UC San Diego
Literature
SearchMenu

Composite Major in Literature

Information Only

The composite major in literature permits a student to develop a solid foundation in two literatures while remaining within one department. Because the UCSD Literature Department houses literatures that are divided among different departments at most universities, our composite major allows students to coordinate their studies with a single, closely-knit group of faculty, and to arrange their program without repeating two different sets of major requirements. (For example, since a composite major necessarily combines literatures written in two different languages, it automatically fulfills the foreign language requirement for the literature major.)

Students pursuing a composite major must work closely with a faculty advisor to plan a program of study that meets the following requirements:

Students will select two literatures of concentration (Literature 1 and Literature 2)

  • one of the literatures must be in a language other than English
  • both concentrations, however, can be in non-English literatures; thus a student can choose English and French, for example, or Russian and Spanish, French and Italian, German and Latin, Spanish and English, etc., but not Literatures of the World or Literature/Writing.

Students will meet all lower-division major requirements for each of the two literatures of concentration.

Students will take eight upper-division courses in each of the two selected literatures of concentration for a total of sixteen upper-division courses.

  • these must satisfy the upper division course requirements for each of the two majors. Thus, for example, if one of the concentrations is English, the student must include courses from each of the five stipulated categories; if one of the concentrations is Spanish, upper-division courses must include LTSP 119A, B, or C, 130A and 130B.
  • beyond the upper-division requirements for each literature of concentration (Literature 1 and Literature 2), students will take a sufficient number of elective courses in each of the two literatures of concentration to make a total of eight upper-division courses in each chosen concentration.