School of Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts 

The Literatures and Cultures minor enables students who are majoring in other disciplines to nonetheless develop strong skills in literary and cultural analysis, critical reading, and effective writing. Literary study asks questions of history and culture, of gender and minority thought and discourse, of intersections with other fields such as cognitive science, social science, and information science.

The UC Merced Minor in Literatures and Cultures seeks to ensure both that students understand the basic notion of cultural production and reception, and that they are, through a variety of courses, familiarized with the relationships between society and literature, between reading and thinking, and between self and societal forms of expression.

Minimum Requirements¹

Students must complete a minimum of five Literature courses, including at least one lower division LIT course and at least four must be upper division. While the major requires a field of concentration, the minor may be drawn from all Literatures and Cultures offerings. Students are encouraged to develop a focus in consultation with faculty and with SSHA advising staff. All courses must be taken for a letter grade. An exception can be made for one course with written permission from LIT faculty.

¹ All requirements are for informational purposes only. Please consult the current UC Merced catalog, or your advisor for official requirements.