The major and minor in literary and cultural studies focus on the critical study of cultures and literatures across linguistic and national traditions, and require only two years of language study by the time of graduation. All other requirements may be satisfied through courses taught in English (see Letters). One of the main objectives of the major and minor is to address the study of cultures other than those which belong to the English and North American traditions, while acquiring an appropriate level of foreign language proficiency.

An interdisciplinary field, cultural studies establishes connections between language, literary, post-colonial, and border studies. The program of courses addresses contemporary topics and theoretical issues in the study of cultures, focusing on the intersections between questions of race, class, gender, and nation at an inclusive level of articulation, rather than centering narrowly on only one cultural tradition as a “universal" tool for reading a culture.

The major and minor incorporate cultural contents (representations in different kinds of texts such as film and popular culture), critical methodology, and contemporary concepts and theories of cultural study in conjunction with key notions for an understanding of cultural formations. These notions include historical, social, and political systems of power. The reflection on national and cultural identities and intellectual traditions, and the diversity of human thought and experience, are at the core of the critical enterprise of cultural studies.