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COMPARATIVE STUDIES PROGRAM
The Ph. D. in Comparative Studies has three tracks: Cultures, Languages and Literatures (CLL), Culture, Society and Politics (CSP), and Design, Aesthetics and the Arts.
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Cultures, Languages and Literatures
The CLL track focuses primarily on humanities research and has areas of strength in Literature and Migration, Rhetoric and Composition, U.S. Multiethnic Literatures, Science Fiction, Early Modern Literatures, Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment, Modernity and Postmodernity, Space and Place in Literature, Postcolonial Literature and Culture, Literatures and Cultures of the Americas, and Peace, Justice and Human Rights.
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Culture, Society, and Politics
The CSP track focuses on social science research and has areas of strength in (Anthropology) sociocultural and medical anthropology, bioarcheology, ethnoarcheology, zooarchaeology, and primatology; (Sociology) studies of gender, agriculture, adulthood, adolescence, childhood, race, social class and economics; (Political Science) comparative politics, American politics, international relations, public policy and law, post-conflict resolution, democracy and democratization, political behavior, and quantitative methods.
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Design, Aesthetics and the Arts
The DAA track focuses on the philosophy of aesthetics and the fine arts, including especially somaesthetics (the specialty of Academic Program Head Richard Shusterman), the theory and philosophy of design (a strength bolstered by a partnership with the Shenkar College of Engineering, Design, and Art in Ramat Gan Israel), architecture, visual art, visual culture, art history, and multimedia (including digital games). Musicology and theatrology are also possible academic paths.
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