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Program Requirements for Comparative Literature
Applicable only to students admitted during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Comparative Literature
College of Letters and Science
Graduate Degrees
The Department of Comparative Literature offers the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Comparative Literature. The department only admits students with the objective of the Ph.D. degree.
Master’s Degree
Advising
After admission and before the beginning of their first quarter of doctoral study, students are assigned a first-year mentor by the Director of Graduate Studies. This person serves as a resource for students’ professional and personal development as they acclimatize to graduate student life at UCLA.
Students can also consult as needed with the Director of Graduate Studies and Student Affairs Officer to plan their progress to degree. Generally, the Director of Graduate Studies is available for academic questions and the Student Affairs Officer for administrative questions, but students should feel free to consult both. Students should feel free to ask any questions at any time, including questions about choosing classes, course loads, major and minor areas, funding, language study, degree requirements, and examination planning.
Each year, students are required to submit a self-report at the end of Spring Quarter, which is reviewed by the faculty at the last faculty meeting of the year. Before the Fall Quarter starts, the Director of Graduate Studies writes and sends a letter to each student with a review of their fulfilled or outstanding requirements, and degree progress. These letters are intended to support students in planning their schedules for completion of their degrees.
Students are encouraged to begin approaching faculty regarding mentorship of their doctoral dissertation following the Second Year Review/M.A. Examination. Students who are interested in working with a particular faculty member early in their careers may wish to approach that person during their first two years of graduate study. While the students are in the process of choosing their mentors and committees, the Director of Graduate Studies and Student Affairs Officer are available to help them in formulating their plans for their degrees.
Students are required to adhere to the Division of Graduate Education’s Standards of Scholarship. The Division of Graduate Education requires a ‘B’ (3.0) grade point average to be in good academic standing. If a student should fall below this average, the student will meet with the Director of Graduate Studies and the Student Services Advisor to discuss their degree progress and establish a plan to raise their GPA. The Department will then issue the student a letter in which it will clearly define future expectations that need to be met (clearing Incompletes, NRs, etc.). In the quarter following this first letter, the student must raise their GPA to a B+ (3.3) grade point average. If a student is not able to raise their GPA accordingly, the Department will consult with the Division of Graduate Education. Note that this action does not constitute an exception to policies governing any other situation in which a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 is required (e.g., an apprentice personnel appointment).
Areas of Study
Students in Comparative Literature develop their curriculum on the basis of self-chosen major and minor fields. In their first year of study, they gradually begin thinking about these fields, which are determined through conversations with their Committee at the Second-Year Review/M.A. Examination.
The major field should reflect the primary emphasis of the student’s dissertation. A general knowledge of the major field is demonstrated through course work. The major field is confirmed and recorded in paperwork during the Second Year Review/M.A. Examination.
The student’s minor field should focus either on another literary or cultural tradition, a theoretical approach, or theory from related disciplines such as musicology, film studies, gender studies, or art history. The minor field confirmed and recorded in paperwork in the Second-Year Review/M.A. Examination.
The major and minor fields together create the dynamic relation that establishes the foundation for the comparative work undertaken in the dissertation. The comparative work can take place in the major, or between the major and minor.
After the Second-Year Review/M.A. Examination, students begin to prepare for the First Stage Evaluation: University Written Qualifying Examination, or Special Fields, in which they will be examined on their major and minor fields. During this period they can modify their major and minor fields, but this becomes more difficult as they finish coursework and approach the examination. Once their lists for the examination are approved they can no longer change their fields.
Foreign Language Requirement
Proficiency in the language of the major field is an essential prerequisite for courses and degrees in Comparative Literature. Before completing the Ph.D., students must demonstrate knowledge of two languages other than English. Students should plan to fulfill these requirements early on in their degree because many language courses fill up quickly. At least one of the two required languages must be completed prior to the Second Year Review/M.A. Examination (i.e. by Spring Quarter of a student’s second year in the program). Proficiency in one language must be certified by completing two or more upper division and/or graduate literature courses, taken for a letter grade in the appropriate language department. If the course is not taught in the language in question, students must confirm with the instructor in advance that it can fulfill a language requirement in another way, perhaps with supplemental assignments. Students must demonstrate language competency beyond the intermediate level (or, the equivalent of two years of instruction at UCLA) in order to enroll in these courses.
In cases where sufficient courses are not available, students may substitute a translation examination administered by a departmental faculty member in place of coursework. In such cases, the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair must approve the translation examination ahead of time in consultation with the faculty who will be administering it.
Course Requirements
12 courses (48 units), including 11 letter-graded seminar courses and COM LIT 495, are required prior to their Second Year Review/M.A. Examination, distributed as follows:
- Comparative Literature 200A, 200B, and 495; three additional Comparative Literature graduate courses; six major and minor field courses, of which at least three must be in the major field. A maximum of one course in the major field and one course in the minor field may be upper division courses.
The recommended schedule is as follows:
- First year: COM LIT 200A plus one additional graduate seminar in the first quarter, followed by COM LIT 200B and two graduate seminars for the second quarter, and COM LIT 495 and two graduate seminars in the third quarter.
- Second year: For all teaching graduate students, the recommended course load, excluding language course work, is two seminars per quarter.
Students may petition to apply up to two individual study (596) courses, taken for at least four letter-graded units, toward the course requirements with approval from the Director of Graduate Studies.
Teaching Experience
Departmental teaching experience is not required; however, Teaching Apprentice (TA) appointments are routinely offered to all graduate students who are in the process of taking or have completed COM LIT 495.
Field Experience
Not required.
Capstone Plan
Second Year Review/M.A. Examination
Students in the Department of Comparative Literature are required to undergo a Second Year Review/M.A. Examination during the spring quarter of their second year. Under exceptional circumstances, students may defer this Examination in fall quarter of their third year with permission of the Director of Graduate Studies. Prior to the review, students must complete a minimum of 12 seminars, including COM LIT 495. At least one of the two required languages must be completed prior to the review.
Students must convene a review/examination committee comprised of three faculty members; one of these three faculty members must be the Director of Graduate Studies, and at least one other must be faculty in the Department of Comparative Literature.
Students are required to choose two seminar papers (with or without revisions) and circulate them among the review committee at least two weeks in advance of the review. With prior approval from their committee members, students may also present papers that were submitted to a conference or journal. The papers serve as tangible evidence of successfully completed academic tasks. Students are advised to submit two papers totaling 30-50 pages of written work. They are permitted to revise or work on these papers after the seminars in which they were submitted have concluded, but they are not required to do so. Papers should demonstrate mastery of course material covered in years 1 and 2 and potential for future research, but need not be relevant to possible dissertation topics. Students should review these papers in advance, and should be able to speak knowledgeably about their content. Both form and content are evaluated and discussed during the review.
Students who enter the program with an M.A. in Comparative Literature must hold a Second Year Review, but will not be awarded an M.A. from UCLA. The results of the Second Year Review for students who hold an M.A. are recorded as follows: (1) Pass with permission to continue toward the Ph.D.; (2) Pass with reservations and specific recommendations for improvement with permission to continue toward the Ph.D; or (3) Fail without permission to continue toward the Ph.D. Students may fail the Second Year Review/M.A. if they are unable to demonstrate the level of mastery necessary for success in the more advanced stages of doctoral study. The faculty will not permit students to retake the Second Year Review. Students who fail the Second Year Review will be recommended for academic disqualification.
Students who do not hold a Comparative Literature M.A. upon entering the Ph.D. program may be awarded an M.A., contingent upon successful completion of the Second Year Review, coursework, and language proficiency requirement. The results of the Second Year Review for students who do not hold an M.A. in Comparative Literature upon matriculation are recorded as follows: (1) Pass, with an M.A. and permission to continue toward the Ph.D.; (2) Pass with reservations, with an M.A. and specific recommendations for improvement with permission to continue toward the Ph.D; (3) Pass with a terminal M.A.; or (4) Fail without an M.A. or permission to continue to the Ph.D. Students may fail the Second Year Review/M.A. Examination if they are unable to demonstrate the level of mastery necessary for success in the advanced stages of doctoral study. The faculty will not permit students to retake the Second Year Review. Students who fail the Second Year Review will be recommended for academic disqualification.
Thesis Plan
None.
Time-to-Degree
Students who are admitted to graduate status should be able to obtain the M.A. degree within six quarters.
| DEGREE | NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters) | NORMATIVE TTD |
MAXIMUM TTD |
| M.A. | 6 | 6 | 7 |
Doctoral Degree
Advising
After the Second-Year Review/M.A. Examination, students begin to work with the three-person committee they have chosen for their First Stage Evaluation: University Written Qualifying Examination, or Special Fields. This committee guides them through this part of their degree. The faculty member the student chooses to examine their major field may become their doctoral advisor, and the committee itself may become the student’s doctoral committee, but this is not necessarily the case. In other words, the student should plan the committee for their first qualifying examination with their doctoral committee and dissertation in mind, but also understand they can change this committee and their main advisor after this examination.
Students are required to choose their doctoral committee after their First Stage Evaluation (Special Fields) and before taking the University Oral Qualifying Examination or Prospectus Defense. At this point, they generally receive primary advising from their dissertation advisor, but are also welcome at any time to consult with the Director of Graduate Studies and Student Affairs Officer on any aspect of their degrees.
Each year, students are required to submit a self-report at the end of Spring Quarter, which is reviewed by the faculty at the last faculty meeting of the year. Before the Fall Quarter starts, the Director of Graduate Studies writes and sends a letter to each student with a review of their fulfilled or outstanding requirements, and degree progress. These letters are intended to support students in planning their schedules for completion of their degrees. If students are falling behind in progress to degree, they may receive an academic plan in consultation with the Division of Graduate Education. Should they fall behind on requirements or miss deadlines, they receive a letter from the Director of Graduate Studies. After three such missed deadlines, followed up by letters from the Director of Graduate Studies, the Department can recommend the student for disqualification to the Division of Graduate Education.
Major Fields or Subdisciplines
Students must consult with the Director of Graduate Studies and all relevant faculty advisers regarding changes or modifications to their major and minor fields.
Foreign Language Requirement
The second language requirement may be satisfied by completion of one graduate or upper division literature class with a letter grade of “B+” or higher. If the course is not taught in the language in question, students must confirm with the teacher in advance that it can fulfill a language requirement in another way, perhaps with supplemental assignments. Students must demonstrate language competency beyond the intermediate level (or, the equivalent of two years of instruction at UCLA) in order to enroll in these courses. In rare cases where sufficient courses are not available, students may substitute a translation examination administered by a departmental faculty member in place of coursework. In such cases, the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair must provide a memorandum of support.
Course Requirements
All course work must be completed by the end of the third year. 16 letter-graded seminar courses and one pedagogy course are required for the Ph.D. This includes the coursework done to complete the M.A. The total coursework is distributed as follows:
- Comparative Literature 200A and 200B
- Comparative Literature 495 pedagogy course
- Six graduate courses in Comparative Literature
- Six graduate courses in the major field (of which one may be upper division)
- Two graduate courses in the minor field (of which one may be upper division)
The same course can fulfill both the Comp Lit and major or minor course requirements at the same time (e.g. COM LIT 290 could count as both a graduate level COM LIT course and a course in the major field). Regardless, 16 letter-graded seminar courses are still required for the Ph.D.
Course Requirements for students entering the Ph.D. program with a Master’s degree from another institution
The course requirements are the same for students entering the Ph.D. program with or without a Master’s degree from another institution. Students can petition, however, to have previously completed coursework recognized.
There are two stages in having courses recognized from other institutions:
Before the Second Year Review, students can petition to have two courses (with a minimum grade of “B”) recognized. Per university policy, these courses cannot have been taken for any other degree previously awarded, at UCLA or another institution, or before the award of the bachelor’s degree. These two courses may apply toward the 12 courses required for the M.A. prior to the Second Year Review/M.A. Examination. Two courses would be the equivalent of eight quarter units or five semester units. The approval of the Division of Graduate Education and the Department is required.
After the Second Year Review, students who have been admitted to the program with an M.A. may petition to validate up to three courses taken toward a degree at another institution toward the Ph.D. The approval of the Department is required. Correspondence courses are not applicable to graduate degrees at UCLA.
Teaching Experience
Departmental teaching experience is not required; however, Teaching Apprentice (TA) appointments are routinely offered to all graduate students who are in the process of taking or have completed COM LIT 495.
Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations
Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.
All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.
First Stage Evaluation: University Written Qualifying Examination
The Academic Senate requires that students take a University Written Qualifying Examination. In the Department of Comparative Literature this University Written Qualifying Examination has a written and oral component. It is in two parts. The first part consists of a 72-hour take-home written examination in the major and minor fields. The second part is an oral examination.
Students must constitute an examining committee comprised of three faculty members, of which two must be Comparative Literature faculty, in the quarter preceding the examination. Students should provide the Student Affairs Officer with the names and email address of their committee members and specify which faculty members will serve as the major and minor field examiners. Committees are limited to three members, however a fourth member can be added with permission of the Director of Graduate Studies. Students should try to choose faculty members who will later be on their dissertation committee, but are not required to do so, in the sense that they will constitute their dissertation committee only after this examination.
The written examination questions are based on a reading list of 50 works in the major field and 25 works in the minor field. The student prepares reading lists for their major field and minor field. Each student is responsible for preparing their own reading lists with guidance from the members of their examination committee and the Director of Graduate Studies. Each reading list must be approved by the appropriate field examiner; both lists must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies by the end of the quarter preceding the qualifying examination. Students should send their reading lists to the appropriate faculty in the major and minor fields first, with instructions to send their approval to the Director of Graduate Studies and the Student Affairs Officer via email so that copies can be added to the student’s departmental file.
The take-home written examinations require responses to one long or two shorter questions for the major field examination and one question for the minor field. The examiners have the choice of asking one question, or allowing the student to answer one or two of a selection of two or more questions. Students are expected to demonstrate their knowledge of the field and engagement with relevant ideas and methodologies as they produce 25-30 pages of original writing during the 72-hour examination period. These pages may not include any excerpts of previously written seminar papers. Should a question be deemed problematic (i.e. the question asks about material not included on the approved reading lists), the student should immediately contact the Student Affairs Officer, who will stop the examination period and follow up with the Director of Graduate Studies and Chair.
The oral examination must be completed no later than two weeks after the submission of the written portion. In exceptional situations, this examination can be slightly delayed by a few weeks with permission from the Director of Graduate Studies and/or Chair.
The outcome of the first stage evaluation can be: pass with permission to proceed to the prospectus phase of the dissertation; or fail. Students must pass both the written and oral sections of the exam in the major and minor fields in order to pass with permission to proceed to the prospectus phase of the dissertation. In the case of failure, the committee may offer the student an opportunity to retake one or both sections of the examination in the following quarter. A second failed examination results in a recommendation for academic disqualification from the program.
Second Stage Evaluation: University Oral Qualifying Examination (Prospectus Defense)
After completion of the written qualifying examination, students enroll in COM LIT 597 under the supervision of their adviser to begin writing the dissertation prospectus. Although actual times for its completion vary, students would ideally produce a completed draft after two quarters. The prospectus serves as the student’s outline for their dissertation, and should define a thesis and its proposed development over several chapters. The prospectus should answer a question (instead of merely outlining a description) over the course of 30-40 pages.
The University Oral Qualifying Examination is a two-hour examination based primarily on a defense of the prospectus. Students should nominate their doctoral committee, which will serve as their examination committee for the oral qualifying examination, at least two months in advance of the examination. The doctoral committee is comprised of at least four faculty members, including two faculty members from the department (one of whom must serve as the committee chair or co-chair). The size of the committee is not limited, and may include members outside UCLA, and outside the UC system. Students must follow the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution (Effective 2016 Fall) in constituting ther doctoral committee. See https://grad.ucla.edu/academics/doctoral-studies/minimum-standards-for-doctoral-committee-constitution-effective-2016-fall/
Each member of the committee reports the examination as “passed” or “not passed.” A student may not be advanced to candidacy if more than one member votes “not passed” regardless of the size of the committee. Upon majority vote of the doctoral committee, the oral qualifying examination may be repeated once.
Advancement to Candidacy
Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the University Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations.
Doctoral Dissertation
Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student’s ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.
Students are not obliged to duplicate the ideas of the prospectus in the dissertation. Basic concepts or assumptions may change from the prospectus to the dissertation; however, any such changes should be discussed with the committee as a different trajectory of investigation. Students should also consult with their faculty advisors regarding matters of breadth and focus.
At minimum, faculty advisors should be in contact with their students once per quarter throughout the dissertation stage; however, more consistent contact is strongly encouraged. Conversely, students should maintain the same degree of contact with their advisors. Issues regarding insufficient faculty guidance should be immediately brought to the attention of the Department Chair.
Following completion of the dissertation, and with the approval of the chair of the doctoral committee, the student may file their dissertation. The Director of Graduate Studies and all members of the doctoral committee must be notified of the student’s plan to file the dissertation. The final draft of the dissertation must be submitted to the committee for review no later than one month prior to the planned date of filing to allow sufficient time for final revisions.
Final Oral Examination (Defense of the Dissertation)
Not required for all students in the program. The defense of the dissertation may be required for individual students at the discretion of their doctoral committees at the time of the prospectus defense.
Time-to-Degree
By the twelfth quarter in the program, students must have completed the first and second stage of the University Qualifying Examinations, and advance to doctoral candidacy.
Students regularly advance to candidacy (ATC) by the end of their fourth year, and complete their degree by the end of their sixth year (18 quarters). The maximum time to degree allowed in the Department of Comparative Literature is nine years (27 quarters).
| DEGREE | NORMATIVE TIME TO ATC (Quarters) | NORMATIVE TTD |
MAXIMUM TTD |
| Ph.D. | 12 | 18 | 27 |
Academic Disqualification and Appeal of Disqualification
University Policy
A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for academic disqualification from graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing academic disqualification of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.