BA Modern Languages and History (French)

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

The information on this page is accurate for students entering the programme in 2023/24 or before. For students entering the programme from September 2024 or after, you can find the details of your programme: BA Modern Languages and History (French)(For students entering from September 2024 onwards)

Modern Language and History is an exciting programme, which allows you to develop your own areas of specialism and a skillset that will be appealing to employers. You will benefit from contact with leading scholars in their field in both of the partner subjects. The Schools of History and Languages, Cultures and Societies are both internationally recognised research leaders in their fields, with long-established reputations for excellence in research.

The programme begins with structured foundational study across a small number of compulsory modules, but also offers a high degree of module choice at levels 2 and 3.

Whether you’re starting your language from beginners’ level, or with prior knowledge, you’ll reach a professional standard in your chosen language through intensive learning practice and year abroad. Depending on the language that you are studying, you will spend either Year 2 or Year 3 in a country where your chosen language is spoken. If you are taking your language as a beginner, you'll focus on building up quickly your language skills through your compulsory language modules. If you're an advanced learner, your compulsory language module will allow you to consolidate and broaden your language skills. You will complement your language studies by exploring the cultures and societies of the countries where your chosen language is spoken as well as other countries around the world, choosing from a range of topics, including literature, cinema, popular culture, history, and politics. You can enhance your professional language skills through modules on translation, interpreting or languages for business.

The programme will allow you to explore the human experience from the medieval period to contemporary times and to study historical events, societies, and key figures that have shaped the modern world. You will be exposed to a broad range of different fields of study within the two disciplines, innovative assessment methods (e.g. online discussion forums, wikis, student surveys, posters) and a considerable element of research-based learning culminating in a compulsory independent research project in your choice out of the two partner disciplines at level 3. Throughout the course, you will develop interpretative and analytical skills, and will become confident researchers. You will demonstrate these qualities in when you undertake a Final Year Project on a topic of your choice in either Modern Language or History.

Combining rigorous thinking with communication and professional skills, this degree prepares you for an international career in a wide range of sectors, including law, business, government, heritage, finance and teaching.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST1000	Exploring History	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MODL1070	World Histories	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Optional Modules

All students will be required to study at least ONE of the following modules.

Route A
Students with prior of French (B1 of CEFR or equivalent) may take up to 40 credits from the following modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST1060	Faith, Knowledge and Power, 1500-1750	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST1065	Diverse Histories of Britain	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST1310	The Medieval World in Ten Objects	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST1320	Medieval Lives: Identities, Cultures and Beliefs	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST1510	Global Empires	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST1520	Global Decolonization	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST1530	The Making of the Twentieth Century	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Route A
Students on the French A (post A-Level) route must take the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN1010	French Language Awareness and Skills (Common European Framework B2)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
FREN1020	Introduction to French Studies (Resistance and Desire)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Route B
Students on the French B (ab initio) route must take all the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN1012	French for Beginners (A1 of the CEFR)	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
FREN1013	Pre-Intermediate French (A2 of the CEFR)	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP
FREN1023	Ab Initio Introduction to French Studies (Resistance and Desire)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Route A
Students taking FREN1010 may take up to 20 credits of the following optional modules from the list below:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN1019	Writing the self in French	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
FREN1070	Introduction to Skills in French Translation	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Discovery Modules

Students taking FREN1010 may take up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year 2

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Compulsory Modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST2025	History in Practice	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Optional Modules

Route A
Students who took FREN1010 in Year 1 (post A-Level route) must take the following compulsory module:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN2010	French Language in Contexts	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Route B
Students who took FREN1012 and FREN1013 (on the B/ab initio route) must take the following compulsory modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN2017	French Language Skills (B1/B2 of the CEFR)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
FREN2210	Forms of Subversion	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Route A

Students on the post A-Level route must take a minimum of 20 credits and may take up to 40 credits from the following optional modules:

Route B

Students taking FREN2017 and FREN2210 may take FREN2351 from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN2090	Politics and Society in France since 1945	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
FREN2260	Black Atlantic: African and Caribbean Culture in French	20
FREN2340	Twentieth and Twenty-First Century French Fiction	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
FREN2351	Aspects of French History 1789-1945	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
FREN2352	Self and Other	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Route A

Students on the Post A-level route may take 20 credits from the following optional modules:

Route B

Students taking FREN2017 and FREN2210 may take FREN2200 from the following optional modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN2200	Cinema in France: The Seventh Art	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
FREN2350	Introduction to Professional French Translation and Interpreting	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
FREN2360	The French-Speaking Business World	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

All students on the post A-Level route may study up to 20 credits from the following optional modules: 

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST2260	Digital Methods for History, Art and Literature	20	Not running in 202526
MODL2001	Linguists into Schools	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep 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)

Students will be required to take a minimum of 20 credits and may take up a maximum of 40 credits from the following optional modules. Students may not take more than one option from each basket. 

MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN HISTORY - Basket 1

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST2083	Voices of the People: Language and Speech in the Early Modern World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2105	Medieval Romans and the shape of Afro-Eurasia today	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2135	Britain and the Industrial Revolution	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2170	Patient Voices: Medicine and Healthcare in the Middle Ages	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

MODERN HISTORY - Basket 2

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST2011	Mud, Blood and Poetry: The Cultural History of War in Britain	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2360	Bass Culture in Modern Britain	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2432	Lost Colonists: Failure and the Family in Southern Africa, 1880-1939	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2580	Slavery Studies Through Autobiography	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2595	Curiosities and Monstrosities: Stuff on Display in Britain, c. 1753-1851	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it

CROSS LISTED WITH BA INTERNATIONAL HISTORY AND POLITICS - Basket 3

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST2140	Imperial Germany 1871-1918	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2152	Spain, 1898-1936: Disaster, Reaction and Reform	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2301	The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, 1921-1993	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2430	The History of Africa since 1900	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2557	Thinking About History	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST2565	Histories of Black Britain	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it

MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN HISTORY - Basket 4

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST2045	Transformations of the Roman World	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST2073	Most Christian Kings: France, 1515-1715	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST2111	Sacred Figures and Social Power: The Saints of Medieval Europe	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MEDV2085	Medieval Narratives in the Modern World: Nationalism, Terrorism, Popular Culture	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it

MODERN HISTORY - Basket 5

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST2079	The Republic in Crisis: Conflict and Identity in France since 1870	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST2103	Later Victorian England: Politics, Society and Culture	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST2320	The Lucky Country? The Social History of Australia in the Twentieth Century	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST2434	The Global Caribbean, 1641-1848	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST2658	Mao Zedong and Modern China, 1949-Present	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Please note that optional modules run subject to enrolments. An optional module may not run if only a low number of students choose it.

Discovery Modules

Students may choose to take 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year 3

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

Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory module:

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

Year 4

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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Students are required to take a minimum of 60 credits in History and 40 credits in French. Overall, students must take 100 credits across their two subjects.



All students must take 40 credits as a Final Year Project module, which can be taken in – and count towards - either of their two subjects.

All students must take 40 credits as a Special Subject module in History.

Compulsory Modules

All students will be required to study the following compulsory module:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN3010	Advanced French Language Skills	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

All students will be required to study ONE of the following Final Year Project (FYP) modules: 

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST3500	History Dissertation	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
MODL3050	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Students will be required to study 40 credits from the following Special Subject modules:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST3001	Conquest, Convivencia and Conflict: Christian and Muslim Spain, 711-1212	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3005	The 'Russian' Civil Wars, 1916-1922	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3018	Pieces of A Man: the art, politics and life of Gil Scott-Heron (1949 – 2011)	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3026	People, Water and Sand: An Environmental History of the Middle East	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3071	An Animal History of Byzantium, c. 1000-1200	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3235	Dividing India: The Road to Democracy in South Asia, 1939-1952	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3240	The Harlem Renaissance: Black Culture and Politics 1919-1940	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3270	The Third Reich, 1933-1945	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3290	Popular Belief in the Medieval West 1000-c.1500	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3332	The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3390	The Soviet Sixties: Politics and Society in the USSR, 1953-1968	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3498	Early Modern Media: Printing and the People in Europe c.1500-c.1800	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3590	White Africans: Intimacy, Race and Power	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3687	The Later Elizabethan Age: Politics and Empire	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3695	The Korean War	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3745	Secret Service: The World of British Intelligence	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3747	The Iron Lady Abroad: Margaret Thatcher and UK Foreign Policy from 1979	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3785	Europe on the Move: Refugees and Resettlement, 1919-59	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3888	The Global Vietnam War	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
HIST3930	The First World War: A Global Conflict	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Students who take their FYP in French (MODL3050) are required to take 20 credits from the following lists of optional modules (Baskets 1-3).

Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST3073	The First Crusade: The Conquest and Liberation of the Holy Land, 1096-1099	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST3453	The Body in Australian History, 1788-2007	20	Not running in 202526
HIST3723	Apartheid in South Africa: Origins, Impact and Legacy	20	Not running in 202526
HIST3726	In the Shadow of Franco: Terror and its Legacy in Spain, 1936-Present Day	20	Not running in 202526
HIST3790	Gender and Slavery in Latin America, 1580-1888	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
MEDV3411	Medieval Women Mystics: Visionaries, Saints and Heretics	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST3100	Colonial Bodies: Life and Death in British India, 1757-1900	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST3493	War, Regicide and Republic: England, 1642-1660	20	Not running in 202526
HIST3530	Mapping the Middle Ages: space and representation from the Pacific to the Atlantic	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST3689	Order and Disorder in Early Modern France: Understanding the French Wars of Religion	20	Not running in 202526
HIST3724	Caribbean Identity, Society and Decolonisation	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MEDV3020	Medieval Manuscripts and New Technologies	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)

Basket 3:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
HIST3251	Twentieth Century Southeast Asia: From Empire to Independence	20	Not running in 202526
HIST3710	Nazism, Stalinism and the Rise of the Total State	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST3728	The Breaking of Contemporary Britain: Challenges from the Post-War Period	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST3877	The World of Terror	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
HIST3880	'Parasites' and 'Cockroaches': Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide in the Modern World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
HIST3999	Doomed to Failure? European Great Power Politics from Bismarck to the Outbreak of World War I	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Students who take their FYP in History (HIST3500) are required to take 20 credits from the following lists of optional modules (Baskets 1-2).

Basket 1:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN3073	Theory and Practice of Interpreting (French and English)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
FREN3093	Iconic Images	20	Not running in 202526
FREN3094	The Kaleidoscope: Cultural Perspectives on Contemporary France	20	Not running in 202526
FREN3641	The Algerian War of Independence: From the Colonial to the Post-Colonial	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
FREN3865	Paris in Revolt. The May 1968 events, past and present	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)

Basket 2:

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)
MODL3800	Linguists into Schools	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)

Last updated: 28/07/2025 12:24:11

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