M.St. Course in Comparative Criticism
This course offers an opportunity for M.St. students from a range of humanities faculties to acquire a foundation in researching across languages and/or media. It is open to students from the Faculties of Classics, English, Medieval and Modern Languages, Music and Oriental Studies, and it will be team-taught by academics from those Faculties.
The Course
The course is designed to support many styles of translinguistic, intermedial and interdisciplinary enquiry. It is hosted by TORCH, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities and draws methodological stimulus from Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation ( and participants are encouraged to check these websites for seminars, workshops and conferences that appeal to their interests.
Course Structure
The course will consist of a series of introductory discussions during Michaelmas Term2015, followed by 6 seminars in Hilary Term 2016.The introductory discussions, which will be led by academics engaged in comparative research, will give a taste of comparative work and introduce the topics that will then be explored further during the seminars. These will be team-taught by members of the Faculties involved in the course. Each seminar will focus on a topic that is central to comparative critical research (see below), and there will be ample room for you to present and receive responses to your own work.
Seminar Presentations
Each participating student will be expected to give a presentation at one of the seminars on a relevant subject that has been agreed with the convenors in advance. Students are advised to choose a well-focused topic that takes account of the recommended reading. It should be theoretically oriented though it may discuss textual examples. The topic of the presentation mayrelate to work the student will submit to their Faculty as part of their assessed assignments, but the presentation itself will not be assessed. The presentation should be 10-15 minutes long and be accompanied by a handout that is no longer than 2 sides of A4, and it should be suited to stimulating discussion.
Registration
Participants must register for the seminar course through their Faculty Graduate Office by their Faculty’s deadline for Hilary Term M.St. courses. To take the course you need to be able to work at M.St. level either on literatures in at least two languages (e.g. English and Arabic) or on a literature and another discipline (e.g. French and music). All the texts discussed will either have been written in English or be available in English translation; in the latter case, participants are also encouraged to read them in the original language where possible. Students proposing to take the course who are in doubt about their eligibility should discuss this with their supervisor before signing up.
Convenors
Classics:Prof. Stephen Harrison, Prof. Fiona Macintosh
English:Prof. Laura Marcus, Prof. Matthew Reynolds
Medieval and Modern Languages:Prof.Katrin Kohl, Dr Daniela Omlor
Music:Prof. Eric Clarke, Prof. Laura Tunbridge
Oriental Studies: Dr Adriana X. Jacobs, Dr Mohamed-Salah Omri
Course convenor 2015/16:
M.St. Course in Comparative Criticism
INTRODUCTORY CONVERSATIONS
Michaelmas Term 2015
Tuesdays 12 am – 1 pm
Venue: Jesus College, Habakkuk Room
1: What is Comparative Criticism?
2: National Literature – World literature
3: Translation, Adaptation, Version
4: The Ancients and the Moderns – the Role of the Canon
5: Intermediality
6: Genre
7: Place and Displacement
8: Performance
SEMINAR COURSE
Hilary Term 2016, weeks 1-6
Group 1: Tuesdays 11 am – 1 pm*(Jesus College, Habakkuk Room)
Group 2: Thursdays 11 am – 1 pm*(Venue tbc)
1: National Literature – World Literature
2: Intermediality and Performance
3: The Ancients and the Moderns – the Role of the Canon
4: Genre
5: Translation, Adaptation, Version
6: Place and Displacement
*Participants who are unable to attend at one of these times should notify this by
15 November (subject line: “M.St. Comparative
Criticism Seminars”).