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International Studies - Literature

Program Overview

Lower Division Requirements

  • Fourth Quarter Language Proficiency

Upper Division Requirements

  • International Studies Core (3 courses)
  • Literature Disciplinary Focus (8 courses)
  • Interdisciplinary Electives (3 courses)
  • International Studies Regional Requirement

Major Requirements:

Language course may be taken for a letter grade or Pass/No Pass, students must earn either a C- or better or a Pass. All other courses for major requirements must be taken for a letter grade of C- or above.

Language Requirement

International Studies majors are required to demonstrate basic proficiency in a modern foreign language.  This can be accomplished in one of the following ways:

International Studies Core Courses (3 courses)

International Studies Core Courses (3 courses)

All courses are 4-units and must be taken for a letter grade of C- or better.

For Students Beginning the INTL Course Sequence in Fall 2024:

INTL 102 may be taken before INTL 101.


For ISP Students who have already taken INTL 101 and/or INTL 102 by Spring 2024:

INTL 102 may be taken before INTL 101. Both INTL 101 and INTL 102 must be completed before INTL 190. The INTL core courses must be taken at UC San Diego.

You may not take INTL 100 instead of INTL 190.

Disciplinary Focus (8 courses)

Disclaimer: For IS-Literature majors whose first quarter at UCSD was prior to Fall 2023, please refer to the archived Fall 2018 - Summer 2023 Disciplinary Focus course list (see below) in addition to the following list. Courses accepted for the major on the archived list and the current list will be accepted for majors whose first quarter was before Fall 2023. 

All eight (8) courses must be 4 units, upper-division and taken for a letter grade of C- or better.

Eight (8) upper-division courses must be selected from the following:

  • LTEN. Literatures in English
    • LTEN 142. British Novel: 1830-1890*
    • LTEN 144. British Novel: 1890-present*
    • LTEN 189. Twentieth-Century Postcolonial Literatures
  • LTWL. Literatures of the World
    • LTWL 140. Novel and History in the Third World
    • LTWL 150. Modernity and Literature
    • LTWL 157. Iranian Film
    • LTWL 160. Women and Literature* (Rotating topic – by Petition)
  • LTAM. Literatures of the Americas
    • LTAM 110. Latin American Literature in Translation
    • LTAM 111. Comparative Caribbean Discourse
    • LTAM 130. Reading North by South
  • LTCS. Literature/Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 130. Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Class, and Culture* (Rotating topic – by Petition)
    • LTCS 131. Topics in Queer Cultures/Queer Subcultures* (Rotating topic – by Petition)
    • LTCS 133. Globalization and Culture
    • LTCS 134. Culture and Revolution
    • LTCS 141. Special Topics: Race and Empire
    • LTCS 165. Special Topics: Politics of Food* (Rotating topic – by Petition)
  • All course listed under:
    • LTAF. African Literatures
    • LTCH. Chinese Literature
    • LTEA. East Asian Literatures
    • LTEU. European and Eurasian Literatures
    • LTGK. Greek Literature
    • LTFR. Literatures in French
    • LTGM. Literatures in German
    • LTIT. Literatures in Italian
    • LTKO. Korean Literature
    • LTLA. Latin Literature
    • LTRU. Russian Literature
      • With exception of LTRU 104A, B, C
    • LTSP. Literatures in Spanish
      • With exception of LTSP 151,154,160,162,166

A maximum of two (2) courses selected from the following with approval from the International Studies Program

  • LTTH. Literature/Theory courses selected from
    • LTTH 110. History of Criticism
    • LTTH 115. Introduction to Critical Theory
    • LTTH 150. Topics in Critical Theory
  • LTCS. Literature/Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 100. Theories and Methods in Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 102. Practicing Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 120. Historical Perspectives on Culture

* Newly added course. Please send VAC message to ISP for degree audit update

Interdisciplinary Elective Courses (3 courses)

All three (3) courses must be upper-division, 4 units and taken for a letter grade of C- or better.

Course Pre-requisites: Students are responsible for meeting all departmental pre-requisite courses.  Please refer to the General Catalog for additional information.

Regional Requirement

At least three (3) of the eleven (11) Disciplinary Focus and Interdisciplinary Elective courses must focus on one region.

  • Note: This requirement is an overlap requirement comprised of courses that count for both the Disciplinary Focus or Interdisciplinary Elective courses and the Regional Requirement.
  • Regional Requirement courses may come all from within the Disciplinary Focus, Interdisciplinary Electives, or a combination of the two.
  • Possible regions include: Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America or the Middle East.

Course Offerings:

Academic Advising Resources

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Archived International Studies - Literature Course Offerings

2023-2024 Academic Year

2022-2023 Academic Year

2021-2022 Academic Year

2020-2021 Academic Year

2019-2020 Academic Year

2018-2019 Academic Year

Archived International Studies - Literature Course List (Fall 2018 - Summer 2023)

Courses in bold that were taken prior to Fall 2023 will be honored as Disciplinary Focus coursework.

  • LTEN. Literatures in English
    • LTEN 188. Contemporary Caribbean Literature
    • LTEN 189. Twentieth-Century Postcolonial Literatures
  • LTWL. Literatures of the World
    • LTWL 140. Novel and History in the Third World
    • LTWL 143. Arab Literatures and Cultures
    • LTWL 144. Islam and Cinema
    • LTWL 150. Modernity and Literature
    • LTWL 157. Iranian Film
    • LTWL 168. Death and Desire in India
  • LTAM. Literatures of the Americas
    • LTAM 110. Latin American Literature in Translation
    • LTAM 111. Comparative Caribbean Discourse
    • LTAM 130. Reading North by South
  • LTCS. Literature/Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 133. Globalization and Culture
    • LTCS 134. Culture and Revolution
    • LTCS 141. Special Topics in Race and Empire
  • All course listed under:
    • LTAF. African Literatures
    • LTCH. Chinese Literature
    • LTEA. East Asian Literatures
    • LTEU. European and Eurasian Literatures
    • LTGK. Greek Literature
    • LTFR. Literatures in French
    • LTGM. Literatures in German
    • LTIT. Literatures in Italian
    • LTKO. Korean Literature
    • LTLA. Latin Literature
    • LTRU. Russian Literature
      • With exception of LTRU 104A, B, C
    • LTSP. Literatures in Spanish
      • With exception of LTSP 151,154,160,162,166

A maximum of two (2) courses selected from the following with approval from the International Studies Program

  • LTTH. Literature/Theory courses selected from
    • LTTH 110. History of Criticism
    • LTTH 115. Introduction to Critical Theory
    • LTTH 150. Topics in Critical Theory
  • LTCS. Literature/Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 100. Theories and Methods in Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 102. Practicing Cultural Studies
    • LTCS 120. Historical Perspectives on Culture