The Department of Comparative Literature & Languages at the University of California, Riverside invites applications to its PhD program in Comparative Literature for 2026-2027 .
All prospective Graduate Students are invited to the Virtual Open House for the Comparative Literature PhD program at the University of California, Riverside on Wednesday, October 14th from 2-3pm PST.
Registration link: https://grad.ucr.edu/register/GOH26. Attendees receive a $40 discount on application fees for attending the Academic Program Session for the Department of Comparative Literature and Languages.
About the Program
The Department of Comparative Literature and Languages at UC Riverside is unique in its faculty’s broad specialties across languages and literary areas. Our students pursue vibrant theoretical and critical work across languages, periods, and media, developing their programs of study and research in consultation with faculty.
Our faculty work in critical theory, decolonial studies, film and media studies, visual culture, environmental humanities, gender and sexuality studies, poetics, linguistics, and other areas. Our areas of strength include: African, Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, French, German, Ancient Greek, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Slavic, and Vietnamese languages, literatures and cultures. Students have also worked with faculty in the departments of Art History, Creative Writing, Dance, English, Hispanic Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Philosophy, and Religious Studies, among others.
Students in the PhD program in Comparative Literature have the option of choosing one of three tracks: Comparative Literature, Media and Visual Culture, or Critical and Social Theory.
The Department and Beyond
Comparative Literature and Languages engages actively in UCR’s highly-respected interdepartmental program in Southeast Asian Studies (SEATRIP). The department also provides the home base for the Jean-Pierre Barricelli Memorial Award for interdisciplinary dissertation research, which is awarded annually. The Special Collections of UCR’s Rivera Library houses the world-famous Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy. In addition to the list of departmental faculty below, Cooperating Faculty from other departments work actively with our graduate students.
Funding. Our funding packages include fellowships and teaching assistantships for five years. Many graduate students serve as TAs in literature, film, and linguistics courses; other students helm their own classrooms, teaching language. Students also have the opportunity to apply to teach their own courses in the summer and may request departmental funding for summer language study. The Graduate Division offers funding for travel to conferences.
Job Placement. Recent graduates have secured academic positions at colleges and universities including: Bard College; Bucknell University; Claremont McKenna College; Columbia University; George Washington University; Peking University; Purdue University; San Francisco State University, Silapakorn University, SUNY Binghamton; SUNY Plattsburgh, United States Naval Academy; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of California, San Diego; University of Leeds; University of Washington.
Our Location. The University of California, Riverside is a major research university in the University of California system. The UCR library gives students access to the outstanding UC system libraries. The Special Collections of UCR’s Rivera Library houses the world-famous Eaton Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Downtown Riverside is the home of The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum, the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts and the UCR/California Museum of Photography. Courses, events and libraries at UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Los Angeles offer UC Riverside students further access to cutting-edge faculty and research resources.
Our campus is located an hour east of Los Angeles in a multi-cultural city of 300,000 in a region that features many modes of nature either next door or within an hour’s drive: multiple mountains, hot springs, beaches, and the spectacular natural reserves of Joshua Tree and Anza Borrego National Parks. The cultural riches of metropolitan Los Angeles itself also fall within easy driving distance.
Applications due January 5, 2027: UCR Graduate Application
Questions? Contact Professor Heidi Brevik-Zender, Graduate Advisor.