIL 182H
Truth
PHIL 182J
Theories of Consciousness
PHIL 184
Epistemology
PHIL 184B
Formal Epistemology
PHIL 184D
Collective Epistemology and Shared Inquiry
PHIL 184P
Philosophy of Probability
PHIL 185J
The Philosophy and Science of Perception
PHIL 186
Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 187
Philosophy of Action
PHIL 187B
Responsibility and the Criminal Law
PHIL 188A
Explanation
PHIL 188B
Undergrad Seminar: Striving and the Nature of Belief
PHIL 189
Reduction and Grounding
History of Philosophy
Complete at least 2 courses from the PHIL100-199 course sets.
PHIL 100
The History of Ancient Greek Philosophy
PHIL 102
Modern Philosophy, Descartes to Kant
PHIL 104
Normativity in Ancient Greek Metaethics
PHIL 106
Ancient Greek Skepticism
PHIL 107B
Plato's Later Metaphysics and Epistemology
PHIL 107C
Plato's Timaeus
PHIL 108
Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Alpha
PHIL 108A
Logic, Language, and Material Text in the Aristotelian Tradition
PHIL 108B
Aristotle's Physics Book One
PHIL 108C
Topics in Aristotle: Aristotle on Potentiality
PHIL 109A
Special Topics in Ancient Philosophy: Logic and Metaphysics in Ancient Greek Philosophy
PHIL 110C
The Stoics on Freedom and Determinism
PHIL 111
Aristotle's Posterior Analytics
PHIL 112
Contemporary Virtue Ethics and its Critics
PHIL 113
Hellenistic Philosophy
PHIL 113A
Porphyry's Introduction to Logic
PHIL 113E
Hellenistic Ethics
PHIL 114
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
PHIL 115A
Ancient Democratic Theory and Contemporary Problems of Latin American Democracy
PHIL 116C
Happiness and Tragedy in Ancient and Modern Philosophy
PHIL 117
Descartes
PHIL 118
Origins of Empiricism
PHIL 119
Spinoza's Metaphysics
PHIL 124P
What Makes You Tick? An Introduction to Affective Science
PHIL 125
Kant's First Critique
PHIL 127
Kant's Foundations of Morality, 2nd Critique
PHIL 128
Kant and German Idealism
PHIL 131
Introduction to Phenomenology
PHIL 132
Phenomenology: Merleau-Ponty
PHIL 134A
Phenomenology: Animals
PHIL 134B
The Normal and the Pathological
PHIL 135X
Citizenship
PHIL 136
History of Ethics. Central Questions in Ethical Theory: Sidgwick and Alternatives
PHIL 137
Wittgenstein
PHIL 138
Parting of the Ways: Origins of the Analytic/Continental Divide
PHIL 138W
The History of Analytic Philosophy, 1884-1950
PHIL 141F
Frege
PHIL 148
Taboo Topics: Adventures in Critical Thinking
PHIL 150
Mathematical Logic
PHIL 151
Metalogic
PHIL 151D
Measurement Theory
PHIL 152
Computability and Logic
PHIL 154
Modal Logic
PHIL 155
Topics in Mathematical Logic: Non-Classical Logic
PHIL 157
Decision Theory
PHIL 158
Philosophy of Logic
PHIL 160
Philosophy of Science
PHIL 161C
What Makes a Good Explanation? Philosophical, Psychological and Computational Perspectives
PHIL 162
Philosophy of Mathematics
PHIL 164
Scientific Realism, Perspectivism, and Antirealism
PHIL 165
Philosophy of Physics: Space, Time and Motion
PHIL 167D
Philosophy of Neuroscience
PHIL 167E
Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology
PHIL 168R
Philosophy of Biology
PHIL 170
Ethical Theory
PHIL 170B
Metaphor
PHIL 171
Justice
PHIL 171P
Liberalism and its Critics
PHIL 172
History of Modern Moral Philosophy
PHIL 172B
The History of Early Modern Political Philosophy: Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke
PHIL 173
The Birth of Modern Moral Philosophy
PHIL 173A
Moral Psychology
PHIL 173B
Undergraduate Introduction to Metaethics
PHIL 174
Ethics Beyond Consequences
PHIL 174L
Justice Across Borders
PHIL 175
Philosophy of Law
PHIL 175A
Ethics and Politics of Public Service
PHIL 175W
Philosophy of Law: Protest, Punishment, and Racial Justice
PHIL 176
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition
PHIL 176A
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought
PHIL 176J
Democracy Ancient and Modern: From Politics to Political Theory
PHIL 176L
That Mortal God: Deifying the Political in Early Modern Politics
PHIL 176M
Meritocracy
PHIL 176P
Democratic Theory
PHIL 176T
Moral Responsibility & Free Will
PHIL 177R
Philosophy of Social Science
PHIL 178
Ethics in Society Honors Seminar
PHIL 178M
Introduction to Environmental Ethics
PHIL 179B
Feminist Ethics
PHIL 179R
Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 180
Metaphysics
PHIL 181
Philosophy of Language
PHIL 181A
Philosophy of Language
PHIL 181B
Topics in Philosophy of Language
PHIL 181C
Linguistic Justice
PHIL 181E
External World Skepticism
PHIL 182D
Ethical Anti-theory
PHIL 182H
Truth
PHIL 182J
Theories of Consciousness
PHIL 184
Epistemology
PHIL 184B
Formal Epistemology
PHIL 184D
Collective Epistemology and Shared Inquiry
PHIL 184P
Philosophy of Probability
PHIL 185J
The Philosophy and Science of Perception
PHIL 186
Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 187
Philosophy of Action
PHIL 187B
Responsibility and the Criminal Law
PHIL 188A
Explanation
PHIL 188B
Undergrad Seminar: Striving and the Nature of Belief
PHIL 189
Reduction and Grounding
PHIL 193C
Film & Philosophy
PHIL 194A
Capstone seminar: Imagination in Fiction and Philosophy
PHIL 194B
Capstone Seminar: Montaigne
PHIL 194C
Capstone Seminar: Consciousness and Acquaintance
PHIL 194D
Capstone Seminar: How Virtual is Reality, and Vice Versa
PHIL 194E
Capstone Seminar: When Bad People Create Beautiful Things
PHIL 194F
Capstone seminar: Beauty and Other Forms of Value
PHIL 194G
Capstone Seminar: Visual Representation and Visual Narrative
PHIL 194H
Capstone Seminar: What is Explanation?
PHIL 194J
Capstone Seminar: Other Minds
PHIL 194K
Capstone Seminar: The Metaphysics of Consciousness
PHIL 194P
Capstone Seminar: The Meaning of Life
PHIL 194T
Capstone Seminar: Practical Reason
PHIL 194W
Capstone Seminar: Imagination in Fiction and Philosophy
PHIL 194Y
Capstone seminar: Metaphilosophy
PHIL 196
Honors Tutorial, Senior Year
PHIL 197
Individual Work, Undergraduate
PHIL 197C
Curricular Practical Training
PHIL 198
The Dualist, Undergraduate Philosophy Association
PHIL 199
Seminar for Prospective Honors Students
Up to five units of SLE may be counted in place of one of these two courses.
Philosophy and Literature
Two upper-division courses relevant to the study of philosophy and literature as identified by the committee in charge of the program. A list of approved courses may be found on the Philosophy and Literature website opens in a new tab.
Second Literary Tradition
One course, typically in translation, in a literature distant from that of the student’s concentration and offering an outside perspective on that literary tradition.
Comparative Literature Electives
The remaining two courses must be instructed by the Comparative Literature faculty and approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Up to five units of SLE may be counted instead of one of these two courses.
Senior Seminar
This is a requirement in addition to the capstone option for students who declare this subplan.
COMPLIT 199
Senior Seminar
Honors
OptionalHonors
Overview & Requirements
Students majoring in any DLCL department (i.e., Comparative Literature, French and Italian, German Studies, Iberian and Latin American Cultures, and Slavic Languages and Literatures) who have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 or above and who maintain a 3.5 (GPA) in their major courses, are eligible to participate in the DLCL’s honors program.
See the Honors webpage opens in a new tab for more information.
Program Requirements
To earn honors, students must complete a minimum of 9 units (3 units per quarter), submit a thesis, and present at the Honors Colloquium at the end of their senior year.
DLCL 189H
Honors Thesis Writing