Note: The report follows the general outline proposed by the Department of Education with the addition of one section (Section C, entitled Special Programs). Numbered sections under the headings D and E correspond to the numbered subdivisions of sections C and D in the outline.

Definition and Areas of Priority

Comparative literature has been an established field of study in European and American universities since the end of the nineteenth century: American departments such as Harvard and Columbia trace back their origins to the 1890s. The main expansion, however, took place after the Second World War, prompted by a renewed concern for the international aspects of our culture. By 1952, nine major graduate departments, a professional journal, a yearbook etc. has been established. A second wave of development occurred around 1960, under the impetus of NDEA-financed graduate programs [i.e. under the 1958 National Defense Education Act]. Thirty-seven comparative literature programs and departments are listed in 1963 and the figure has probably doubled since then; at least two new journals have been launched and more than 100 PhDs could potentially be produced every year.

This quantitative growth has been accompanied, on the whole, by a parallel qualitative development. In terms of student quality, graduate programs in comparative literature generally compare favorably with the neighboring programs in modern or classical literatures; many graduates have gone on to successful careers in teaching and research, and several important publications have put American comparative literature studies definitely in the forefront of the international field.