Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society
University of Minnesota
One of the first and still among the rare doctoral programs of its kind, Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society (CSDS) is entering its fourth decade at the forefront of cross-disciplinary research and teaching in the liberal arts. While most traditional humanistic disciplines tend to focus either on a given mode of discourse (e.g., art history, musicology) or a specific cultural context (e.g., American studies, or African, Asian, European, or Latin American languages and literatures), CSDS engages a broader problematic—how discourse and cultural production shape and are shaped by life in time, space, matter, and society. We strive to re-associate intellectual and cultural history with social and political history, to set discourse of various sorts within a social context, and to consider specific social formations within the ongoing historical process. We encourage work that is interdisciplinary (at times, even anti-disciplinary) as well as cross-cultural.
Our PhD program admits small cohorts of students each year; we foster a close-knit and collaborative research and teaching community. As a graduate student in our program, you will work closely with intellectual leaders in the discipline. The CSDS curriculum emphasizes seminars and directed research that draw on a variety of theoretical positions and closely study a range of discourses in elite, popular, folk, and mass culture, such as: Film, Literature, Music, Myth and ritual, Painting and sculpture, Television and digital media, Urban design, architecture, and landscape.
Contact Information
Michael Gallope, Chair
Alice Lovejoy, Director of Graduate Studies
216 Pillsbury Dr SE
Nicholson Hall 235
Minneapolis, MN
United States https://cla.umn.edu/cscl/phd-comparative-studies-discourse-and-society
alovejoy@umn.edu
Region
North America
Academic Program
Ph.D.
Year Established
1980
Fellowships and Potential Scholarly Affiliations