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About

The Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Boston University was created in Spring 2007 as one of two successor departments (along with Romance Studies) to the former Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures. Students and faculty in MLCL pursue the study of nine world languages, literatures and cultures and of Comparative Literature (the study of literature across linguistic boundaries). MLCL boasts an internationally distinguished faculty engaged in scholarly research on topics ranging from female impersonators in China to German translations of the Hebrew Bible to medieval Persian poetry in India to contemporary Japanese writers, and a great many other topics.

MLCL is unique in BU’s College of Arts and Sciences in that its teaching and advising are oriented entirely to undergraduates (although graduate students from other programs are always welcome in our classes). Our courses enroll about 2500 students per year. Students major in German, Japanese, and Russian (many students pursue double majors) and minor in Chinese, German, Hebrew, Japanese, and Russian. Several new degree programs are in the works, including a new major and minor in Comparative Literature. We invite you to explore our website and become familiar with our rich offerings.