The Department of European Studies and Modern Languages offers degree courses that combine the study of French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish with either European Studies or Politics, degrees in politics with Economics and International Relations, and a cross-faculty degree in International Management and Modern Languages (French, German or Spanish). It enjoys a distinctive reputation for its thorough training in practical language acquisition, and it is unique in providing a fully integrated environment for courses combining language and cultural studies with politics.
The Department was awarded a grade 5 in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and is one of the leading centres for European Studies in the country. Staff expertise ranges over a wide variety of disciplines and includes, for example: memory, history and identity in European culture; Europeanisation and public policy; conflict and security in Europe; European cinema; wine culture and consumption in France; literature and society in contemporary Russia; democratisation in Latin America; political scandals in France & Italy; migration into and within Europe; extreme Right parties in Europe.
The Department’s teaching facilities include digitalised audio-visual laboratories, state-of-the-art conference interpreting rooms, a satellite television viewing room, language learning software on the University intranet and a Self-Access Language Centre. The Department is located in building 1 West North, at the western end of the main University Parade.
The long-established BA in Modern Languages and European Studies was one of the first in the UK to offer the intensive study of two languages (from French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish) in the context of modern European culture, politics and society, with residence and work or study in the relevant countries. With its integrated interdisciplinary format, combining the study of modern literature and film with history and politics in a European as well as a national context, it remains at the forefront of courses in this field. All five languages are available for post-A level study (or equivalent), in addition to Italian and Russian for beginners, and German for post GCSE-level.
The BSc in International Menagement and Modern Languages, provided jointly with the School of Management, meets the demand for a programme that combines management skills with the study of a language (French, German and Spanish) set against its social, economic and political background. Here, too, residence and work or study in the relevant country including Latin America for Spanish forms an integral part of the programme.
The popular BSc in Politics with Economics both reflects the growing available expertise in politics teaching and research, while a range of Politics and a European Language degree programmes (French/German/Italian/Russian/Spanish and Politics) builds on that expertise and enhances students' choice.
The recent introduction of the Politics with International Relations degree reflects the strengths which the Department has in those fields, including notable areas of expertise outside Europe, including for example courses on the USA.
The Department owes much of its early reputation to the success of the highly-regarded MA in Interpreting and Translating, which in its earliest form was established more than thirty years ago and has provided (and continues to provide) many of the professional linguists working in major European and international institutions. The addition in recent years of Chinese and Japanese streams has further enhanced the programme's reputation and appeal. It was complemented in 2003 by the MA in Translation and Professional Language Skills.
The popular and highly original Euromasters programme, which focuses on in-depth study of European Politics, Policy and Society, is coordinated in Bath and taught collaboratively with universities in Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Prague and Siena, offering the opportunity to study in a fully integrated European environment. The programme is complemented by Euromasters with Trans-Atlantic Track, offering an integrated period of study in the USA.
Our portfolio of politics-relevant MA programmes continues to grow: as of the academic year 2006/7, the Department also offers an MA in International Politics. Building on the success of our Euromasters programme and the MA in Contemporary European Politics which was introduced in the academic year 2004/5, this new programme reflects the Department's growing expertise in the area of international politics, and especially in the role of the EU as a global player.
In 2001, the MA in Euroepan Cinema Studies already made an important and innovative contribution to the Department's taught postgraduate programmes, focusing on the specificities of European (as opposed to strictly national) cinema and combining both theoretical and practical stances.
Another recent innovative postgraduate course is as follows: MRes in Euroepan Politics.
Department of European Studies and Modern Languages
University of Bath
Bath · BA2 7AY
Tel: 0044 1225 383950
Fax: 0044 1225 386099
esml@bath.ac.uk
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