Various contemporary cultural artifacts, film reel, manual typewriter, photo of Angela Davis, rows of slides pinned to wall

Department of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature

Crossing a range of traditional disciplines, we seek to lead the public conversation about the powers of culture in the modern world.

CSCL class

CSCL grad student

Graduate

Recent News

Rachel Croson, a white woman wearing a black blazer, stands on a stage

Provost Croson to select academic freedom review committee

CLA faculty Michael Gallope and William Jones speak to the Minnesota Daily about the decision to appoint Croson after a "no-confidence" vote from faculty governance.

Students walk through Northrop Mall in the fall

Eight incredibly cool fall courses

Spanning the study of Barbie, Twin Cities geography, frightening art, and more, five CLA courses are featured in this roundup of eight amazing fall 2024 courses.

A selfie of Cindi Houtkeeper in a black shirt in front of a bathroom door.

Graduating Senior Spotlight: Q&A with Cindi Houtkooper

Cindi Houtkooper graduates with a degree while working full-time with a family, and finishes with more knowledge about the world around her than ever.

Maggie Hennefeld and Michelle Baroody standing together

Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour brings rare films to the Twin Cities

UMN professor Maggie Hennefeld and Michelle Baroody are bringing rare and restored films from Italian film festival Il Cinema Ritrovato to Minneapolis.

Fisherman in a boat catching a gold Oscar trophy

What wins awards and what doesn’t

Brad Stiffler, a lecturer of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature, weighs in on this year's Oscar nominees for The Minnesota Daily.

Upcoming Events

A dark, textured planet or moon is centered in the image, surrounded by glowing light rays. A bright, circular rainbow-colored halo encircles the planet, with a starburst of light in the top right corner. The background is a dark gradient.

In-Person

October 10 - 11, 2024

Posthumanities and Latin America Symposium

A two-day symposium on debates, practices, and philosophical approaches to the posthuman condition, recognizing life's interconnectedness and technology's impact.

Event

In-Person

October 18, 2024

Matar Family Lecture 2024

Lecture: "Gaza on Screen in a time of Genocide," followed by film screening of Vibrations from Gaza Rehab Nazzal (2023) and The Offing by Oraib Toukan (2021).

The Grand Budapest Hotel

In-Person

October 25, 2024

Drabness and Ethics (on the Values of Formalism)

Eugenie Brinkema (University of Toronto) is coming to CSCL to discuss the 2014 Wes Anderson Film "The Grand Budapest Hotel."

"To Be an Actress" Book Cover

In-Person

November 12, 2024

“To Be an Actress”: Discussion with Yiman Wang

This talk is in conjunction with showings of the film "Pavement Butterfly" (1929) at the Trylon Cinema November 10th - 12th.