Comparative Literature Department
Master's Degree Requirements
M.A. Coursework Requirements
Course Requirements
1) A minimum of 30 credit hours, 20 credit hours of which must be in Comparative Literature, including C501 and C502, one course on European literature in the pre-modern period (C505, C521, C523, or C525), and one course on European literature in the modern period (C506, C529, C533, C535, C537, or C538). The remaining 10 credit hours required for the M.A. may come from courses in Comparative Literature or other departments related to the student’s studies in literature. Students must take all required courses during their first four semesters of study in the Comparative Literature Department. A student majoring in Comparative Literature who receives a grade of C+ or lower in any of these courses must repeat the course (under the same or different instructor).
2) In addition, M.A. students must complete a proseminar chosen from the graduate courses in Comparative Literature that students have not used to fulfill other course requirements. With the consent of the instructor, any graduate course in Comparative Literature can meet this requirement, except C501, C502, C505, C506 and C507. The requirement is met by taking a graduate course in which the student has the opportunity to:
a. Write a research paper that develops an original thesis or idea;
b. Orally defend a preliminary version of the paper;
c. Revise the paper in light of the questions raised at the oral discussion, and submit to the instructor a revised version with the critical and scholarly apparatus appropriate to a publishable article.
The requirement does not stipulate that the paper be read or otherwise presented in class, only that it be defended in class. A student need not take a course conducted entirely as a proseminar, but may, with the permission of the instructor, carry out the required activities in a course which other students are not taking as a proseminar. Forms to certify completion of a proseminar are available from the Graduate Studies Office.
WARNING: Only the courses listed in the latest version of the University Graduate School Bulletin carry graduate credit. Students are also responsible for ascertaining if a course they may wish to take in a foreign language, applied music, or another supplementary area will count for a specific degree.
A student should take no more than 35 hours of graduate course work (excluding C805 credit) without first completing the M.A. degree: if a student exceeds these credit hours before being admitted to the Ph.D. program, the Department will determine which credit hours beyond 35 (if any) will count toward the Ph.D. requirements. Though the Graduate School sets a limit of five years on completion of all M.A. degree requirements, the Department expects students to complete the M.A. requirements within three years.
Upon completion of the Master’s Degree requirements, students will have to petition to enter the Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature. Students must submit a letter indicating their desire to enter the Ph.D. program, a new statement of purpose, along with three letters of recommendation supporting their admission to the doctoral program in Comparative Literature. (Please contact the Graduate Studies Office for further information). Admission to the Ph.D. program in Comparative Literature is by no means an automatic procedure: internal applications are evaluated on the same basis as external applications.
Grad G599 Thesis Research (0 cr.)
Under new SEVIS regulations, international students must be registered when they are pursuing research for master’s theses, presentations, projects, etc. The Graduate School has instituted a course number that can be used for this purpose: GRAD G599 Thesis Research (0 cr.). Master’s students who have enrolled in 30 or more hours of graduate course work applicable to their degree and who have completed all other requirements of the degree except the thesis or final project or performance may enroll in G599. This course requires section authorization. All international students who meet these requirements and who will not be enrolled in any other course are advised to enroll in G599. This practice will help assure that their student status in the U.S. is not compromised.
Language Requirements
Entering graduate students are normally expected to have a good command of at least one foreign language. They will ultimately need reading proficiency in two foreign languages to obtain the M.A. degree. An M.A. candidate’s second language must be certified by the end of the second year of study. Reading proficiency in a foreign language may be certified in the following ways:
1) Receiving a grade of B or higher in a graduate-level literature course or an undergraduate literature course at the 300 or 400 level in which the assigned readings are in the foreign language. The student must obtain the instructor’s signature on the certification form available from the Graduate Studies Office. For students entering in Fall 2001 and later, successful completion of the 491/492 course sequence in a foreign language will not be accepted by itself as certification of reading proficiency.
2) Passing an examination in translation of literary texts in a foreign language administered by the Comparative Literature Department in consultation with faculty in other departments. One date will be scheduled for language exams each semester.
Please see Guidelines for Comparative Literature Foreign Language Reading Proficiency Exams. For students entering in Fall 2001 and later, passing grades on foreign language placement exams offered by other departments will not be accepted by themselves as certification of reading proficiency.
3) Students whose native language is not English may request certification of English as one of their foreign languages. Prior to registration for classes, all new students at IUB whose native language is not English are required to take an English Language Proficiency Test administered by the Indiana University Center for English Language Training (CELT) in Memorial Hall, Room 319. When students have passed this proficiency test, they may request permission to designate English as a foreign language by obtaining a form from the Comparative Literature Graduate Studies Office to complete and sign. This form will then go to the Director of Graduate Studies and then the Graduate School Dean for their approval.
The Department’s foreign language requirements reflect the need for graduate students to achieve a level of reading knowledge suitable for literary analysis. The Department therefore encourages students to take at least one advanced literature course in a foreign language. For the first foreign language, students will normally be expected to certify reading proficiency by successfully completing a graduate-level literature course in which the required readings are in the foreign language. For the second foreign language, students may instead choose to certify reading proficiency by successfully completing an undergraduate literature course in the foreign language at the 300 or 400 levels or by passing an examination in translation of literary passes administered by the Department.
The Department does not specify which foreign languages students choose to fulfill their degree requirements; but it does stress the important link between language proficiency and scholarly achievement in Comparative Literature. Students should consider both what previous language training they can utilize to achieve the required certifications for their degree programs most efficiently and which languages will be necessary in the research areas students hope to pursue, especially in the master’s project but also in doctoral study. For example, students will be expected to quote literary texts in their original language in the master’s projects and doctoral dissertation. Students should therefore consult with their mentors and other faculty members in order to make informed choices for language study.
Guidelines for Comparative Literature Foreign Language Reading Proficiency Exams
1) Students should send the Director of Graduate Studies a written request for an exam at least 30 days prior to the date on which they wish to take a translation exam to certify reading proficiency in a foreign language. This request should specify the language to be tested and propose the date for taking the exam.
2) The Director of Graduate Studies will ask the Translation Studies Committee to work with the members of the Comparative Literature faculty (or members of another department, as needed) to choose an examiner to prepare an appropriate reading proficiency exam in the foreign language for the date requested. (The exam should test for reading proficiency equivalent to the level of reading required for an undergraduate literature course, usually at the 300 level).
3) Each exam will require the student to translate two passages from literary works in the foreign language into English prose. Passages may be in poetry or prose. Passages for translation will be between 10 and 20 lines long if poetry and approximately 200 words long if prose. The exam sheet will identify the author of each passage and title of the work from which each passage comes (in the original language).
4) During the exam, which will usually take place in the Comparative Literature conference room, students may use a dictionary for the language being tested. Students whose native language is not English may also use an English/native language dictionary during the exam. Either the examiner or a member of the Translation Studies Committee will proctor the examination.
5) In addition to translating each passage, students should comment briefly in English on their choices in translating, particularly in the case of words or phrases in the original pose special problems or challenges for translation of the passage into English. Students might not linguistic or stylistic features, such as the passage’s use of grammatical forms that have no parallels in English or use of idiomatic language, words with multiple meanings. Or figurative language that make literary translation difficult or inappropriate.
6) Students will have up to two hours to complete the exam. Students whose native language is not English may have an additional half hour to complete the exam.
7) The Translation Studies Committee will coordinate the evaluation of the exam and report the grade to the student and the Director of Graduate Studies within two weeks of the exam. Each exam will normally be graded by the examiner and an additional reader.
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