Comparative Studies MA
Program Purpose
The M.A. program in Comparative Studies purposes to study the humanities within a comparative context that is, through interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives that permit a flexibility and breadth of study, without sacrificing rigor, not normally found in single-discipline graduate programs. The degree is designed to provide a common experience, for both students and faculty, of the comparative and interdisciplinary emphases shared by the diverse undergraduate sections of the department. The common experience rewards alike students for whom the M.A. is their terminal degree and students intending doctoral work in classics, comparative literature, humanities, and interdisciplinary programs generally. Students intending to pursue a PhD in art history especially should consider enrollment in this M.A. very judiciously.
The graduate program profits from the fact that, together, the three undergraduate sections comprise an opportunity to avoid a tendency to which the system of departments itself is prone i.e., for each department to become isolated from knowledge outside its declared emphasis - and the opportunity to learn from colleagues and to teach students across the frontiers drawn between areas of study. The graduate program seeks to emulate an institute of advanced study, where scholars and students of many disciplines come together and draw on ideas often from unexpected sources and which otherwise they might well not happen upon. The program is also concentrated by a common passion, a humanistic passion for tradition. The tradition is classical: it is method and precedent. Within the department are those professionally trained in Greek and Roman antiquity, that is, in the roots of humanistic thought. The roots are nothing without the tree: the department has scholars trained in the methods of comparing literatures, and literature and the other arts, and their histories, of locating, tracing, and judging traditions of aesthetic, moral, and intellectual response. Graduate students learn to combine the synthesizing and analytical skills of humanistic disciplines in order to develop interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to the materials of human culture. Accordingly, program courses expand knowledge in these disciplines and provide intense opportunities for wide-ranging research and writing.
Curricular Structure
Learning Outcomes
Disciplinary Proficiency with Interdisciplinary Focus
In a closely mentored environment with committee chairs and members, students develop mastery in a specific research area in one discipline within the humanistic tradition of intellectual and artistic creativity (e.g., literature, art history, philosophy, music, dance, film, etc.), enhanced by relevant interdisciplinary knowledge and skills that allow them to make connections across disciplines, languages, cultures, and scholarly fields.
Produce publishable academic writing in the form of a Master's thesis that demonstrates original scholarship and theoretically-informed analysis as well as mastery of existing scholarship, the revision process, and oral presentation in professional contexts. Whether or not they are formally published, our students' theses are often used as writing samples for successful PhD program applications.
Demonstrate additional disciplinary proficiency either in a second foreign language (evidenced by completing a 300 level course with a significant literary component, but not the same course(s) used for the general language requirement) or advanced course work in a discipline other than literature (e.g., art history, history, philosophy, film, critical theory, etc.), which results in mastery of a specific disciplinary language. Graduate advisors must approve students' areas of emphasis.
Demonstrate critical and analytical thinking through extensive attentive reading in classes and on their own, participation in vigorous classroom discussions, practice in analytical and persuasive writing, and formal oral presentations of their research.
Evidence of Learning
Direct Measures
- Examinations: graduate level courses in Comparative Studies (600 level courses) will include examinations constructed to measure students' mastery of factual knowledge as well as to assess their analytical skills through mandatory essay components
- Writing assignments: each graduate level course will include a minimum of 12-15 pages of writing combining formal analysis, evidence of critical thinking, and construction of persuasive arguments
- Grades: B average work in 33 credit hours: minimum 27 course work hours plus 6 thesis hours are considered the minimum evidence of adequate skill set for graduation from the Comparative Studies masters program
- Reading list: thorough acquaintance with the contents of a list of at least 21 works (including literature and other works deemed appropriate in consultation with a faculty advisor, subject to approval by the department's graduate council), followed by a written examination to assess critical mastery of these works.
- Masters thesis: completion of a graduate-level masters thesis and oral defense, typically interdisciplinary in nature, which is the culmination of extensive, focused research on one particular topic centered in the candidate's area of emphasis. This thesis focuses on an original argument about the chosen topic, demonstrating both superior critical and analytical skills, as well as a thorough awareness of the topic's historical, interpretive, and theoretical context.
- For gateway course (Comparative Studies 610):
- Writing assignments: short papers and final writing project formulated to allow students to demonstrate acquired skills in formal analysis of cultural artifacts, critical thinking, and construction of persuasive arguments based on evidence gathered from analysis
- Grades: passing grade (B or above) considered sufficient evidence of adequate skill set for continuation in the masters program
- For methodology colloquium course (Comparative Studies 615):
- Regular attendance at, and participation in, the colloquia
- Submission of a final thesis prospectus and annotated bibliography
- An oral presentation of 30 minutes on a topic of the student's choice, generally related to the student's proposed masters thesis topic
- Grades: passing grade (B or above) considered sufficient evidence of the student having acquired an analytical skill set adequate for continuation in the masters program
- For graduate level seminars (Comparative Studies 600-level) courses:
- Examinations: designed to demonstrate both mastery of factual knowledge relevant to the topic studied in the seminar and critical thinking
- Writing assignments: final writing project of significant length (14-20 pages) to demonstrate mastery of relevant scholarship, evidence of original thought, and construction of persuasive arguments
- Grades: passing grade (B or above) considered sufficient evidence of satisfactory acquisition of skills requisite for continuation in the masters program
- Annual writing evaluation retreat:
- Team of selected faculty spend two days reading a representative sample of written work archived by students from all levels of coursework in the Comparative Studies graduate program in the College, as well as masters theses
- Report submitted to department chair on team's assessment of demonstrated writing skills
- Assessment report generates curricular modifications as needed
Indirect Measures
1. Entrance survey: upon matriculation within the Comparative Studies graduate program, administered by college advisement center
2. Exit survey: administered either by advisement center when intent to graduate forms are filed
3. Course evaluations that ask questions directly linked to published program learning outcomes
4. Alumni survey: administered by university but with specific sectional learning outcomes categories
Learning and Teaching Assessment and Improvement
Direct Measures
1. Report of writing evaluation committee is submitted annually to the chair of the department of Comparative Arts & Letters who then shares the results with the graduate coordinator and graduate council.
2. Any problem areas noted in the report are discussed in section meetings where necessary curricular adjustments are proposed in terms of number and types of writing assignments, additional student mentoring, and/or classroom instruction.
3. Regular review of course syllabi for each level of the curriculum--with attention to uniformity across sections of course content, workload, writing assignments, exam measures, etc.--is conducted by faculty committees appointed by the chair of the department of Comparative Arts & Letters and/or the Graduate Coordinator of Comparative Studies.
4. Curriculum committees, the section head, and individual faculty all participate in formulating improvements. Additional modifications may be suggested, of course, by those bodies that conduct more formal reviews, i.e. accreditation teams, university review committees, etc. The department chair, graduate coordinator, and graduate council supervise the implementation of these improvements and track the progress of individual faculty member's improvements.
Indirect Measures:
1. As survey results become available each year, the department chair will task a faculty committee with evaluating responses of alumni. The committee will draft a written report to submit to the department chair, the graduate coordinator and the graduate council.
2. The faculty committee report will address specifically those areas in which published program learning outcomes have not been achieved in the opinions of the student learners.
3. The results will help inform section discussions of curricular modifications as needed.