In the August 5, 2008, edition of University Affairs, David Hayes notes the potential of comp lit: “On an institutional level, there are points of light. The University of Toronto’s Centre for Comparative Literature, founded by Northrop Frye in 1969, is thriving under director Roland Le Huenen, with such eminent scholars as J. Edward Chamberlin and Linda Hutcheon on faculty. Other programs include those at Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal, University of Alberta, University of Western Ontario and University of British Columbia.” Sadly, since he wrote those words, the program at the University of British Columbia has been dissolved and the programs at the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario are under threat. Students from both programs, as well as from the Université de Montréal have been told to come to the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto, because that was the future of comp lit. Now we, too, are under threat.
Despite this looming recommendation for the disestablishment of the Centre for Comparative Literature, as of July 13, 2010, the University of Toronto’s fundraising department is still accepting donations for the Centre.
Read Director Neil ten Kortenaar’s response to the initial proposal here.
UPDATE: The Dean’s full report was released July 14, so we will be responding to that directly in the next few days.
