BA Modern Languages and History
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UCAS code
R9V1 -
Clearing BTEC Extended Offer
MMM -
Clearing Offer
CCD -
Year of entry
2023/24 See 2024/25 entry -
Course duration
Full Time: 4 Years
-
Year of entry
2023/24 See 2024/25 entry -
Course duration
Full Time: 4 Years
Study a modern language, and discover the richness and variety of the human experience, with our BA Modern Languages and History degree.
This highly flexible degree enables you to study a modern language – choosing from our core languages of French, German, Italian and Spanish – alongside your studies in history.
Taught by experts from the Department of Languages and Cultures and the Department of History, you'll acquire transferable skills with a global focus and understanding.
Throughout, you'll be encouraged to follow your interests as they develop and tailor your learning to your career goals.
Learn a language
At the University of Reading, you’ll join a lively, multilingual community and study alongside students from all over the world.
Learn from internationally recognised researchers whose wide-ranging expertise includes migration, literature, history, cinema, linguistics, publishing, and translation. 100% of our research is of international standing (Research Excellence Framework 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – Modern Languages and Linguistics).
Choose to study one of our four core languages:
These languages are offered at beginner's, intermediate or advanced level, depending on your experience.
Our flexible, supportive teaching style will enable you to become confident and highly skilled in your chosen core language. You will master the fundamentals of the language – both written and spoken – graduating with near-native command.
Direct access to our staff for help and feedback ensures you develop your language skills to the best of your ability.
The study of language includes cultural modules that develop your understanding of the cultures of the countries in which the language is spoken, from their literary and cinematic traditions to their history, politics and linguistics. As well as complementing your joint studies, this enables you to develop as a specialist with an international, comparative approach.
Optional modules also include introductory study of one of the following languages (subject to approval and availability):
- Arabic
- British Sign Language
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- French
- German
- Italian
- Modern Greek
- Japanese
Overview
Study a modern language, and discover the richness and variety of the human experience, with our BA Modern Languages and History degree.
This highly flexible degree enables you to study a modern language – choosing from our core languages of French, German, Italian and Spanish – alongside your studies in history.
Taught by experts from the Department of Languages and Cultures and the Department of History, you'll acquire transferable skills with a global focus and understanding.
Throughout, you'll be encouraged to follow your interests as they develop and tailor your learning to your career goals.
Learn a language
At the University of Reading, you’ll join a lively, multilingual community and study alongside students from all over the world.
Learn from internationally recognised researchers whose wide-ranging expertise includes migration, literature, history, cinema, linguistics, publishing, and translation. 100% of our research is of international standing (Research Excellence Framework 2021, combining 4*, 3* and 2* submissions – Modern Languages and Linguistics).
Choose to study one of our four core languages:
These languages are offered at beginner's, intermediate or advanced level, depending on your experience.
Our flexible, supportive teaching style will enable you to become confident and highly skilled in your chosen core language. You will master the fundamentals of the language – both written and spoken – graduating with near-native command.
Direct access to our staff for help and feedback ensures you develop your language skills to the best of your ability.
The study of language includes cultural modules that develop your understanding of the cultures of the countries in which the language is spoken, from their literary and cinematic traditions to their history, politics and linguistics. As well as complementing your joint studies, this enables you to develop as a specialist with an international, comparative approach.
Optional modules also include introductory study of one of the following languages (subject to approval and availability):
- Arabic
- British Sign Language
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- French
- German
- Italian
- Modern Greek
- Japanese
Clearing A Level CCD BTEC offer MMM
A level: CCD, including C in a History-related subject.
BTEC: MMM
Accepted subjects: History, Ancient History, Classical Civilisation
We've listed A level and BTEC qualifications here, but please be assured that we also accept a wide variety of A level-equivalent qualifications.
For more information about Clearing at Reading, please visit our Clearing pages.
You can also visit our international student pages for information about English language qualifications.
Structure
Compulsory modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS1JH1 | Journeys through History 1:Power and People | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS1JH2 | Journeys through History 2: Culture and Concepts' | PROF Anne Lawrence |
HS1RSO | Research Skills and Opportunities in History | DR Ruth Salter |
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
FR1IFC | Introduction to French Culture | DR Veronica Heath |
FR1L1 | Beginners French Language | DR Marine Orain |
FR1L2 | Intermediate French Language | DR Marine Orain |
FR1L3 | Advanced French Language I | MRS Celine Biart |
FR1MMF | The Making of Modern France | DR Marjorie Gehrhardt |
GM1IMG | Icons of Modern Germany | DR Ute Wolfel |
GM1L1 | Beginners German Language | MS Regine Klimpfinger |
GM1L2 | Intermediate German Language | DR Claire Ross |
GM1L3 | Advanced German Language I | DR Alice Christensen |
GM1TG | German Texts and Genres | DR Ellen Pilsworth |
IT10MI | Making Italians: A Journey in the History and Culture of Modern Italy | PROF Daniela La Penna |
IT1IL | Introduction to Linguistics | PROF Federico Faloppa |
IT1L1 | Beginners Italian Language | MS Rita Balestrini |
IT1L2 | Intermediate Italian Language | MRS Enza Siciliano Verruccio |
IT1L3 | Advanced Italian Language I | DR Chiara Ciarlo |
ML1COMP | What is Comparative Literature? | DR John McKeane |
ML1GEC | Greats of European Cinema | DR Marta Simo-Comas |
ML1IL | Introduction to Linguistics | PROF Federico Faloppa |
ML1TRANS | Thinking Translation: History and Theory | DR John McKeane |
SP1I1 | Icons of Spain and Latin America: From conquest to independence; from revolution to globalisation | DR Camila Gonzalez Ortiz |
SP1L1 | Beginners Spanish Language | DR Denisse Lazo-Gonzalez |
SP1L2 | Intermediate Spanish Language | MR Oscar Garcia Garcia |
SP1L3 | Advanced Spanish Language 1 | MS Angela Mira Conejero |
SP1SLAC | Introduction to Spanish and Latin American Culture | DR Marta Simo-Comas |
These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.
Optional modules include:
Code | Module | Convenor |
---|---|---|
HS2GPP | Going Public: Presenting the Past, Planning the Future | PROF Kate Williams |
HS2HAD | Historical Approaches and My Dissertation | MISS Liz Barnes |
HS2INT | Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy | PROF Daniela La Penna |
HS2O10 | The Colonial Experience: Africa, 1879 to 1980 | DR Heike Schmidt |
HS2O11 | Hollywood Histories: Film and the Past | PROF Patrick Major |
HS2O14 | Rebel Girls: The Influence of Radical Women 1792-1919 | DR Jacqui Turner |
HS2O16 | ‘The brightest jewel in the British crown’: The Making of Modern South Asia, 1757-1947 | DR Rohan Deb Roy |
HS2O17 | Reform and Revolt in the Modern Middle East: Egypt from Ataturk to the ‘Arab Spring’ | DR Dina Rezk |
HS2O19 | Europe in the Twentieth Century | DR Daniel Renshaw |
HS2O3 | People, power and revolution: political culture in seventeenth-century England | DR Rachel Foxley |
HS2O4 | Women and Medieval History | DR Ruth Salter |
HS2O51 | Revolutionary Cities | DR Jeremy Burchardt |
HS2O53 | The American Civil War | MISS Liz Barnes |
HS2O55 | American Century: United States history since 1898 | DR Mara Oliva |
HS2O57 | Encountering the Atlantic World, 1450-1850 | DR Richard Blakemore |
HS2O58 | Black Britain: Race and Migration in Post-war Britain | DR Natalie Thomlinson |
HS2O7 | Kingship and Crisis in England, c.1154–1330 | DR Elizabeth Matthew |
HS2STA | Society, Thought and Art in Modern Europe | DR Veronica Heath |
HS2UNR | Unity, Nationalism and Regionalism in Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
AR2M8 | Medieval Europe: power, religion and death | DR Gabor Thomas |
FR2FWW | The First World War: Then and Now | DR Marjorie Gehrhardt |
FR2GFLS | Global French Life-Stories | PROF Julia Waters |
FR2HTF | How to Think in French | DR John McKeane |
FR2L2 | Intermediate French Language | DR Marine Orain |
FR2L3 | Advanced French Language I | MRS Celine Biart |
FR2L4 | Advanced French Language II | MRS Celine Biart |
GM2CG | Cinema of Germany | DR Ute Wolfel |
GM2GDC | Glorification, Denial and Contempt – Reconstructing Austria’s Past | MS Regine Klimpfinger |
GM2L2 | German Language II | DR Claire Ross |
GM2L3 | Advanced German Language I | DR Alice Christensen |
GM2L4 | Advanced German Language II | MS Regine Klimpfinger |
IT2INT | 'Apocalittici e integrati': Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy | PROF Daniela La Penna |
IT2L2 | Intermediate Italian Language | MRS Enza Siciliano Verruccio |
IT2L3 | Advanced Italian Language I | DR Chiara Ciarlo |
IT2L4 | Advanced Italian Language II | DR Chiara Ciarlo |
IT2LVS | One country, many languages. Linguistic variety and society in contemporary Italy | DR Chiara Ciarlo |
ML2GF | Science, perversion, and dream in global fantastic literature | DR Alice Christensen |
ML2STA | Society, Thought, and Art in Modern Europe | DR Veronica Heath |
ML2UNR | Unity, Nationalism and Regionalism in Europe | DR Athena Leoussi |
SP2CR | Culture & Revolution in Modern Latin America | DR Camila Gonzalez Ortiz |
SP2L2 | Intermediate Spanish Language | MR Oscar Garcia Garcia |
SP2L3 | Advanced Spanish Language I | MS Angela Mira Conejero |
SP2L4 | Advanced Spanish Language II | MR Raúl Marchena Magadan |
SP2MCN | Modern and Contemporary Spanish Narratives | DR Marta Simo-Comas |
SP2TT | Transatlantic Exchanges: Latin America in the Global Nineteenth Century | DR David Rojinsky |
These are the modules that we currently offer. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.
Year abroad.
We offer a range of destinations that currently includes:- If you are taking French as a core language: Montpellier, Paris, Geneva, Toulouse, La Réunion
- If you are taking German as a core language: Augsburg, Regensburg, Vienna, Potsdam, Graz, Tübingen
- If you are taking Italian as a core language: Florence, Siena, Naples, Padua, Bologna, Pisa, Rome
- If you are taking Spanish as a core language: Havana, Madrid, Sevilla, Oviedo, Mexico (Puebla), Salamanca
Core modules include:
- Language modules in French, German, Italian or Spanish (depending on your chosen core language)
Optional modules include:
- Medieval Magic and the Origins of the Witch-Craze
- The Colonial Experience: Africa, 1879-1980
- Gothic: Architecture, Money and Cultural Identity
At least one cultural module focusing on the countries where your core language is spoken, for instance:
- French Popular Music and Society
- Migration in Germany
- Crisis, Change, Opportunity: Italy from 1968 to the Present
- Writers and Publishers in Spain
You may choose to take one or more of our ‘comparative’ modules, which enable you to study the literature, cinema or history of not one but several countries in a comparative fashion, for example:
- Cinemas of the World
- Language and Power
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Fees
New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250*
New international students: £20,300
*UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes
UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.
EU student fees
With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government’s guidance for EU students.
Year abroad fees
If you spend a full year abroad, you will only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee for that year. For more information, please see our fees and funding pages or contact studyabroad@reading.ac.uk.
Additional Costs
Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.
Financial support for your studies
You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.
Careers
In the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019-20, overall, 88% of graduates from Languages and Cultures are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation*. 91% of graduates from the Department of History are in work or further study 15 months after the end of their course [1].
Recent modern languages graduates have found careers in translation, teaching, business and finance, the arts, and marketing. Recent employers include Sony Europe, the Civil Service, Oxford University Press, BNP Paribas, Dow Jones, Vodafone and PwC.
Employers of past history graduates include the Museum of London, British Army, BBC News, BBC Radio Berkshire, KPMG, Price Forbes & Partners, Department for Education, Deloitte, and National Trust.
*Based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2022, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2019/20; includes all Languages and Cultures responders.
[1] Graduate Outcomes Survey 2018/19; First Degree responders from History.