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• English and Comparative Literature Major, B.A.

English and Comparative Literature majors study literature, film, writing, and media of broad geographic and cultural provenance, so students have opportunities to practice comparative thinking. Moreover, majors write and research about texts, film, and media inflected with markedly different generic and linguistic features, and this variety hones students' research and writing skills. English and Comparative Literature majors can follow a general course of study or choose to concentrate in one of seven different areas:

• British and American Literature
• Comparative and World Literatures
• Creative Writing
• Film Studies
• Science, Medicine and Literature
• Social Justice and Literature
• Writing, Editing, and Digital Publishing

See the Requirements page for details on the major concentrations.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the English and Comparative Literature program, students should be able to:

• Produce clear and persuasive analytical and/or creative writing (that demonstrates the qualities of literature)
• Research productively and effectively
• Read critically
• Compare and analyze texts and contexts
• Explain the significance and value of historical contexts 

Particularly at this moment in American culture and history, we believe these skills are essential, both in the workplace and in the public sphere more broadly. The major's core curriculum ensures that students gain historical breadth in their discipline (in the form of surveys) as well as depth (in courses that focus on a single genre, topic, or author and thus allow for a sustained emphasis on close analysis). Individual concentrations also provide learning outcomes specific to their area of study.

Requirements

In addition to the program requirements, students must

• earn a minimum final cumulative GPA of 2.000
• complete a minimum of 45 academic credit hours earned from UNC–Chapel Hill courses
• take at least half of their major core requirements (courses and credit hours) at UNC–Chapel Hill
• earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the major core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for major or specific courses.

For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog .

Core Curriculum

Concentration in british and american literature, concentration in science, medicine, and literature, concentration in social justice and literature, concentration in writing, editing, and digital publishing, concentration in creative writing, concentration in comparative and world literatures, concentration in film studies.

The concentration in Film and Media Studies includes different core requirements. See the requirements for this concentration below.

If no concentration is chosen, select seven (7) electives in ENGL and/or CMPL (excluding  ENGL 100 , ENGL 105 , ENGL 105I , ENGL 110, and ENGL 191 ).

Required for all concentrations except for the Creative Writing concentration.

In addition to the core curriculum (three courses) and additional requirements described above, students must complete the following requirements.

 Excluding  ENGL 100 , ENGL 105 , ENGL 105I , ENGL 110, and ENGL 191 .

No more than two (2) courses outside the department.

Students may substitute a course from this list for the depth requirement from the core. Students would then need to select a second course from this list to fulfill the requirement for the concentration.

No more than two (2) courses may be taken outside the department.

In addition to the core curriculum (three courses) described above, students must complete the following requirements. No concentration courses may be taken online.

No more than two (2) courses can be taken outside the Department of English and Comparative Literature.

Foreign language departments include Asian Studies, Classics, Germanic and Slavic Languages, Romance Studies.

At least one course should be focused on literature written in the original language.

The film studies concentration focuses on the history, theory, analysis, and politics of cinema in a global context. Students become conversant with the evolution of film genres, styles, and traditions, while exploring relationships between film and other artistic forms, including literature, painting, photography, television, and digital video. This concentration enables students to gain skills of audiovisual literacy that are necessary for navigating the many screens of our modern world.

Students pursuing the film studies concentration do not follow the core requirements described above. Instead, students must complete the following requirements (10 courses):

Excluding  ENGL 100 , ENGL 105 , ENGL 105I , ENGL 110 , and ENGL 191 .

Special Opportunities in English and Comparative Literature

Honors in english and comparative literature.

The department offers at least two honors seminars each semester. In addition, students seeking a degree with honors in English and Comparative Literature (a 3.3 cumulative grade point average and a 3.6 grade point average in major courses required) undertake a year-long independent project during their senior year ( ENGL 691H  and  ENGL 692H  or  CMPL 691H  and  CMPL 692H ) and usually produce a 40- to 70-page thesis under the direction of a faculty member. Students pursuing a degree with honors normally meet every week with the professors supervising their projects. This opportunity for individually directed research and writing often proves to be a high point of the student’s academic career. 

Honors in Creative Writing

See “ Creative Writing Minor ."

• Study Abroad

Some of the best programs offered at the University for study overseas are especially appropriate and useful to majors in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. These include semester or year-long programs at Bristol, Manchester, Sussex, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and certain Australian universities. Students who have a minimum grade point average of 3.3 at the end of their sophomore year can participate in the King’s College Exchange Program at King’s College, London (representing either English or comparative literature). Special opportunities are also available at Oxford University and through the Joint Degree Program with the National University of Singapore. Comparative literature students most frequently travel to non-English-speaking destinations. For information on all overseas programs, see the Study Abroad Office.

Internship Program

Internships are a great way to explore career options before graduation. A major in English and comparative literature, with its focus on writing, oral communication, and research, opens the door to a wide variety of career paths. The Department of English and Comparative Literature provides the opportunity for students to receive credit for an internship that relates to the major.

Department Programs

• Comparative Literature Minor
• Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Literacy Minor
• Creative Writing Minor
• English Minor
• Global Cinema Minor
• Latina/​o Studies Minor
• Medicine, Literature, and Culture Minor
• Medieval and Early Modern Studies Minor

Graduate Programs

• Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature
• M.A. in English  with a Concentration in Literature, Medicine, and Culture

Department of English and Comparative Literature

Visit Program Website

Greenlaw Hall, CB# 3520

(919) 962-5481

Marsha Collins

ECL Undergraduate Advisor

Hilary Lithgow

[email protected]

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Joseph Fletcher

[email protected]

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Certificate programs are intended for matriculated, degree-seeking students or for non-matriculated students at UNC-Chapel Hill whose objective is the development of specialization in the field of the certificate program. These programs signify accomplishment, specialization, and achievement.

Whenever possible, students wishing to pursue a graduate certificate should do so during coursework, as some courses completed for these programs  may  also count toward coursework requirements. Our most popular graduate certificate programs include: 

• Certificate in Digital Humanities serves students interested in how digital technologies transform the creation and sharing of knowledge in the humanities.
• Certificate in Film Studies gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their work in a growing area of study within the humanities.
• Certificate in Literature, Medicine, and Culture  draws on multiple disciplinary approaches to health and humanities to train students in the interdisciplinary approaches that shape Health Humanities as a research area.
• Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies allows students to gain valuable knowledge about the history of feminist thought, relevant areas of research in the field, and how to utilize feminist research and pedagogy in their own work.

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The undergraduate Creative Writing Program at UNC-Chapel Hill is--and has long been--one of the best in the country. Its first-rate faculty and students have published very widely, won many prizes, and played a major role in shaping the contemporary literature of North Carolina, the South, and the nation. The University hosts the Second Sunday reading series and the Blanche Armfield Poetry Reading, an annual event that brings a prominent American poet to the campus.

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