Undergraduate Studies

Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies at Aberdeen is an exciting new programme, building on a strong track record of Celtic teaching to offer a fascinating, flexible and interdisciplinary study of the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian peoples. You will cross traditional boundaries of literature, history and culture, and develop skills which open wide career options across the arts, media and more.

Degree Programmes

MA Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies

Why study Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies? 

The English Department at Aberdeen is a vibrant and friendly department, staffed by enthusiastic teachers and researchers. It includes renowned international scholars as well as talented younger lecturers. With a flexible, modular curriculum, our degree programmes allow students to pursue their particular interests while ranging widely across the many exciting areas of English studies.

At undergraduate level, every period of literature is taught, from Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton to contemporary English, Scottish and Irish writing; American literature is an option too . You can combine your English degree with other subjects: Film Studies is a popular choice, and there are a host of other options from Language and Linguistics to History, Sociology or Management Studies. The Department also offers courses in creative writing with our Professor of Creative Writing, Alan Spence and his celebrated team of creative writers.

Degree Programmes

MA in English

Find out more about the subjects within English Studies

American Literature || Creative Writing || Irish Literature  || Scottish Literature || Early Modern Literature || Enlightenment and Romanticism  || Literary Theory || Modernism || Post-War and Contemporary Literature || Victorian Literature

Why study English?

Film & Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen offers students a rigorous training in the history and theory of the moving image, as well as the shifting terrain of twenty-first century visual culture. We take a set of foundational questions—What is film? What is cinema? What is visual culture?—as sites of ongoing critical exploration and technological change. 

In research and teaching at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels, Film & Visual Culture combines the close analysis of visual objects and artefacts—analogue and digital, moving and still, underground and mainstream—with theories of visual representation, production, and circulation.

Degree Programmes

At the undergraduate level we offer a Single Honours degree in Film & Visual Culture 

Three of our most popular joint Honours degrees include:

• English and Film & Visual Culture
• Film & Visual Culture and History of Art
• Film & Visual Culture and Sociology

See more Film & Visual Culture joint Honours degree options here.

French at Aberdeen has an outstanding reputation, top-rated for teaching, with broad, flexible and diverse programmes covering language, literature, history and culture, researching topics from the Middle Ages to the present day and the Caribbean to North Africa. You will have five or four-year options, study periods abroad, and many subject combinations for which a major European language adds huge advantage in today's world.

Degree Programmes

MA in French Studies

MA French Studies (5 years)

There are a wide variety of degree programmes run by the French department, you can learn more about them on our online prospectus.

Courses

The department offers a variety of courses at all levels. Details of these can be found on the University's catalogue of courses page.

Why study French?

Gaelic Studies concentrates on modern Scottish Gaelic language, literature and society. There are three distinct language streams in the degree course: for absolute or near beginners, for those with Higher Gaelic (learners), and for those with Higher Gàidhlig (native speakers). In addition to language courses, from first year onwards our students have the chance to learn about areas like folklore, literature, language planning, linguistics and sociolinguistics.

Degree Programmes

MA Gaelic Studies

You also study subjects in other disciplines, alongside Gaelic. Find out mroe about our Gaelic joint Honours degrees here.

Courses

The department offers a variety of courses at different levels. Details of these can be found on the University's catalogue of courses page.

German at Aberdeen has an outstanding reputation, top-rated for teaching, with broad, flexible and diverse programmes covering language, literature, history and culture, with four or five-year options, study periods abroad, and many subject combinations for which a major European language adds huge advantage in today's world.

Alongside a great emphasis to practical language skills, the German programme teaches courses dealing with social, historical and cultural aspects of the German-speaking countries.

Degree Programmes

MA German Studies
MA German Studies (5 years)

The Department of German offers undergraduate tuition leading to the degree of MA and MA Honours. Comprehensive course details are available in the university course catalogue

Language and Linguistics at Aberdeen is the fascinating exploration of human language and how speech evolved to create a bridge between sound and meaning. You will study the ways in which we acquire languages as children and adults, how languages and dialects vary and change over time, and gain the knowledge and skills to give you choice across a wide variety of careers.

Degree Programmes

MA Language & Linguistics

Two of our most popular joint Honours degrees include:

• Language & Linguistics and Philosophy
• Language & Linguistics and Sociology

See more Language & Linguistic joint Honours degree options here.

We live in a culturally diverse world that demands strong linguists with interpretation and translation skills to foster global communication. Fluency in two or more languages gives you a distinct advantage for employment over other applicants. Having a language or translation degree can open a range of career paths for you to discover and flourish.

Our applied degree aims to develop your communicative competence in two foregin languages while building your transaltion and interpreting skills to meet the needs of a highly demanded industry. 

We offer the following languages:

• French
• German
• Mandarin
• Spanish

Music at Aberdeen is a wonderful opportunity to learn, compose and perform with world-renowned composers, conductors, musicologists and researchers working in all genres, styles and periods. You will benefit from first-class facilities and instruments, have unrivalled opportunities to grow as a musician and performer, be part of the vibrant musical scene in north-east Scotland, and have options to specialise in teaching music.

Degree Programmes

BMus Music

BMus Music Education

For more information, please visit the Music webpages.

Spanish & Latin American Studies at Aberdeen has an outstanding reputation, top-rated for teaching, with a broad, flexible and diverse programme of language, literature, history and culture and the unique opportunity to specialise in either Latin America or Spain. Your degree will last five years including study abroad. Spanish & Latin American Studies can be studied with many subjects, giving you expertise in a fast-growing global language and its cultures and a huge advantage in today's world.

Degree Programmes

MA Spanish & Latin American Studies (5 years)

There are a wide variety of degree programmes run by the Spanish & Latin American Studies department, you can learn more about them on our online prospectus.

Courses

The departement offers a variety of courses at all levels. Details of these can be found on the University's catalogue of courses page.

Why study Spanish & Latin American Studies?

Would you benefit from learning, or improving, your language skills alongside your main degree subject? Our Sustained Study language courses are designed to provide you with an intensive course in one of the following languages throughout the first two years of your degree programme:

• Arabic (beginner)
• French (beginner and advanced)
• Gaelic (beginner and advanced)
• German (beginner and advanced)
• Mandarin (beginner)
• Spanish (beginner and advanced)

Sustained Study runs alongside your main degree programme and involves a total of four modules, one in each half-session for your first two years. Students must pass all four courses in order to qualify for Sustained Study.