The Department of Literature at UC San Diego is unique both conceptually and structurally in that it combines all literary study in a single department, enabling students to concentrate on single-language or national literatures, while at the same time facilitating student engagement in dialogue across literatures and languages. The department also houses undergraduate and graduate study in the craft and theory of creative writing. The department brings together writers, teachers, scholars, and students of several different languages and literatures, uniting them by the nature of the studies they pursue. This lends a comparative aspect to both undergraduate and graduate programs, which lead to the bachelor of arts, master of fine arts, the candidate in philosophy, and doctor of philosophy degrees. All literature students require knowledge of a second language. Courses are offered not only in the literatures themselves but also in the theoretical aspects of literature andoften in cooperation with other departmentsin the relationship of literary study to other disciplines such as philosophy, visual arts, music, sociology, history, psychology, linguistics, and communication. With special permission, undergraduates may take graduate courses for credit, and graduate students may also take undergraduate courses for credit.