The range includes recognized great books along with less-known works, including women's literature, colonial and postcolonial literatures, indigenous literatures, testimonies, legends, myths, and folktales, banned books, literatures of the occult, science and detective fictions, virtual worlds, and cultural theory. Students learn to appreciate different languages and cultures, develop the critical skills for literary and cultural analysis, and relate literature to other media, including film and digital media. The major also encourages students to explore the relationship between literature and ethics through course offerings focused on transnational identities, human rights, cultures of globalization, and the problem of violence. A senior seminar clarifies the mysteries of literary theory and provides opportunities for individual projects.

Students majoring in Comparative Literature take courses in the Department of Comparative Literature and in other literature departments. They also develop competence in a foreign language. Study abroad is encouraged: Students may count up to 18 Education Abroad credits toward the major.

Graduates of the Department of Comparative Literature have undertaken careers in teaching, completed advanced degrees in literature, librarianship, law, and similar fields, entered the Peace Corps or other types of government service, and pursued careers in writing and communications.