Early sixteenth-century Spanish Dominicans developed an alphabet to write the Mayan languages, but also adopted elements of Maya myths to convey Christian theology. And within only a few decades, the last pre-contact generation of Maya leaders began to write their own documents with the mendicants’ orthography. Focusing on names for Christian and Maya god(s), intertextual analysis between the Dominican Theologia Indorum (Theology for the Indians) and the K’iche’ Popul Wuj (Book of the Council) allows for a tracing of histories of transmission and reception during the period of first encounters.

Comparative Literature offers opportunities for study at the crossroads of various disciplines. From the exploration of techniques of critical reading and interpretation to the development of theoretical perspectives, the program's approach is wide-ranging.

Career opportunities with a degree in Comparative Literature are diverse and may include Advertising, Branding, Copy Editing, Corporate Communications, Consulting, Education, the Film and Television Industry, Graduate School, Human Resources, Interpreter, IT Journalism, Law Librarian, Literary Agent, Marketing, Medicine, Multi-media Production, Online Market Research, Proofreader, Paralegal, Publishing, Public Health, Translator, Theater, Freelance Writing, or Speech.

The study of literary texts (writing judged by a culture to be important for its aesthetic, content or contextual qualities) is an ancient discipline practiced for more than a millenium in cultures around the globe. By collaberating with other departments and institutions, employing media and communications technologies, and thinking beyond the bounds of the conventional classroom, Comparative Literature is continuously developing and improving this study through creativity and innovation.

Since 1991, Film Studies has become a dynamic center fo interdepartmental and interdisciplinary activity with participation from a solid core of faculty members representing fifteen departments from the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences, and the School of Education. The Program offers both an Undergraduate and Graduate Certificate in the Film Studies.

The Comparative Literature faculty have strengths in film and digital media, translation and interpreting, colonial and post-colonial, and medieval and modern. With them, students explore, compare, and contrast different languages, a variety of cultural traditions, in multiple forms of media.