<p>How is Columbia's comp. lit. department? </p>
<p>I know it was one of the best when Edward Said was there (since he developed his theories on Orientalism while at Columbia and all that), but since he left/died, is it still just as strong?</p>
<p>I don't really know what makes a department "strong," so I'm just defaulting to the quality of the faculty - probably not the best thing to do, but it'll suffice. </p>
<p>Any ideas?</p>
<p>I know absolutely nothing about comp. lit., but the faculty (and the students they're able to attract) is basically the department. So a strong department is one with high quality faculty who are known in their fields -- and hopefully good teachers.</p>
<p>My girlfriend is a junior in comp lit and offers the following pearls:</p>
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<p>The Comp lit department is a thing apart at columbia, because it essentially has no structure. Now on the one hand, that is fantastic, because it means you can take any humanities course you're interested in, and it'll count for your own major. it's literature AND society, so anthro courses, dance history, linguistics, whatever, if you can justify it, it's yours. The downside of that, however, is that there is no structure. You're not going to know what courses you should be taking. You won't have an advisor. The department head has turned over three times in the three years i've been here; it's rare that you know who to talk to, and when you do, it's rare that they can offer you any help. It's basically sink or swim; the courses are fantastic, because essentially it's the entirety of columbia college offered to you. if you want to make it more linguistics, you can, if you're more interested in literature, or cultural studies, it's all good. but don't expect to have reassurance, or backup. don't expect to have structure, or in a lot of cases, advice that makes any sense. Also, if you don't already speak a second language, forget it. It's simple enough to take the four semesters of your second foreign language, especially since if you choose to, you can take lit classes exclusively in your first foreign language, and not the second. If you're willing to fight, this is possibly the best major at the college, because it is a major in what you find fascinating, whatever that may be. But you're going to have to fight for it, so if you're not willing to do that, become an english major like everyone else. </p>
<h2>oh also you can take courses with gayatri spivak... who's all famous and pretty cool</h2>
<p>I'm not a Columbia student.. just applying ED but I researched the comp lit department a lot and it was one of the main reasons I chose to apply... personally I liked the idea of having such a variety of courses that fit your major and there many members of the faculty whose class it would be an honor to take... plus my interviewer had a few friends who majored in comp lit and said they all had tremendous experiences</p>
<p>I'd have to concur with Anyutachka, "and there are many members of the faculty whose class it would be an honor to take..." When I think of Columbia's CompLit Dept., I think of Andrew Delbanco and Ann Douglas. Delbanco's Required Reading, and The Real American Dream, along with Douglas' Terrible Honesty is why I applied to Columbia; to me this is some of the most thought-provoking scholarly work that I have yet discovered. (Although I could argue with Delbanco on his views of Kate Chopin in Required Reading..) My advice is to head to Amazon, choose a professor, buy one of their books, and guage their quality for yourself. My expectations and yours might be completely different.</p>
<p>Ah that's cleared it up for me, thanks. And yes, it'd be kind of sweet to have Gayatri Spivak talk to you about post-colonial thought.</p>
<p>Spivak's classes are quite entertaining indeed. I attended one the first day- she began by kicking out every grad student and every freshman, and when she noticed not enough had left, she began reading names from the registration list and forcing them out. Whenever a "know-it-all" student began to speak, she would find some way to mock them, which apparently sometimes develops into a themed jest that lasts these students an entire semester and beyond.</p>
<p>Part of the confusion of Comp Lit at Columbia is that there is both a "Comparative Literature and Society" major and an "English and Comp Lit" one...the latter being the "traditional" English major with a few comp lit requirements. Still, you can shape the structured English major to your benefit and take quite a few comp litty classes that fit under its rubric. </p>
<p>In my experience the most successful comp lit majors carve out niches in one or two language/literature departments, like German/MEALAC (not an uncommon combination!)</p>
<p>Would anyone be so kind as to suggest some of Spivak's work? She sounds pretty interesting.</p>
<p>she translated Derrida's of grammatology... shes actually published several literary critiques also... you should just go on amazon and order what you can :) i also want to reiterate what Boz said about Delbanco's Required Reading... that book itself should be required reading</p>
<p>haha Of Grammatology reads so slowly, it's unbelievable. Or, at least, that's what I thought.</p>
<p>Speaking of Required Reading, anyone else find the part about Lincoln...a little short? I know he wrote a book on Lincoln, but come on! Like 3 pages! CompLit... gotta love it.</p>