The Institute of General and Comparative Literature offers a doctoral training in the field of literature from Antiquity to the contemporary period and in literary theory and interculturality.

The programme provides the opportunity to cover these fields of study in all aspects and in the multiplicity of their manifestations. It fosters a mindset of exchange and promotes intense collaboration between professors and doctoral students, thanks to the doctoral programme in collaboration with the Universities of Zurich and Geneva – and with the Institute's international partners.

The theses directed within the Institute can cover many fields, including:

• Poetic, historic and thematic issues
• Literary theory
• Interdisciplinary and transversal issues
• Intercultural, post-colonial and global perspectives

Professors who are eligible to supervise theses

• Prof. Thomas Austenfeld
  American literature
• Prof. Arnd Beise
  Modern German literature
• Prof. Hugo Bizzarri
  Medieval Spanish literature
• Prof. Paola Borsa
  Medieval and modern Italian literature
• Prof. Claude Bourqui
  Modern French literature
• Prof. Julia Straub
  Modern English literature
• Prof. Elisabeth Dutton
  Medieval English literature
• Prof. Christian Genetelli
  Modern Italian literature
• N.N.
  Early modern English literature
• Prof. Sabine Haupt
  General and comparative literature
• Prof. Cornelia Herberichs
  Medieval German literature
• Prof. Jens Herlth
  Slavic literature
• Prof. Thomas Hunkeler
  Modern French literature, literature theory
• Prof. Tom Kindt
  Modern German literature, literature theory
• Prof. Uberto Motta
  Modern Italian literature
• Prof. Ralph Müller
  Modern German literature
• Francisco Ramírez Santacruz
  Modern Iberian and Latin-American literature
• Prof. Karin Schlapbach
  Ancient literature
• Prof. Thomas Schmidt
  Ancient literature
• PD Dr Martin Steinrück
  Ancient literature
• Prof. Marion Uhlig
  Medieval French literature

Note: For more details on the areas of specialisation, view the corresponding department's Web page.