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Comparative Literature
The undergraduate program in
Comparative Literature fosters the study of literature
and culture from a cross-national and global
perspective. The study of literature is approached
within the context of criticism and theory,
interdisciplinary and multicultural perspectives, and
philosophic modes of thought. The core courses teach
students to appreciate the variety of meanings texts
acquire in different institutional and creative
contexts, among them law, medicine, art and music, and
different social contexts, such as gender, ethnicity,
race and class. Advanced courses branch out from this
beginning, from further explorations into literary
theory to specific investigations of literary genres
and periods within particular cultural traditions.
Increasingly, these traditions are examined in relation
to the effects of global forces upon their form and
content.
Comparative Literature is a
challenging major given its theory and language
requirements. But it is also a very flexible major,
allowing students to take courses in a variety of
departments in The College. Students with
interdisciplinary interests in literature and other
fields such as philosophy, history, art or music, will
find the requirements congenial. The major provides
students with a cosmopolitan intellectual background
that will be increasingly in demand in an era of
globalization. Our graduates have gone on to graduate
studies and careers in an impressive variety of fields.
Creative Writing (minor only)
Creative writing has had a long
tradition at Penn. The creative writing faculty has
included some of the most important writers of their
time and some of Penn’s most brilliant and
effective teachers, among them Philip Roth, Carlos
Fuentes, John Wideman, Nora Magid, Romulus Linney,
Daniel Hoffman, Paul Fussell, Jerre Mangione and Loren
Eisley.
The emergence of a lively culture
of writers at Penn in recent years, with the advent of
the Kelly Writers House and the founding of the Center
for Programs in
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Contemporary Writing, has made a new
minor in Creative Writing all the more attractive.
East Asian Area Studies
This interdisciplinary degree is
intended to offer undergraduates a course of study that
focuses on East Asia as a region of the world and human
experience and provides an integrated curriculum
drawing on the approaches of the social sciences,
humanities and legal studies. The program requires
relevant courses in a number of departments and
programs—History, International Relations,
Political Science, Sociology, East Asian Languages and
Civilizations, and Law—while maintaining high
standards in language study. The degree is administered
by the Center for East Asian Studies, an
interdisciplinary institution that also facilitates
interdepartmental initiatives and outreach programs.
East Asian Languages and
Civilizations
The undergraduate program in East
Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC) offers
language training and courses in the history,
literature, linguistics, art history, performance and
gender studies, philosophy, religion, and ethics of
East Asia. Students may major in either Chinese or
Japanese, and minor in Chinese, Japanese or Korean.
Economics
Economics studies the allocation
of scarce resources. At the core of economics are
theories of how individuals, firms and other
organizations make choices and interact, taking into
account constraints on their behaviors. A major in
economics gives training in economic principles and in
the application of economic modeling techniques to
understanding a variety of economic and social
phenomena. The study of economics provides a useful
background for students planning to enter any
profession. Students preparing for a career in law,
public service or business who
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