Literature Concentration

Literature Concentration
Harvard University
Dana Palmer House
16 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
(phone) 617-495-4186
(fax) 617-496-4343

Professor Susan Suleiman, Chair
suleiman@fas.harvard.edu

Dr. Sandra Naddaff, Director of Studies
snaddaff@fas.harvard.edu

Ms. Barbara Akiba, Literature Administrator
bakiba@fas.harvard.edu

Literature, the undergraduate wing of the Department of Literature and Comparative Literature, is designed to meet the needs of students interested in the study of literature, literary and cultural theory, and other forms of representation in more than one culture or language. The concentration offers these students an individually tailored but carefully structured program, centered around a core of special courses and tutorials.

The Literature concentration provides students with the opportunity to explore a number of fundamental questions. What is literature? How has it been defined, analyzed, and valued? Are literary studies restricted to written texts? What tools and methods are used to study related forms like oral culture, film, mass cultural media, and visual and performance art? How do the definitions and functions of these literary and cultural forms change with differing languages, contexts, and purposes? The concentration proposes less to answer these questions than to investigate them.

The concentration in Literature considers that knowledge of more than one language and one national literature is essential to addressing these comparative questions. In cases where a student does not have the necessary linguistic competence at the time of application, we are happy to help him or her make arrangements to acquire proficiency through continued course work or summer study.

For a fuller description of the concentration and requirements, please consult The Handbook for Students.