Modern Languages (Italian and Russian) and Classical Studies

Few degree programmes ask students to operate simultaneously across three linguistic traditions as different as Italian, Russian, and Latin and Ancient Greek. Modern Languages combined with Classical Studies is an intellectually ambitious undertaking: you are developing serious proficiency in two contemporary European languages and the literary and cultural traditions they carry, while also engaging with the ancient world that shaped both. Italian opens the literature of Dante, Petrarch, and Calvino, the culture of the Renaissance, and a contemporary society of enormous richness.

Russian offers access to one of the greatest literary traditions in the world, from Tolstoy and Dostoevsky to twentieth-century experimental and dissident writing, and to an understanding of Slavic culture that remains essential to any serious engagement with European and world affairs. Classical Studies grounds these in the ancient world from which so much of European culture derives.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year MA (Hons) programme includes a year abroad, during which you will immerse yourself in one or both of your modern language cultures, building fluency and cultural understanding that cannot be acquired solely in a classroom. You will develop high-level language skills in Italian and Russian alongside the literary, cultural, historical, political, and cinematic traditions of those countries. The classical component gives you ancient languages and the ability to engage directly with the texts and ideas that have shaped Western thought.

This is a degree for students with genuine linguistic ambition and intellectual breadth. Graduates with these skills are relatively rare, and the combination opens distinctive career possibilities in diplomacy, international relations, translation and interpreting, journalism, publishing, cultural institutions, academia, and international business. Many go on to postgraduate study in languages, literature, area studies, or international affairs.

The year abroad and the multilingual profile of the degree are significant advantages in any competitive application.