The Literature Section's mission is to maintain a level of excellence and innovation consistent with the best universities while remaining responsive to MIT's distinctive intellectual environment. The curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to literary texts as well as theoretical, generic, and thematic subjects that range across geographical and historical boundaries.
The Literature Section accommodates students with a wide variety of interests and diverse career choices. The major provides a solid grounding in the discipline but remains flexible enough to allow students to explore the particular domains that most interest them. Students graduating from the MIT Literature program have in recent years been admitted into the best doctoral programs in the country and abroad. For those not pursuing literature as a career, the program nonetheless develops transferable skills in writing, comprehension, and analysis relevant to a variety of different professional paths—both to traditional choices (e.g., journalism, law, and medical school) and to more esoteric ones, such as working in the gourmet food industry or computer game design.
Depending on the depth of one's engagement, a student may major, minor, or concentrate in Literature. Regardless of the individual choice, our courses will introduce you to the pleasures of reading and interpretation, expose you to different ways of thinking about the world, and lead to a competence in writing and communication that will remain with you the rest of your life.
A supplement to this catalogue, available online and from Literature Headquarters, Room 14N-407, offers detailed descriptions of all Literature subjects and includes specific information about required texts, writing assignments, and exams.
The Literature curriculum is arranged in four graduated categories:
Concentrations in Literature are available in particular genres (e.g., poetry, drama, fiction) and in historical periods (e.g., ancient studies, 19th-century literature, modern and contemporary literature), as well as in popular culture, media and film studies, minority and ethnic studies, literary theory, and a range of national literatures.
The program in Literature leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Literature is equivalent to the curricula in English (or literary studies) of the major liberal arts universities. The Literature curriculum is notable also for its inclusion, along with traditional literary themes and texts, of materials drawn from film and media, popular culture, and minority and ethnic cultures.
Majors are required to take a minimum of 10 subjects, three of which must be seminars and no more than three of which may be introductory subjects. Students develop an appropriate course of study in consultation with a faculty advisor; majors choose from one of two areas in organizing four of their restricted electives (three for joint majors): historical periods or thematic complexes.
The minor program aims to lay a foundation for advanced study and to enhance a student's appreciation of major narrative, poetic, and dramatic texts in relation to the cultures that produced them.
The minor program in Literature consists of six subjects arranged into three levels of study as follows:
| Tier I | Introductory Level At least one and no more than two subjects from 21L.000–21L.017 |
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| Tier II | Intermediate Level Two or three subjects from 21L.420–21L.512; Note: two samplings subjects (21L.310–21L.325) may be substituted for an intermediate level subject |
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| Tier III | Seminar Level At least two subjects from 21L.701–21L.715 |
At least two subjects must focus primarily on material from before 1900.
Joint degree programs are offered in Literature in combination with a field in engineering or science (21E, 21S). See the joint major programs listed under Humanities.
Subjects in Literature are described in Part 3. Further information on subjects and programs may be obtained from Literature Headquarters, Room 14N-407, 617-253-3581, lit@mit.edu.
James Buzard, PhD
Professor of Literature
Section Head
Peter S. Donaldson, PhD
Professor of Literature
Diana Henderson, PhD
Professor of Literature
John Hildebidle, PhD
Professor of Literature
Henry Jenkins III, PhD
Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities
Professor of Comparative Media Studies and Literature
Codirector, Comparative Media Studies Program
Alvin Charles Kibel, PhD
Professor of Literature
Ruth Perry, PhD
Professor of Literature
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
(On leave, fall)
Stephen James Tapscott, PhD
Professor of Literature
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
(On leave)
David Thorburn, PhD
Professor of Literature
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
William Uricchio, PhD
Professor of Comparative Media Studies
Codirector, Comparative Media Studies Program
Mary C. Fuller, PhD
Associate Professor of Literature
Noel B. Jackson, PhD
Homer A. Burnell Career Development Associate Professor of Literature
Shankar Raman, PhD
Associate Professor of Literature
(On leave)
Sandy Alexandre, PhD
Assistant Professor of Literature
(On leave)
Arthur W. Bahr, PhD
Assistant Professor of Literature
Alisa Braithwaite, PhD
Assistant Professor of Literature
(On leave)
Sarah Brouillette, PhD
Assistant Professor of Literature
(On leave, fall)
Wyn Kelley, PhD (On leave)
Howard Eiland, PhD
Ina Lipkowitz, PhD
Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Jr., MFA
Professor of Literature, Emeritus
Louis Kampf, BA
Professor of English, Emeritus
Irene Tayler, PhD
Professor of Literature, Emerita