Portuguese/Classics

Portuguese and classics is an intellectually adventurous combination, connecting one of the world's most widely spoken modern languages with the study of the ancient civilisations from which so much of European and world culture derives. Portuguese has a direct descent from Latin, so studying classics alongside it creates a natural through-line from the ancient world to the modern Portuguese-speaking world, illuminating the ways in which Roman culture, language, and law shaped the societies that came after. Classics, with its engagement with the literature, history, philosophy, and material culture of ancient Greece and Rome, provides a set of analytical and linguistic tools that complement Portuguese studies in productive and sometimes surprising ways.

At the University of Glasgow this five-year full-time programme allows you to develop both subjects with genuine depth, working on Portuguese language and culture alongside the classical languages and texts of Greece and Rome. You will engage with Portuguese literature, history, and contemporary culture as well as the study of Latin and Greek at whatever level suits your starting point. A sandwich year with a work placement is incorporated into the degree, providing professional experience alongside your academic development and ensuring you graduate with practical skills to complement your academic breadth.

Graduates from Portuguese and classics go on to careers in teaching, translation, publishing, cultural institutions, heritage organisations, research, and the civil service. The breadth of the combination is its strength: Portuguese opens career paths in international business, diplomacy, development, and journalism across the Lusophone world, while classics develops the analytical precision, linguistic depth, and cultural breadth that is valued across many professional contexts. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in Portuguese, Latin American studies, classical languages, or history, where the unusual depth of this combination is a genuine advantage.