Comparative Literature

View the Comparative Literature website

Resources, Strengths, Career Paths, Skills

Transferable Skills:Students of Comparative Literature end their education with superior communication skills, a rare and highly valued commodity in today's job market. Comparative Literature Majors also possess:

• Analytical and Critical abilities
• Rhetorical Skill
• Extensive Technical and Creative Writing Experience
• Didactic Skill

Career Paths:The Major in Comparative Literature provides students with an optimal platform for entering a variety of fields. Students with a strong background in the humanities are viewed favorably by varying fields such as medicine and law. Here are some fields a Comparative Literature major may pursue:

• Journalism, Publishing, and Technical Writing
• Law
• Education (Elementary, Secondary, and Higher ed.)
• Advertising
• Public Relations
• Business / Industry

Resources & Professional Associations of Interest: Check out the following websites and consider joining at least one of the professional associations in your field of interest to boost your career and give you a competitive edge on the job market. These are just a few so don' t hesitate to do some research on your own!

• mediabistro - a great site for media minded professionals
• Ed2010 - get your foot in the door of the editing world
• Chronicle of Higher Education , Inside Higher Education - great sites for academics
• National Council for Teachers of English - a must for serious English teachers
• Law School Admission Council - a necessary hit for all law school applicants

Employers: The following companies and institutions have hired/accepted Stony Brook students of Literature:

• Stony Brook University
• "The Improper Hamptonian"
• Harvard Law / CUNY
• Newsday
• Simon and Schuster
• Wells Fargo

Sample Job Titles:The following are some sample job titles that would be appropriate for a student who has majored in Comparative Literature. This is in no way a complete list. If you're surprised at some of these titles, you shouldn't forget that a student who majors in Comparative Literature gains skills that can be used in almost any industry!