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Founded in the 1960s on the philological and philosophical bases of the discipline, The University of Texas at Austin's Program in Comparative Literature has gone on to display strengths in both European and non-European languages and literatures. Formed by a group of innovative faculty who sought to create a rigorous interdisciplinary program, Comparative Literature at UT has embraced the challenge of theory inclusively. Its fifty affiliated faculty members work in fields as varied as medieval studies, South Asian studies, Middle Eastern studies, Latin American studies, African American studies, and gender and sexuality studies. Our students come from more than a dozen countries.
The official administrative home of the American Comparative Literature Association from 2002-2011, our Program has embraced and practiced a radically inclusive approach to the discipline. With a unique wealth of resources from five federally-funded area studies centers as well as UT's nationally recognized foreign language programs, we are able to foster the cultivation of multilingual and multicultural critical understanding. To find out more, read our Mission Statement and visit the SCLA page.
20th Annual graduate conference in comparative literature - november 2025
The 20th Annual Graduate Conference in Comparative Literature, Configurations of Place and Death, will take place on Friday, November 7, and Saturday, November 8th, 2025, at the University of Texas at Austin. This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Muhammad Farooq.
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Dr. Geraldine Heng
Comparative Literature's very own, Dr. Geraldine Heng elected to The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
In April 2023, Dr. Geraldine Heng, a medievalist in the Program in Comparative Literature and the Department of English at the University of Texas, received the honor of a lifetime. Dr. Heng was elected to The American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Heng joins some illustrious past and present members of the Academy, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Emerson, Graham Bell, Margaret Mead, Barbara McClintock, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Georgia O’Keeffe!
Dr. Syed Akbar Hyder
Dr. Syed Akbar Hyder named 2023 Outstanding Graduate Teacher
Dr. Syed Akbar Hyder, Associate Professor of Asian Studies and faculty of the Comparative Literature Program, is the 2023 recipient of the UT's Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award. This prestigious award is given each year to one faculty member from across the university, and we are proud that Professor Hyder’s transformative graduate teaching has been recognized this year. Dr. Hyder has served on more than 60 dissertation and thesis committees at UT and has helped make UT a premier institution for the study of Urdu language & literature and of Islam in South Asia.
From left to right: Aycan Akçamete, Boya Lin, Andra Bailard
"The Last Piece" by Aycan Akçamete, Boya Lin and Andra Bailard
Students from the 2017 Cohort of Comparative Literature are shown placing "the last piece" of a puzzle put together over a weekend in Houston right before Aycan's defense and Boya's graduation. Aycan's dissertation was titled "Reconceptualizing Theater Criticism: A Case Study on Arcola Theater", and Boya's dissertation was titled "Double Consciousness and the Reimagination of Revolution in Black Leftist Fiction in the U.S. and Haiti, 1940-1959."
From left to right: Dr. Kathleen Higgins, Dr. Syed Akbar Hyder, Hamza Iqbal, Dr. Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali, Dr. A. Azfar Moin
Congratulations to Hamza Iqbal!
Hamza Iqbal successfully defended his dissertation on the life and works of the Urdu poet Jaun Elia (1931-2002), titled "Jaun Elia: A Portrait of a Poet-Intellectual." His dissertation committee comprised of Dr. Kathleen Higgins, Dr. Syed Akbar Hyder, Dr. Elizabeth Richmond Garza, Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali and Dr. A Azfar Moin. Following a successful defense, Hamza has accepted an Assistant Teaching Professor position at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University. UT Comparative Literature wishes him all the best for his future endeavors!
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Comparative Literature Program
Hannah Chapelle Wojciehowski
The University of Texas at Austin
204 W. 21st St. B5000, Austin, TX 78712-1164 78712