What careers do comp lit majors have?
Majors in Comparative Literature are not engaged in an isolated or esoteric activity, but participate in an interdisciplinary program that studies how literature interacts across linguistic and regional boundaries with the economy, political dynamics, cultural movements, historical shifts, religious differences, the urban environment, international relations, public policy, or multiple sciences. Students learn useful research methodologies while reading literature in the original languages and in translation. The skills that students develop in critical analysis, writing, research, languages, cross-cultural communication, and international understanding are attractive to a wide variety of employers.
About a third of our graduates go into business or finance. Over 15 percent go on to law or medical school. For instance, a recent study of 525 Princeton comparative literature graduates found that about 30 percent are in business or finance, 27 percent are professors, 12 percent are writers or editors, 11 percent are lawyers, 6 percent are doctors, 5 percent are teachers, and 4 percent are artists, poets, or actors.
"There's no way to predict which moments of a liberal-arts education will be directly relevant in the workplace, but ... such moments occur frequently," writes Katherine S. Brooks, a director of career services. A comparative literature major—which requires students to integrate disciplines, fields, periods, and languages—helps you gain perspective on current events, seek out puzzles, and learn habits of thinking that enable solutions.
