Humanities Alumni Spotlight:

Humanities Launches New World Literatures Major

Beginning autumn quarter 2006 undergraduate students will consider a new program option in humanities. The recently-approved interdepartmental major in World Literatures brings to bear the wealth of faculty resources in literary and cultural studies available across the college in innovative and exciting ways. Designed to prepare students to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century as informed global citizens, the new major in World Literatures provides a theoretical framework and critical tools for understanding and interpreting other ways of life. The new major complements offerings in the Department of English as well as those of foreign language programs within which international literatures are taught in target languages. It provides enhanced access through the focused study of world literatures in translation to literary traditions far beyond national borders.

The new World Literatures major is administered by the Department of Comparative Studies which is housed together with departments teaching foreign languages, literatures, and cultures alongside the World Media and Culture Center (WMCC) in the College’s premier facility for cultural training, Hagerty Hall. The program centers on five world regions: Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and East and South Asia/Pacific. Taking full advantage of new technologies available in the WMCC, faculty experts rediscover the past, connect with the future, and respond to global change by transforming the way in which languages, literatures, and cultures are taught. Majors in World Literatures will enjoy unique access to culturally authentic experiences to increase their awareness of the world’s literary heritage, and to develop productive ways of thinking about cultural differences and cross-cultural interactions within the context of globalization in historical and comparative perspective.

As students explore the world’s cultural diversity through the new major, and perhaps discover their own particular heritage, they will gain the necessary understanding of global relations in the contemporary world to build bridges and make connections that transcend national borders. Aspiring reading and language arts teachers, for example, will bring new insights and skills in cross-cultural differences and relations within the U.S. and internationally to future generations, and graduates of the program entering the workforce will be increasingly well-equipped to face the cultural challenges of globalization in Ohio and across the nation.

For more information visit our Department of Comparative Studies.