Politics and European Languages

On this course you can study a choice of two languages (French, German, or Spanish) alongside a wide range of history topics.

Conflict, cooperation, and the increased significance of non-state actors are all hallmarks of the world today. We aim to help you develop skills and tools to make sense of these complex interrelationships. The MA degree means you study Politics alongside other subjects from History to Geography, languages to Psychology. At Levels 3 and 4 you will be able to specialise.

During your degree you'll develop the ability to understand the barriers and opportunities and strive to find solutions to address international problems.

We are a small and friendly department, but you can choose from a diverse range of subjects with very few compulsory modules. Each lecturer focuses on teaching specialist areas in which they have an established track record of research.

Our current teaching includes optional modules on Russian, Irish, and Middle Eastern politics, nations and nationalism, political theories, and on human rights and humanitarian intervention. Topics such as illegal drugs, gender and sexuality, environmental sustainability, and surveillance are also covered.

You'll also study modules in each of your languages throughout each year, either as a beginner or at intensive level if you have previously studied the language at Higher/A-Level.

While you may not become a politician (though many of our students over the years have: as MPs, MSPs and MEPs), your degree will open up a range of opportunities in both the private and public sectors.

In other words, the skills - personal, verbal and written - that you will acquire in your politics programme can be easily transferred to many walks of life. For example, we have produced leading journalists, civil servants and diplomats.

Studying a language is one of the best ways to make yourself even more employable. Our language graduates have gone on to work all over the world in a range of areas such as:

• teaching English as a second language
• publishing
• tourism
• government
• NGOs
• business