I. Writings contains copies of Călinescu's published articles and book reviews, correspondence with various university presses, and reviews of Călinescu's published work, as well as his Romanian-language poetry and typescripts of his published diaries. It also contains offprints sent to Călinescu for review, often inscribed. Călinescu's scholarly interests included twentieth-century literature, modernity, modernism, postmodernism, literary censorship, and reader response theory and rereading. He wrote and lectured extensively on the fiction of Mircea Eliade.

Another of Călinescu's research interests was the intelligentsia of his native Romania, especially the so-called "1927 Generation" consisting of Mircea Eliade, Emil Cioran, and Eugène Ionesco and their contested relationship to the fascist Iron Guard. Materials on these individuals are contained in II. Romanian Intellectuals. (Note: Because of Călinescu's lifelong interest in the work and legacy of Eliade in particular, materials on him are scattered throughout the collection. This series deals particularly with Eliade's relationship to Romanian politics, whereas analyses of his fiction are primarily contained in I. Writings and III. Conferences and Lectures.) This series also contains materials on Romanian expatriates of Călinescu's own generation, including Virgil Nemoianu, Paul Goma, and Norman Manea.

III. Conferences and Lectures contains lectures by Călinescu and lectures attended by Călinescu and is arranged chronologically.

IV. Professional Correspondence contains correspondence related to publications and dissertation committees and maintains its received chronological order.

V. Students and Teaching contains recommendation letters for Călinescu's students and colleagues, the qualifying exams and dissertations of his comparative literature students, and the syllabi for comparative literature courses he taught at Indiana University.

VI. Career contains administrative materials such as Călinescu's salary letters, arrangements for sabbaticals, and fellowship and grant applications.

VII. Personal contains materials related to Călinescu's application for permanent residence in the United States in 1974 as an immigrant from a Warsaw Pact country during the Cold War. The series also contains correspondence with his mother and sister, family genealogy, and family photographs.

VIII. Audio-Visual contains recordings on CD of conferences, as well as interviews for Romanian television. There are also 5 USB drives with copies of Călinescu's writings.