Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, 216 Pillsbury Drive S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-624-8099; fax: 612-626-0228)

Note: Students normally are not admitted to work toward the M.A. In the event that a Ph.D. student decides not to finish the Ph.D. and is in good standing, that student may apply for a terminal M.A. While most traditional humanistic disciplines tend to focus either on a given mode of discourse (e.g., art history, musicology) or a specific cultural context (e.g., American studies, European languages and literatures), this program engages a broader problematic--how discourse and cultural production both shape and are shaped by life in time, space, matter, and society. Drawing on a variety of theoretical positions, close attention is paid to various types of discourse, such as music, film, myth, ritual, architecture, landscape and urban design, painting, sculpture, and literature in elite, popular, folk, and mass culture, understanding these as both a site and an instrument of contestation and negotiation among social forces. More generally, the program seeks to re-associate intellectual and cultural history with social and political history, to set discourse of various sorts within a social context, and to consider specific social formations within the ongoing historical process. In all this, the program encourages work that is interdisciplinary (at times, even anti-disciplinary) as well as cross-cultural. The curriculum emphasizes seminars and directed research. The core requirement is a two-semester research seminar that develops critical and analytic skills and introduces current theoretical perspectives with the study of historical problems. Many courses are nonrecurring and closely relate to current faculty research. In all cases, students should consult their advisers and the director of graduate studies concerning course selections. Apart from the basic research seminar, each entering graduate student enrolls in CSDS 8901 - Pedagogy of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, which focuses on developing skills and experience in teaching and other professional concerns, and CSDS 8902 - Methodologies Colloquium, which introduces students to the research interests and approaches of the core faculty.

M.A. Plan B Degree Requirements: Students normally are not admitted to work toward the M.A. degree. In the event that a Ph.D. student decides not to finish the Ph.D. and is in good standing, that student may apply for a terminal M.A. Twenty-nine credits of coursework are required, including 6 credits of the basic seminar (CL 8001-8002), 3 credits of CSDS 8901 - Pedagogy of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, 2 credits of CSDS 8902 - Methodologies Colloquium, 9 additional CSDS credits, 6 credits in courses in related fields outside comparative studies in discourse and society or in a formal minor in another program, and 3 credits either in CSDS courses or in the related minor field are required. One Plan B paper is required.