Overview

The Comparative Literature and Translation Studies program at Columbia University promotes the intensive study of languages and require majors to work at the advanced level in two literary and cultural traditions in their original languages.

The teaching emphasizes close attention to language: how language changes over time and space; how rhetorical devices enhance and inflect the meaning of what is said; how narratives tell stories and help us make sense of the world. Resisting a homogenizing globalism, students learn about how literary genres, ideas, and aesthetic forms travel across borders and change in doing so, and they study also diverse cultural practices and aesthetic forms that defy easy translatability.

We regard the study of poetics, the art or technique of writing, as fundamental for and inseparable from the study of theory, or critical and philosophical approaches to language and discourse. We teach students the critical skills and research methods needed to perform conceptually precise, aesthetically sensitive, historically-informed, and culturally-attuned analyses and interpretations of texts.

Student Learning Outcomes

The ability to discern and analyze how formal and rhetorical features of language (diction, metaphor, imagery, hyperbole, litotes, rhyme, parallelism, structures of repetition, etc.) enhance, inflect, and complicate seemingly straightforward processes of communication in literary texts but also in non-literary discourse, e.g., psychoanalytic case studies, historical narratives, philosophical writing.
The ability to analyze literary texts and uses of language in historical periods, cultural contexts, and social systems that are different from one’s own and that can thus help one see and re-evaluate one’s own customary and contemporary context in productive ways.

Knowledge about the dynamics of the global circulation of literary genres, aesthetic practices, and ideas through processes of translation and adaptation and by means of various media and technologies

Programme Structure

Courses include:

Comparative Literature
Translation Studies
Utopian Literature
Threes of Knowledge: Ecocriticism and World Literature
City and Country in the Comparative 19th Century Novel
Theatre and Democracy

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 48 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2027-09-08 00:00:00
- Apply before 2027-01-01 00:00:00

Language

English

Duolingo English Test

135

Take A Free Practice Test!

TOEFL^® IBT

105

Schedule TOEFL®

IELTS

7.5

Prepare for Your English Test

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4.9/5 student rating

Credits

120 SCH

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

Manhattan, United States

Disciplines

Literature Translation & Interpreting View 64 other Bachelors in Translation & Interpreting in United States

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Academic requirements

We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.

English requirements

Duolingo English Test

135

Take A Free Practice Test!

TOEFL^® IBT

105

Schedule TOEFL®

IELTS

7.5

Prepare for Your English Test

Cathoven AI IELTS Preparation

Learn your IELTS Score

AI-powered IELTS feedback. Clear, actionable, and tailored to boost your writing & speaking score. No credit card or upfront payment required.

Trusted by 300k learners
98 accuracy using real exam data
4.9/5 student rating

Other requirements

General requirements

Common Application
Barnard Writing Supplement
$75 non-refundable application fee or fee waiver request
Official high school and college transcripts
Secondary school report and high school profile: These are documents that your high school counselor will submit along with your transcript that help our office contextualize your achievements.
SAT or ACT scores
High school counselor letter of recommendation
Two teacher letters of recommendation
Official TOEFL , IELTS, or Duolingo English Test Scores

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

70170 USD / year

≈ 70170 USD / year
Out-of-State

70170 USD / year

≈ 70170 USD / year
Domestic

Applies to you

In-State

70170 USD / year

≈ 70170 USD / year

Living costs

Manhattan

United States

2638 - 5751 USD / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Funding

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find Bachelor's scholarship opportunities for Comparative Literature and Translation Studies.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

About

Overview

Overview

Student Learning Outcomes

Programme Structure

Key information

Duration

Start dates & application deadlines

Language

Prepare for Your English Test

Credits

Delivered

Campus Location

Disciplines

What students do after studying

Academic requirements

English requirements

Prepare for Your English Test

Other requirements

General requirements

Tuition Fees

International Applies to you

Domestic

Living costs

Manhattan

Funding

Need help with your student visa?

Scholarships Information

Available Scholarships

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