December 1, 2019
Dear Alumni,
I am writing with important news about the UW Department of Comparative Literature, Cinema and Media. As you may be aware, a number of initiatives are underway to reinvigorate the humanities at the UW and better position the university’s strengths in the liberal arts through the College of Arts and Sciences.
Over the past few years we have experienced a number of significant changes in terms of graduate support, faculty retirements, student enrollments, degrees granted, and degree offerings.
Two recent initiatives related to our department include a proposal for a new major in Global Literary Studies and a renaming of the department to Cinema and Media Studies (CMS). The second initiative – the renaming of the department – was recently approved by the Provost.
This name change builds on our program’s existing strengths and taps into student interest and demand, while securing a future for the department and subsequent faculty hires. Now that the change is approved you will see a series of corresponding changes to our website and messaging.
Like you, I have a history in comparative literature, and “comp lit” has been an important part of my intellectual life. I earned a master’s degree from this department (Class of 1993), where I worked as a research assistant for Ernst Behler and as a teaching assistant for Willis Konick. After returning to UW years later, I became an adjunct in comparative literature, then a full-time faculty member, and then a department chair. Personally, I am aware of what a unit name change means for those of us who either studied or worked here under the sign of comparative literature. But we also need to look beyond our own experiences, to imagine future students and faculty members, and find ways of attracting them to our department and making it a place where they can thrive. I hope we can count on you to support us in this endeavor.
Sincerely,
Eric Ames
Professor and Department Chair