Course summary

Comparative Literature and Cultures at Exeter is unique for its breadth, introducing you to literature, film and art from around the world, from the ancient to the contemporary. You will be taught by world-leading scholars with expertise in literature and culture from the Middle East, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. You will develop the key intercultural understanding and communication skills necessary to be a global citizen. You will study texts and films in English translation and develop your translation literacy, understanding the cultural, political, social and economic forces that shape how material travels from one language and context to another. The programme offers a comparative lens on pressing issues such as migration, the environment and gender and sexuality. There is a strong decolonial focus to the course, both in terms of theory and its commitment to considering literature beyond the Western canon, unlike traditional comparative literature courses. This programme will prepare you for a range of careers around the world. It includes a compulsory element of either an employability module (e.g. Humanities in the Workplace) or a module preparing you for MA study. You have the option to study abroad and to study a language from one of the 14 on offer across the Faculty, from British Sign Language to Syriac, from Spanish to Mandarin. As a student on this programme, you will be part of a vibrant research community, home to the Centre for Translating Cultures, the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, the Global China Research Centre, Exeter Centre for Latin America, the Centre for Classical Reception, and many more. You will be studying in a UNESCO City of Literature and benefit from relationships with cultural institutions from the local to the global. If you wish to study a Beginners language from Year 1, you must spend your third year in the country of that language and therefore will need to apply for the 4-year variant.