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554263 - Comparative Studies (MA)

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Comparative Arts and Letters Masters MA

Application Deadline

Fall: February 15

Contact Information

3008 JFSB

+18014224430

comparativestudies@byu.edu

Website

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Required tests

  • English Proficiency, if applicable

Additional Requirements

  • A writing sample

  • Proficiency in one foreign language required or the metalanguage of disciplinary-specific criticism (film criticism, art criticism, literature criticism)

  • The GRE is not required for this program.

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PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

This degree allows for study of the humanities within a comparative context not normally found in single-discipline graduate programs—that is, through interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives that permit a flexibility and breadth of study, without sacrificing rigor. Graduate students thus learn to combine the synthesizing and analytical skills of various humanistic disciplines in order to develop interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to the materials of human culture. Accordingly, program courses expand knowledge in humanistic disciplines and provide intense opportunities to develop wide-ranging research and writing.

Requirements for Degree

  • Credit hours (33): minimum 27 course work hours plus 6 thesis hours.

  • Required courses: course, course, course ; two courses from course, course, course, course, course, course, and course (one time only)

  • Elective Coursework (15.0 credit hours): 5 courses in graduate-level coursework in comparative studies, humanities, classics, comparative literature, art history, musicology, history, philosophy, foreign language, history, film, or literature. No religion or 300-level classes or below can be applied to the program of study. Any 400-level seminar in our department may be taken as a graduate course in consultation with the course instructor and the student’s academic advisor. No more than one directed readings course may be counted toward the MA degree in Comparative Studies.

  • Special field: proficiency in a second foreign language or in a discipline other than literature, demonstrated by course work or examination, as determined by the student’s graduate committee and the program’s graduate council.

  • Completion of a reading list, which is determined in consultation with a faculty advisor, subject to approval of the department’s graduate council. A reading exam will be administered based on the reading list.

  • Thesis course.

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Title

Disciplinary Proficiency with Interdisciplinary Focus

Learning Outcome

In a closely mentored environment with committee chairs and members, students develop mastery in a specific research area in one discipline within the humanistic tradition of intellectual and artistic creativity (e.g., literature, art history, philosophy, music, dance, film, etc.), enhanced by relevant interdisciplinary knowledge and skills that allow them to make connections across disciplines, languages, cultures, and scholarly fields.

Title

Advanced Research and Scholarly Writing

Learning Outcome

Produce publishable academic writing in the form of a Master's thesis that demonstrates original scholarship and theoretically-informed analysis as well as mastery of existing scholarship, the revision process, and oral presentation in professional contexts. Whether or not they are formally published, our students' theses are often used as writing samples for successful PhD program applications.

Title

Additional Disciplinary Proficiency

Learning Outcome

Demonstrate additional disciplinary proficiency either in a second foreign language (evidenced by completing a 300 level course with a significant literary component, but not the same course(s) used for the general language requirement) or advanced course work in a discipline other than literature (e.g., art history, history, philosophy, film, critical theory, etc.), which results in mastery of a specific disciplinary language. Graduate advisors must approve students' areas of emphasis.

Title

Effective Critical and Analytical Thinking

Learning Outcome

Demonstrate critical and analytical thinking through extensive attentive reading in classes and on their own, participation in vigorous classroom discussions, practice in analytical and persuasive writing, and formal oral presentations of their research.