Overview

Literature at MIT embraces an expansive vision of literary study. We are linked by a common interest in problems of narrative, aesthetics, genre, and media, but our curriculum explores a broad array of written, oral, and visual forms, ranging from the ancient and medieval world to the 21st century. We teach poetry, drama, prose fiction, and nonfiction, and also film, television, comics, and music. Our curriculum emphasizes critical reading, writing, and thinking, and educates students in methods including critical theory, the digital humanities, and theories of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Literature subjects engage students in the pleasures and challenges of reading and interpretation, expose them to fresh ways of thinking about the world, around the world; and develop valuable, transferable skills in writing and communication.