BA Modern Languages and International Relations (French)

Programme overview

Entry requirements

Entry Requirements are available on the Course Search entry

Programme specification

The BA in Modern Languages and International Relations will give you the opportunity to understand how states interact and co-operate in an increasingly globalised and interdependent world. At the same time, you will develop the language skills and cultural competence that will enable you to engage with and understand the interaction between different peoples and societies.

Studying for a Joint Honours degree allows you to gain an in-depth knowledge of two subjects, through first-class teaching and including a period of residence abroad.

This particular programme offers you the chance to learn about how states interact with each other, as well as the impacts and contributions of organisations such as the UN. You will combine core modules on key topics such as security and the concepts, theories and research methods of international relations with a range of optional modules. You can explore topics that interest them, from the politics of aid to the complexities of Middle Eastern politics and the rise of extreme right parties in Europe. This will be complemented by the study of a cultural and linguistic context outside the United Kingdom. You will gain an additional perspective on the United Kingdom’s position on the world stage by both the academic study of another culture and by the experience of living and working/studying elsewhere. This will enrich your understanding of the global context.

Having begun your studies with anything from beginner to post-A-level competence in their language of choice, you will graduate with the ability to communicate and defend their views clearly in this language, either orally or in writing. In addition, you will have strong research and organisational skills and be confident working independently or in a team. You will also have a strong understanding of cultural diversity, allowing you to work effectively with people whose backgrounds differ from your own. In the third and final year, you undertake a dissertation on an in-depth and specialised topic with advice from tutors.

The programme gives you a diverse skillset, useful for career development in a broad range of fields and professions, including journalism, research, advocacy, the civil service, and roles in local and national government. Other language-based careers such as translating or interpreting or training in these, will also be open to you.

Year 1

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]
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At Level 1, students must study 120 credits. Overall, students must take at least 100 credits across their two subjects. Students are required to take 40 credits in International Relations and a minimum of 40 credits in French as well as the cornerstone module MODL1100.
Students on Route A may take the remaining 20 credits as discovery modules or as further options with French.

Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL1100	Politics, Culture and Society	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
PIED1110	Comparative Politics	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP
PIED1511	International Politics	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)	PFP

Optional Modules

Route A

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

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN1020	Introduction to French Studies (Resistance and Desire)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
FREN1120	Upper Intermediate French (B2)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Route B

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

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN1023	Ab Initio Introduction to French Studies (Resistance and Desire)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
FREN1100	Beginners French (A1)	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
FREN1110	Pre-Intermediate French (A2)	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Students taking FREN1120 may take up to 20 credits of the following optional modules from the list below.


Basket 1

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)

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 taking FREN1120 may take up to 20 credits of discovery modules

Year 2

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

At Level 2, students must study 120 credits. Overall, students must take at least 100 credits across their two subjects.
Students are required to take 40 credits in International Relations and a minimum of 40 credits in French.
Students take the remaining credits as further options from French and may take up to 20 credits as discovery modules.

Compulsory Modules

Students will be required to study the following compulsory modules: 

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
PIED2501	Theories of International Relations	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)	PFP
PIED2559	Global Security Challenges	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)	PFP

Optional Modules

Route A

Students who took FREN1010/FREN1120 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/FREN1100 and FREN1013/FREN1110 (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 taking FREN2010 (on the post A-Level route) must take a minimum of 20 credits and may take up to 60 credits 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)
FREN2340	Twentieth and Twenty-First Century French Fiction	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
FREN2352	Self and Other	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.

Route A
Students taking FREN2010 (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)

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

All students may study up to 40 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)
MODL2006	Social Class across Cultures	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)
MODL2090	Languages in Action: from Theory to Practice	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
MODL2250	Digital Communications Across Cultures	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 modules

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]
View Timetable

At Level 3, students must study 120 credits. Students are required to take a minimum of 40 credits in French and a minimum of 40 credits in International Relations. Overall, students must take at least 100 credits across their two subjects. The remaining 20 credits may be taken as discovery modules or as further options with French.

All students must take 40 credits as a Final Year Project (FYP) module, which can be taken in - and count towards - either of their two subjects (EITHER IR OR French).

Compulsory Modules

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 are required to take ONE of the following Final Year Project (FYP) modules.

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
MODL3050	Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP
PIED3775	POLIS Final Year Project	40	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)	PFP

Students who take their FYP in French (MODL3050) are required to take 40 credits from the following lists of optional modules(from Basket 1 and Basket 2). Students can take only ONE module per Basket.
Students who take their FYP in International Relations (PIED3775) may take up to 20 credits from the following list of optional modules (from EITHER Basket 1 OR Basket 2).

Basket 1

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
PIED3158	British Foreign Policy	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3343	Gender, Violence and Security	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3402	American Foreign Policy	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED3565	Terrorism: Concepts, Debates, Cases	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3810	Video Games: Politics, Society and 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.

Basket 2:

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
PIED3261	Violence and Reconciliation in Africa	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
PIED3325	Europe in the World	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED3408	Nuclear Weapons and Global Politics	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED3590	The Global Politics of Climate Change	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
PIED3650	Global Political Economy	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.

Students who take their FYP in IR (PIED3775) are required to take a minimum of 20 credits and may take up to 60 credits from the following list of optional modules (from basket 3 or 4).

Students who take their FYP in French (MODL3050) may take up to 20 credits from the following list of optional modules (from basket 3 or 4).

BASKET 3: FRENCH OPTIONAL MODULES

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FREN3073	Theory and Practice of Interpreting (French and English)	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
FREN3105	Word and Image: Culture in the French-Speaking World	20	Semester 1 (Sep to Jan)
FREN3106	Protest from below in the Francophone World	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.

BASKET 4: TRANSNATIONAL CULTURE AND SOCIETY OPTIONAL MODULES

Code	Title	Credits	Semester	Pass for Progression
FOAH3230	Transnational Feminism and Creative Practice	20	Semester 2 (Jan to Jun)
MODL3130	Languages in Action: from Theory to Practice	20	Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun)
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)
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)

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.

Last updated: 12/05/2026 10:59:32

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