BA Arabic and Russian A

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

The programme will:
- Allow students to study the disciplines of Arabic and Russian to the same depth as Single Honours students of the disciplines, but with less breadth in each. This means that Joint Honours students will normally be required to take compulsory and a subset of the optional modules that are also part of the corresponding Single Honours degree programmes, and that they will be assessed on those modules using criteria identical to those applied to Single Honours students. Joint Honours students will reach the same levels of fluency and accuracy in their subjects as Single Honours students.
- At Level One, allow students the flexibility to extend their intercultural and interdisciplinary knowledge and skills, EITHER by means of a 'cornerstone' module, exploring a particular aspect of the field of modern languages and cultures with reference to a range of global cultures, OR by studying a further language.
- At Levels Two and Three, allow students to choose, within certain parameters, optional modules from the full range available within each discipline, and thereby devise pathways of their own choosing.
- Require students to undertake two periods of residence abroad between Levels One and Two. The Years Abroad will normally take the form of two courses of study, one in an Arabic-speaking country and one in a Russian-speaking country. Students opting to spend programme year two in an Arabic-speaking country will be required to spend programme year three in a Russian-speaking one, and vice-versa.
- Allow students the option at Level Three of undertaking an autonomous research project in either discipline, potentially linking the two disciplines by bringing knowledge and understanding gained in one discipline to bear in the other.
- Require students to acquire the flexibility of mind and variety of learning techniques needed to switch between the two disciplines.
- Provide a basis for further advanced study in either Arabic or Russian, or in a cognate interdisciplinary area.
- Have the flexibility to allow students to change programme upon successful completion of Level One, subject to approval. It is normally possible to switch from Joint Honours Arabic & Russian into Single Honours in either discipline.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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In Level 1 students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take 60 credits of Arabic and 40 credits of Russian, plus a 20 credit cornerstone module (or 20 credits of language modules).

Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB1001	Beginning Arabic 1	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARAB1002	Beginning Arabic 2	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP
ARAB1171	Studying the Middle East and North Africa	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SLAV1101	Core Russian Language 1	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SLAV1120	What is Russia? An Introduction to Russian Studies	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Students with prior knowledge of Arabic may, subject to a placement test, study ARAB1030/ARAB3100 instead of ARAB1001/ARAB1002, as appropriate in their first year.

Optional Modules

Students are required to study 20 credits from the following cornerstone modules.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL1050	Introduction to Audio-Visual Culture	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1060	Language: Structure and Sound	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL1070	World Histories	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1090	Intercultural Competence: Theory and Application	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL1100	Politics, Culture and Society	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1150	Worlds of Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1401	Discourse, Culture and Identity	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Students choose to spend the second year of their programme in either Russia or an Arabic-speaking country

Compulsory Modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL9500	LCS Year Abroad	120	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Year 3

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Students will spend the third year of their programme in either Russia or an Arabic-speaking country
If Year 2 is spent in Russia, the third year will be spent in an Arabic-speaking country. If Year 2 is spent in an Arabic-speaking country, the third year will be spent in Russia.

Compulsory Modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL9501	LCS Year Abroad 2	120	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Discovery Modules

Year 4

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
View Timetable

In Level 2 students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take 60 credits in Arabic and 40 credits in Russian. The remaining credits should be taken in either of the named subjects or taken as discovery modules.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB2010	Advanced Arabic Grammar and Translation	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
ARAB2020	Essential Skills in Practical Arabic	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SLAV2101	Core Russian Language 2	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Candidates will be required to take the following compulsory module: 

Candidates will be required to study at least 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB2066	Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ARAB2095	Global Media: Discourse, Representation and Society	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ARAB2181	Cultures of the Arab Middle East and North Africa	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARAB2310	Modern Middle Eastern History	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2001	Linguists into Schools	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2075	Global Environmental Humanities	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

NB: Not all modules will be available every year.

Candidates will be required to study at least 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL2003	Global Queer Politics and Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2015	Black Europe	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2070	Reception, Transmission and Translation: The Global Circulation of Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2075	Global Environmental Humanities	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL2250	Digital Communications Across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
SLAV2103	Applied Russian Language 2	20	Not running in 202526
SLAV2111	The Sounds of Russian	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SLAV2113	The Spaces of Russophone Literature	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
SLAV2120	The Structures of Russian	20	Not running in 202526

- Not all modules will be available every year.

Students may also choose to study the below module, as long as they are not already enrolled onto Linguists into Schools.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FOAH2020	Towards the Future: Skills in Context	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Candidates may choose to study up to 20 credits of discovery modules in a third subject, pursue additional modules in the two named subjects or take the above FOAH module.

Year 5

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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In Level 3 students must study 120 credits, which includes a Final Year Project Module. Students are required to take 60 credits in both Arabic and Russian: the Final Year Project module can be taken in - and count towards - either of the two languages. The remaining credits should be taken as optional modules in the other language to the Final Year Project or as MODL modules.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB3020	Advanced Skills in Arabic Language	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
MODL3050	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
SLAV3101	Core Russian Language 3	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Candidates who choose to complete their Final Year Project in Russian will be required to choose 40 credits from the options below.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
ARAB3072	Islam and Modernity	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ARAB3110	Middle Eastern Politics: Regimes, Societies and Conflict	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
ARAB3190	Performing Islam: Piety and Environment in Dialogue	20	Not running in 202526
ARAB3888	Advanced Media Arabic: Translation Skills in Text Typology	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL3800	Linguists into Schools	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Candidates who choose to complete their Final Year Project in Arabic will be required to choose 40 credits from the options below.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
SLAV3114	Russian Advanced Translation	20	Not running in 202526
SLAV3117	The Sounds of Russian	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SLAV3118	The Spaces of Russophone Literature	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
SLAV3119	The Others of Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture	20	Not running in 202526
SLAV3120	The Structures of Russian	20	Not running in 202526

The following modules can be taken in and count towards either Arabic or Russian credits. Students may choose to study up to 40 credits from the modules below instead of ARAB/SLAV optional modules.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3200	Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3410	Contemporary World Literature	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL3600	Material Cultures and Cultures of Consumption	20	Not running in 202526
MODL3610	Adventures of the Imagination: Crime and the Fantastic Across Continents	20	Not running in 202526
MODL3620	Decolonial Approaches	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3630	Social Movements across Cultures	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL3650	Minoritised Languages, Dialects and Cultures from Past to Present	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Last updated: 21/11/2025 12:07:31

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