Campuses:
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Twin Cities Campus
Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature B.A.Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature
College of Liberal Arts
Courses in the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature (CSCL) pursue questions and ways of knowing that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students study literature, film and culture as sets of complex connections and interrelations: between texts and everyday life, ideas and the material world, discourse and power.
The CSCL major strives for a broad, international scope, ranging widely across history and geography. The central focus is on the ways literature and culture, broadly conceived, disseminate, challenge and reinvent modes of knowing, value systems and individual and collectives identities. The program’s goal is to produce critical and self-critical readers prepared to actively participate in the intellectual conversations, forms of artistic expression and social struggles that shape global culture in our time.
Program Delivery
This program is available:
Admission Requirements
For information about University of Minnesota admission requirements, visit the
Office of Admissions
website.
General Requirements
All students in baccalaureate degree programs are required to complete general University and college requirements including writing and liberal education courses. For more information about University-wide requirements, see the
liberal education requirements.
Required courses for the major, minor or certificate in which a student receives a D grade (with or without plus or minus) do not count toward the major, minor or certificate (including transfer courses).
Program Requirements
Students are required to complete 4 semester(s) of
any second language.
with a grade of C-, or better, or S, or demonstrate proficiency in the language(s) as defined by the department
or college.
CLA BA degrees require 4 semesters or the equivalent of a second language.
CLA degrees require students to complete 48 credits of upper division coursework taken at the 3xxx, 4xxx, or 5xxx level. For a BA at least 18 of the 48 upper division credits must be outside of the major. For some specific majors, there are exceptions to this requirement.
This program requires 18 upper division credits outside the major. See your advisor for a list of courses that can or cannot be used to meet this requirement.
Students must complete a minimum of 10 courses for the major: 2 introductory (1xxx) courses, plus 7 upper division courses. To allow for flexibility, the tenth course may be taken at any level. At least one upper division course in the major must be writing intensive.
In exceptional cases, courses from other units may be substituted for department major courses if approved by the undergraduate adviser or the director of undergraduate studies. All major coursework must be taken A-F.
Students may earn a BA or a minor in cultural studies and comparative literature, but not both.
All incoming CLA freshmen must complete the First Year Experience course sequence.
Preparatory Courses
Take 2 or more course(s) totaling 6 - 8 credit(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 1001W - Introduction to Cultural Studies
[AH, DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1101W - Literature
[LITR, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1301W - Reading Culture: Theory and Practice
[AH, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1401W - Reading Literature: Theory and Practice
[LITR, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1501W - Reading History: Theory and Practice
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1201W - Cinema
[AH, WI]
(4.0 cr)
or
SCMC 1201W - Cinema
[AH, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1202W - Media: Word, Image, Sound
[AH, TS, WI]
(4.0 cr)
or
SCMC 1202W - Media: Word, Image, Sound
[AH, TS, WI]
(4.0 cr)
Major Courses
Take at least 1 course from at least 3 of the 4 subfields: Discursive Practices and Genres, Subjectivity and History, Ideologies and Disciplines, and Critical Theories and Methods. The remaining courses can be taken in the subfields, or from the Electives course group. At least 5 classes must be 3xxx, and at least 2 courses must be 4xxx or 5xxx. Depending on whether a student takes 6-8 credits of Preparatory Courses, students will need 24-26 credits of Major Courses.
Take 24 - 26 credit(s) from the following:
The Subfields
Take 3 or more course(s) from the following:
Discursive Practices and Genres
Take 0 or more course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 3251 - Popular Music and Mass Culture
[AH]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3310W - The Rhetoric of Everyday Life
[CIV, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3120 - Poetry as Cultural Critique
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3231 - Comedy: Media, Politics & Society
[AH]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3221 - On Television
[CIV]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3212W - Documentary Cinema: History and Politics
[AH, CIV, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3122 - Movements and Manifestos
[LITR]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3220W - Screen Cultures
[AH, TS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
SCMC 3220W - Screen Cultures
[AH, TS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
Subjectivity and History
Take 0 or more course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 3352W - Queer Aesthetics & Queer Critique
[LITR, DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3351W - The Body and the Politics of Representation
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3334 - Monsters, Robots, Cyborgs
[LITR]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3335 - Aliens: Science Fiction to Social Theory
[DSJ]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3130W - Colonial and Postcolonial Literatures and Theory: 1700 to the Present
[LITR, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3350W - Sexuality and Culture
[DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
GLBT 3456W - Sexuality and Culture
[DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
Ideologies and Disciplines
Take 0 or more course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 3210 - Cinema and Ideology
[AH]
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3211 - Global and Transnational Cinemas
[GP]
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3322 - Visions of Nature: The Natural World and Political Thought
[ENV]
(3.0 cr)
·
Critical Theories and Methods
Take 0 or more course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 3005 - Seminar in Critical Thought
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3425W - Critical Theory and Social Change
[AH, DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3323 - Science and Culture
[AH]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3405 - Marx for Today
[AH, DSJ]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3412W - Psychoanalysis
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3413W {Inactive}
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3111W - Close Reading
[LITR, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3117 - Concepts of Literary Study
[LITR]
(3.0 cr)
·
Electives
1xxx-level Electives
Courses that were taken to fulfill the Preparatory Courses requirement cannot also count towards the Electives course group.
Take no more than 1 course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 1001W - Introduction to Cultural Studies
[AH, DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1101W - Literature
[LITR, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1301W - Reading Culture: Theory and Practice
[AH, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1401W - Reading Literature: Theory and Practice
[LITR, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1501W - Reading History: Theory and Practice
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1201W - Cinema
[AH, WI]
(4.0 cr)
or
SCMC 1201W - Cinema
[AH, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 1202W - Media: Word, Image, Sound
[AH, TS, WI]
(4.0 cr)
or
SCMC 1202W - Media: Word, Image, Sound
[AH, TS, WI]
(4.0 cr)
4xxx and 5xxx-level Electives
Take 2 or more course(s) totaling 6 or more credit(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 5305 - Vision and Visuality: An Intellectual History
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5331 - Discourse of the Novel
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5411 - Avant-Garde Cinema
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5666 - Film Music: Theory, History, Practice
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5800 {Inactive}
(1.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5833 - Marx, Freud, Nietzsche: Intellectual Foundations
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5281 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
or
HIST 5281 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5282 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
or
HIST 5282 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5401 - Origins of Cultural Studies
(3.0 cr)
or
ENGL 5501 - Origins of Cultural Studies
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5555 - Introduction to Semiotics
(3.0 cr)
or
CL 5555 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
or
CSDS 5555 {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
Directed Study, Internships, and Topics
Students may count a maximum of 3 directed studies courses, internships, and topics courses toward the major. No more than 2 topics courses may count, and no more than 2 directed studies/internships may count.
Take no more than 3 course(s) from the following:
Directed Study/Internship
For both internships and directed studies, students work with a faculty member of their choice to complete and submit a Faculty/Student Contract outlining the goals and scope of coursework. The course number of the internship or directed study should be selected appropriate to the home department (3993, 4993, or 5993).
Take no more than 2 course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 3993 - Directed Study
(1.0-3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5944H {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 4993 - Directed Study
(1.0-3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5993 - Directed Study
(1.0-3.0 cr)
·
CSDS 5993 {Inactive}
(1.0-3.0 cr)
·
Topics
With prior written approval from the CSCL undergraduate adviser or director of undergraduate studies, topics courses may count towards a subfield above.
Take no more than 2 course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 3910 - Topics in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3910H {Inactive}
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 5910 - Topics in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
(3.0-4.0 cr)
·
CL 5910 {Inactive}
(3.0-4.0 cr)
Senior Project
The senior project requirement is fulfilled by completing one of the following options as part of the 32-credit graduation minimum:
(1) Completion of a project within a directed study (CSCL 3993, 4993, 5993)
(2) Completion of a project within a 3xxx or 4xxx course (arrangement with instructor)
(3) Completion of coursework, including substantial writing, in any CSCL 5xxx course
(4) Completion of an Honors thesis or project (CSCL 4944H)
Upper Division Writing Intensive within the major
Students are required to take one upper division writing intensive course within the major. If that requirement has not been satisfied within the core major requirements, students must choose one course from the following list. Some of these courses may also fulfill other major requirements.
Take 0 - 1 course(s) from the following:
·
CSCL 3310W - The Rhetoric of Everyday Life
[CIV, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3212W - Documentary Cinema: History and Politics
[AH, CIV, WI]
(4.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3425W - Critical Theory and Social Change
[AH, DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3412W - Psychoanalysis
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3413W {Inactive}
[WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3350W - Sexuality and Culture
[DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3351W - The Body and the Politics of Representation
[HIS, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3111W - Close Reading
[LITR, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3130W - Colonial and Postcolonial Literatures and Theory: 1700 to the Present
[LITR, GP, WI]
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCL 3350W - Sexuality and Culture
[DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
or
GLBT 3456W - Sexuality and Culture
[DSJ, WI]
(3.0 cr)
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Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 4.0] |
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Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
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Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | ArtH 1921W/CSCL 1201W/SCMC 120 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | ArtH 1921W/CSCL 1201W/SCMC 120 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 1202W/SCMC 1202W |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 1202W/SCMC 1202W |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | EngL 3012/CSCL 3174 |
Typically offered: | Periodic Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3221/SCMC 3221 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3212W/SCMC 3212W |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3220W/SCMC 3220W |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3220W/SCMC 3220W |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Fall Odd, Spring Even Year |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3350W/GLBT 3456W |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3350W/GLBT 3456W |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3210/SCMC 3210 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3211/SCMC 3211 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 4.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | ArtH 1921W/CSCL 1201W/SCMC 120 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | ArtH 1921W/CSCL 1201W/SCMC 120 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 1202W/SCMC 1202W |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 1202W/SCMC 1202W |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CL 5305/CSCL 5305/CSDS 5305 |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CLit 5331/CSCL 5331 |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CL 5401/CSDS 5401/CSCL 5401/En |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CL 5401/CSDS 5401/CSCL 5401/En |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CL 5555/CSCL 5555/CSDS 5555 |
Typically offered: | Periodic Spring |
Credits: | 1.0 -3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 1.0 -3.0 [max 6.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall, Spring & Summer |
Credits: | 1.0 -3.0 [max 9.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 5993/CSDS 5993 |
Typically offered: | Every Fall, Spring & Summer |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 24.0] |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 -4.0 [max 32.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall, Spring & Summer |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3212W/SCMC 3212W |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3350W/GLBT 3456W |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Fall Odd, Spring Even Year |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3350W/GLBT 3456W |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CSCL 3350W/GLBT 3456W |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |