It's core identity consists in the theoretical studies of literature, politics and culture. The department stresses philosophical and theoretical graduate studies in the humanities, and is best known for its interdisciplinary work in post-Kantian philosophy, poststructuralism, and literatures of the 18th through 21st centuries. The cutting-edge, theoretical-philosophical approaches frame the various fields in our department's research and teaching.

The Department of Comparative Literature at the University at Buffalo is a relatively small, yet independent program. It combines a tradition of scholarly rigor with openness to fresh currents in literary studies. While rooted in an intense ongoing inquiry into the nature of literature, its conceptual and philosophical underpinnings, and its critical methods, the department sustains a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches and projects. In the past, students have incorporated into their work concerns and methods deriving from philosophy, psychoanalysis, legal studies, political theory, and anthropology.