Italian and Spanish

Italian and Spanish together give you access to two of the world's most significant literary, cultural, and linguistic traditions, and the connections between them are as interesting as their differences. Both are Romance languages descended from Latin, with intertwined histories across the Mediterranean and, in the case of Spanish, across the Americas. Both have produced literatures, films, and cultural forms of world importance.

Studying them together means not only developing two different language skills to a high level but also developing a comparative sensitivity to how languages relate to the cultures that use them.

At the University of Edinburgh this four-year programme opens you to the history and literatures of Italy, Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean, as well as the contemporary cultures of Italian and Spanish-speaking communities around the world. You will develop high-level proficiency in both languages through immersive language teaching and engagement with texts, films, and cultural materials in the original. The programme also situates both traditions in their broader historical and intellectual contexts, developing your capacity to analyse literary and cultural production with rigour and sensitivity.

Edinburgh's strong research environment in both Italian and Hispanic studies gives the degree a depth of scholarly engagement that enriches the teaching throughout.

Graduates from Italian and Spanish programmes work in international business, diplomacy, journalism, translation and interpreting, publishing, education, the arts, and any field that values cross-cultural communication and cultural understanding. The combination of two major world languages is particularly attractive to employers with international operations, and the Latin American dimension of the Spanish strand opens additional career opportunities in a region of growing economic and cultural significance. Further study at postgraduate level in Italian, Hispanic studies, comparative literature, or translation is a natural continuation for those with a taste for advanced research.