2025/26 Undergraduate Programme Catalogue

BA Italian B and Russian A

Programme overview

Programme code
BA-ITB&RUSA
UCAS code
RR3T
Duration
5 Years
Method of Attendance
Full Time
Programme manager
Maria Chiara La Sala
Contact address
m.c.lasala@leeds.ac.uk
Total credits
605
School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme
School of Languages, Cultures and Societies
Examination board through which the programme will be considered
School of Languages, Cultures and Societies
Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups
Languages, Cultures and Societies:
https://www.qaa.ac.uk/docs/qaa/subject-benchmark-statements/sbs-languages-cultures-and-societies-15.pdf?sfvrsn=2098f781_12

Entry requirements

For entry requirements for this course please visit: Coursefinder

Programme specification

The programme will:

- Allow students to study the disciplines of Italian 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 target language(s) 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: a Year Abroad in Russia at the end of Level One, and a Year Abroad in Italy at the end of Level 2. The Year Abroad in Russia will normally take the form of a course of study.
- 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 Italian 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 Italian & Russian into Single Honours in either discipline.

Year 1

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

In Level 1 students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take 60 credits in Italian and 40 credits in Russian, plus a 20 credit cornerstone module (or 20 credits of language modules).

Compulsory Modules

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
ITAL1025Exploring Italy: Introduction to Italian Culture and Society20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ITAL1030Beginners Italian (A1 of the CEFR)20Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ITAL1032Lower Intermediate Italian (A2+ of the CEFR)20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)PFP
SLAV1101Core Russian Language 120Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP
SLAV1120What is Russia? An Introduction to Russian Studies20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

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

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
MODL1050Introduction to Audio-Visual Culture20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1060Language: Structure and Sound20Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL1070World Histories20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1090Intercultural Competence: Theory and Application20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL1100Politics, Culture and Society20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1150Worlds of Literature20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL1401Discourse, Culture and Identity20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Year 2

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

Candidates will spend the second year of the programme studying in Russia.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
MODL9500LCS Year Abroad120Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP

Year 3

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

In Level 2 students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take a minimum of 40 credits in each of their main subjects. Of the remaining credits, 20 credits should be taken in one of the named subjects; the final 20 credits may be taken as discovery modules or in either of the named subjects.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
ITAL2027Upper Intermediate Italian (B1/B2 of the CEFR)20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP
SLAV2101Core Russian Language 220Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP

Optional Modules

Candidates will be required to study between 20 and 60 credits from the following optional modules:

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
FILM2202Screening Italy: Neorealist cinema to Netflix20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
ITAL2025Linguistic Variety in Modern Italy20Not running in 202526
ITAL2500Modern Italian Identities Across Cultures20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2001Linguists into Schools20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2045From Inferno to the world. Reading Dante’s Divine Comedy in a global context20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

- Students wishing to choose MODL2001 as one of their Italian options must take a minimum of 60 credits in Italian in level 2 including ITAL2016.
- Not all modules will be available every year.

Candidates will be required to study between 20 and 60 credits from the following optional modules:

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
MODL2015Black Europe20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2075Global Environmental Humanities20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
SLAV2103Applied Russian Language 220Not running in 202526
SLAV2111The Sounds of Russian20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SLAV2113The Spaces of Russophone Literature20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
SLAV2114The Others of Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture20 
SLAV2120The Structures of Russian20Not running in 202526

- FOAR2000 can only be counted as a Russian module if the project undertaken relates to Russian and you have sought prior approval of the Programme Manager.
- Not all modules will be available every year.
SLAV2114 available from 2026-27

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

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
FOAH2020Towards the Future: Skills in Context20Semesters 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 4

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

The candidate will spend the fourth year of the programme in Italy.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory module:

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
MODL9501LCS Year Abroad 2120Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP

Discovery Modules

Year 5

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

In Level 3 students must study 120 credits, which includes a Final Year Project Module. Students are required to take at least 40 credits in Italian and 60 credits in 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. Candidates taking the Final Year Project in Russian may also choose to take 20 credits of Discovery modules.

Compulsory Modules

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
ITAL3010Italian Language 320Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP
MODL3050Final Year Project40Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP
SLAV3101Core Russian Language 320Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)PFP

Optional Modules

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

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
SLAV3114Russian Advanced Translation20Not running in 202526
SLAV3117The Sounds of Russian20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
SLAV3118The Spaces of Russophone Literature20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
SLAV3119The Others of Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture20Not running in 202526
SLAV3120The Structures of Russian20Not running in 202526

Candidates who choose to complete their Final Year Project in Russian will be required to choose at least 20 credits from the options below. The following modules can be taken in and count towards either Italian or Russian credits. Students may choose to study up to 40 credits from the modules below instead of ITAL/SLAV optional modules.

CodeTitleCreditsSemesterPass for Progression
ITAL3200‘Femminismi’. Theories and practices of gender in the Italian context20Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
ITAL3400Made in Italy. Italian for Business20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL3200Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo20Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3410Contemporary World Literature20Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL3600Material Cultures and Cultures of Consumption20Not running in 202526
MODL3610Adventures of the Imagination: Crime and the Fantastic Across Continents20Not running in 202526
MODL3620Decolonial Approaches20Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL3630Social Movements across Cultures20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL3650Minoritised Languages, Dialects and Cultures from Past to Present20Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Candidates taking their Final Year Project in Russian may also choose to take up to 20 credits of Discovery modules instead of further optional/MODL modules.

Last updated: 21/07/2025 17:00:44

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team