- They are one of the largest Comparative Literature departments in the world, with a full-time faculty of seventeen. We offer a series of courses in European literature from the Middle Ages to the present, as well as courses in the literature of East and Central Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia.
- They also have regular offerings in literary theory and interdisciplinary studies, including courses in literature and cinema, East Asian cinema, literature and the visual arts, literature and music, and literature and science.
- The department also encourages international study by serving as the home department for Study Abroad programs in Avignon, Budapest and Tanzania, with a fourth program soon to be available in India.