BA World Literatures at The Ohio State University

Programme overview

World literatures is focused on historical and contemporary literature and the processes of globalization. Students analyze, in English translation, a wide range of fiction, poetry and drama produced in different geopolitical regions of the world. Students study different literary texts and traditions in their historical and cultural contexts. Program courses emphasize close reading and analysis of particular texts but also explore the relationships between those texts and the cultures that produced them.

Faculty: Arts and Sciences | Study mode: full-time | Location: Columbus, OH, United States

What you will study

To ensure that students’ understanding of different literary traditions is global in scope, all students select courses in which they study the literature of the following geopolitical regions: Africa, the Middle East, East and South Asia and the Pacific Islands, Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean. No advanced study of foreign languages is required, only a serious interest in literature, global interconnection and cultural interaction. The world literatures major makes it possible to study the literatures of the entire world without learning multiple languages.

Career pathways

Like students majoring in other disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences, students majoring in world literatures develop skills in critical thinking and verbal communication that are essential to many positions in government and other service institutions, in business and industry, and in education.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Admission to the university (and the Arts and Sciences college where applicable) applies; no separate programme-specific requirement published. Upon admission to the university, students can declare a world literatures major within the Department of Comparative Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Domestic applicants: USD 12,921 a year (2026-27). Columbus campus on-campus Instructional Fee (tuition) for students beginning Autumn 2026: $6,460.50 per semester at 12-18 credit hours, shown as two semesters (Autumn and Spring). The Ohio State Tuition Guarantee fixes this rate for four years for Ohio re Source

Entry terms for first-year applicants to the Columbus campus: Autumn 2027 and Spring 2027 (Spring 2027 deadline November 1, 2026). Summer first-year applications are not accepted.

Transfer applicants can start in Spring, Summer or Autumn 2027.

First-year, Columbus campus, Autumn 2027: early action (non-binding) deadline November 1, 2026; regular decision deadline January 15, 2027; financial aid priority date February 1; acceptance fee deadline May 1, 2027. Early action decisions: December 11 (Ohio residents and Stamps Eminence applicants) and January 22 (non-Ohio residents and international applicants); regular decision decisions March 5.

First-year applicants apply with the Common Application. ACT or SAT scores are required for first-year Columbus applicants (superscored; sent directly by the testing agency); applicants out of high school two or more years are not required to submit scores. The essay is not required.

Transfer applicants (Columbus campus): Spring 2027 deadline November 1, 2026; Autumn 2027 deadline March 1, 2027; Summer 2027 deadline May 15, 2027. Regional campuses: December 1, 2026, April 15, 2027 and July 15, 2027 respectively.

International transfer applicants: Spring 2027 deadline October 1, 2026; Autumn 2027 deadline March 1, 2027.

Apply through the official page: https://undergrad.osu.edu/apply

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