At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable.
The School of Languages, Linguistics and Film (SLLF) is defined by excellence in five areas, where the collision of different disciplines creates a vibrant multi- and interdisciplinary environment for research and teaching. We bring minds together from across the globe and offer a wealth of subject expertise across the arts and humanities, from practical film-making to postmodern literature and experimental neurolinguistics.
The Department of Comparative Literature and Culture offers insight into literature from all parts of the globe, as well as exploring connections between literature and other fields such as film and visual culture, geography and the environment, philosophy and political theory, music and childhood studies. Its multilingual faculty members are leaders in their field. Learning with the Department expands cultural and literary horizons.
Both a single and richly varied entity, our School’s work has a global reach. We foster an environment that supports and enables thinking across national, linguistic and cultural boundaries on a range of topics that relate to the literary, the visual, the social and much more. In doing so, true to the Queen Mary spirit, the collision of different disciplines and minds leads to the previously unthinkable.
Research
Our staff engage in interdisciplinary research and research-led teaching of literatures and cultures from the European countries to China, South Asia and Australia, covering different periods, sharing a focus on World Literature. The intellectual profile of the department is broad and dynamic.
Individual staff specialisms and research profiles can be found on the Academic Staff page.
We regularly invite local, national, and international guest speakers to our research seminars. The annual George Steiner Lecture, which is renowned within and beyond the university, is delivered by particularly distinguished scholars.
While colleagues’ expertise lies in a variety of languages, our students can choose to study the literatures and cultures of the world in the English language. Students who would like to also study a modern language may apply for a joint honours degree, or learn a language of their choice at QMUL’s Language Centre. This flexibility ensures that students can design individual curricula suited to their own interests, strengths, and aspirations.
Our first-year students learn about the methodologies of literary and cultural study, the theory and practice of comparison, and hone their analytical and writing skills. Already at that early stage, single-honours students can develop their own interests by choosing two optional modules. In second and final years, all students have the opportunity to pick from a wide range of modules not only offered by Comparative Literature, but also by neighbouring departments, including Film, Linguistics and Modern Languages and Cultures and our neighbouring school, History.
We welcome graduate students who would like to deepen their knowledge of the methodology and practice of Comparative Literature, and pursue their own projects: the department offers a PhD study programme. Our doctoral students are supervised by experts in the field, and across departments if they wish. They participate in departmental and School-wide research seminars, and have often organised their own workshops, supported by the university.
To find out more about the programmes we offer, visit our Undergraduate and Postgraduate pages.
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