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 18-21th centuries. The cutting-edge theoretical-philosophical approaches frame the various fields in our department's research and teaching.

MA students must complete a minimum of nine intensive seminars and at least three credit hours of Masters Project Guidance  (COL 598).  Students are encouraged to enroll in at least two courses devoted to national literatures other than English with the reading conducted in the national language.

After completion of the required coursework, normally at the end of two years, students will have a choice of either completing an M.A. thesis or taking an oral comprehensive examination. The project will involve original research, employ scholarly apparatus, and be between 50 and 100 pages in length. The project must be read and approved by the director and one other faculty member. The M.A. comprehensive exam has a similar format to the Ph.D. qualifying examination, but the reading list is significantly shorter and the theoretical framework appropriately limited. For this oral examination, students may choose three predesignated areas of study — major author, genre, period, literary theory, or literary theme.