The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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  • Literary Studies

    Comparative Literature involves the study of literary texts, including graphic novels and comics, film and different forms of translation. Students engage in close reading of contemporary and historical texts in translation from around the world. Our faculty specialize in Africa, the Caribbean, West, East and Central Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Our program is continuously developing and enlarging its scope through creative and innovative research and teaching. See Academics -> Course Descriptions

  • Comics and Graphic Novels

    Professor Chris Couch teaches courses on the graphic novel, animation and comics including, Comic Art in North America. International Graphic Novel and International History of Animation. He served as senior editor at Kitchen Sink Press (Northampton) and editor in chief at CPM Manga (New York). His edited publications have won or were nominated for 17 Eisner and Harvey Awards. Current publications include the edited volume Conversations with Harvey Kurtzman, and a book on Batman artist and editorial cartoonist Jerry Robinson.

  • Film Concentration

    Comparative Literature film courses explore multiple cultures, language and genres, with an emphasis on film theory and analysis. Current courses include Introduction to Film Analysis: Cinematic Time Travel, International Film, Self-Reflective Avant-Garde Film, Cinema and Psyche, Narrative Avant-Garde Film, International Science Fiction, and Dystopian Futures in Film and Fiction. In addition to fulfilling requirements in the Comp Lit major tracks, our film courses fulfill Gen Ed requirements and count towards the Film Studies Certificate.

  • Translation and Interpreting Studies

    Our program in Translation and Interpreting Studies provides a grounding in translation and interpreting theory and research; practical expertise in translation and interpreting; an intorduction to translation and interpreting technologies; and experience in creating and analyzing written and spoken translations. We offer Certificates in Translation and Interpreting Studies at both the undergraduate and graduate level. For more information about our undergraduate and graduate courses and certificates, see Translation and Interpreting Studies.

  • Who We Are

    Our faculty have expertise in research and teaching in literary studies (colonial, post-colonial, medieval and modern, the global south and eastern and western traditions), film and digital media, and translation and interpreting studies. For more information see Faculty and Faculty CVs.

News

PhD student Maryam Fatima to Defend

December 06, 2023

On December 14, 2023 (10am-12n), Comparative Literature PhD student Maryam Fatima will defend her dissertation entitled "Partitions and Palimpsests: Transgressions of Form and Territory in...

Junior Year Writing Conference

November 30, 2023

8:30-9:20 Breaking Bounds (Moderator: Nefeli Forni) • Margaret Wynne, Legacy and Literature: How the Publishing Industry Shapes Genre, Narrative, and the Mythological Renaissance • Nora McClellan,...

CALL FOR PAPERS: Graduate Student Conference on Translation Studies

November 20, 2023

CALL FOR PAPERSGraduate Student Conference on Translation Studies...

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Events

Apr
20-21

Call for Papers: Graduate Student Conference on Translation Studies

University of Massachusetts Amherst
(All day)

More Events »
April 20, 2024 (All day)

CALL FOR PAPERS
Graduate Student Conference on Translation Studies
Program of Comparative Literature
University of Massachusetts Amherst

April 20-21, 2024
Conference theme: Trace and Transformation

October 5, 2023 - 11:00am

UMass Cornerstone Scholars Initiative Launch