Comparative Literature

Deadline for submitting applications:January 1 - April 30

Deadline for submitting documents for the admission procedure: until May 15

Documents for the admission procedure:

• signed CV;
• list of publishing activities;
• doctoral thesis project, including a bibliography: the topic of the doctoral thesis is agreed by the applicant with their future supervisor;
• motivation letter.

Documents for the admission procedure must be inserted into the e-application (rubric “Documents”) by 15 May. Applicants are required to include their full name and application number on all attached documents.

The entrance examination takes the form of an oral discussion over the doctoral thesis project.

Entrance examination requirements: candidates must demonstrate knowledge of at least two languages and literatures to the extent of at least the Bachelor's degree at the entrance examination.

Notice: A poof of completion of a Master’s degree programme (officially certified copy of the diploma, in the case of education obtained abroad also the so-called recognition) shall be submitted by the accepted applicants upon enrolment in the studies. For the entrance examination, a proof of completion of a Master’s degree programme is not required.

Pass/fail line: 70 points (out of 100); doctoral thesis project: max. 40 points, motivation - max. 25 points, professional readiness - max. 35 points.

The aim of this doctoral degree is to deep student's knowledge in a traditional academic discipline which is based on the scholarly comparison mainly of the European literatures and partially also of the literatures of North, Central, South America and some other countries where literature is written in European languages and connected to European traditions and confronted with indigenous cultures. The study programme uses the methodology traditional for European comparative studies (including the Czech, Slovak, and the Prague-Brno schools) with methodological flexibility focused on the methods developed in the late 20th century and early 21st century (semiotics, hermeneutics, deconstruction, and cognitive methods), overlapping with the philological-area approach to comparative literary studies and new interpretations of world literature.

Doctoral degree students specialize in one comparative module according to the orientation of their doctoral thesis and that is also how they design their study plan.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• orientate himself/herself comprehensively in world literature and compare the form of various national literatures;
• make use of theoretical and practical tools and new methodologies in grasping the world literary process;
• to make use of the knowledge of literature for the general and social transcendence towards a more profound synchronic and diachronic cognition of geopolitical and cultural areas necessary for scholarly and expert activity;
• use two world languages (in addition to Czech).

The interdisciplinary nature of this study programme will help graduates find employment in EU institutions, in public service (at all levels), in institutions targeting the development and administration of individual regions, in institutions of various international organizations outside the EU, in educational institutions, and in the media.

This study programme provides graduates with comprehensive education in comparative literary science, cultural studies, and the historiography of chosen countries which will enable them to work in scientific, academic-pedagogical, and cultural institutions, in journalism, or as experts in the given field. The flexibility of the design of the study programme also enables students to work in the private sector.

There is no obligatory practical training at external workplaces. Active involvement of the students in teaching, researching, and organising tasks within the institute offers an opportunity to acquire further praxis-related skills.

The standard length of the doctoral thesis is determined by the character count, which comprises the main text with footnotes/endnotes and contents. Bibliography, the title page, or the declaration of honour, are not calculated in the character count. The recommended length of the doctoral thesis is 180,000 characters.

The doctoral thesis deals with a specific problem from the comparative literature that corresponds with the type of the study programme. In it, the student is to demonstrate their ability of independent academic work, including setting up a hypothesis, an outline, and a time frame of the thesis, searching for and working with relevant literature according to the thematic focus of their thesis, collecting relevant research material by the use of adequate methods, and all of this within the appropriate context of the current developments in the field. The dissertation thesis has to be submitted in the set length, as well as on the prescribed level in terms of contents, language, and formatting, which are required for a doctoral thesis.

The thesis is assessed on the basis of the supervisor's and two reviewers' reports.