BA French and International Development

Program Overview

This BA program combines French studies with international development, fostering a comprehensive understanding of global issues. Through coursework in French language, culture, and literature, students gain fluency and insights into French society. The program also equips them with knowledge and skills in international development, preparing them for careers in aid agencies, charities, or government departments. Graduates are highly employable, with 93% in work or further study within 15 months of graduation.

Program Outline

Study at the UK’s leading university for environmental and ethical performance (the University of Reading is ranked 1st in the People and Planet University League, 2023/24). In the Department of Languages and Cultures, you'll study in a lively, multilingual community with staff and students from all over the world. Learn in a student-centered environment, with small group teaching and a range of project and workshop opportunities. In the National Student Survey 2023, 98% of students in the Department of Languages and Cultures said our teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things.

Outline:

Year 1

• Compulsory modules
• In International Development: Alternative voices: changing perspectives of International Development and International Development: Global and Local Issues
• Ideas of Frenchness 1
• Gain a foundation in the history, culture, literature, and ideas of France and the Francophone world, helping you to understand key ideas and developments that shaped the concept and perception of ‘Frenchness’.
• You'll also take at least one of the following:
• Beginners French Language
• Intermediate French Language
• Advanced French Language I
• Optional modules
• In International Development: Students will select one 20-credit optional module from those available in the Department of International Development/School of Agriculture, Policy and Development.
• Ideas of Frenchness 2
• Build on your existing knowledge of ‘Frenchness’ by critically assessing cultural, historical, and literary materials, texts, and artifacts.
• What Is Comparative Literature?
• Learn about the major critical and theoretical issues in the study of Comparative Literature, as well as the important methodologies for studying literature in a comparative context.
Approach a cluster of texts from different cultural and historical traditions, you'll be encouraged to reflect on the practices and consequences of reading transnationally.
• Liberty and Empire in the Making of the Modern World
• Consider how the modern world was shaped by liberty and empire.
You’ll examine the movements for democracy and national independence globally, the rise of a new European imperialism in Africa and Asia, and how these affect the lives of ordinary people.
• Greats of European Cinema
• Explore some of the main developments and key achievements of European cinema.
Through analyzing a selection of major films from Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, you’ll develop an understanding of the broader cultural contexts in which these films were produced.
• Introduction to Linguistics
• Investigate the origin, development, and characteristics of human language.
You’ll focus on topics such as language endangerment, bilingualism and multilingualism in childhood, and non-verbal communication. You’ll also explore different linguistics aspects of modern European Languages.
• Thinking Translation: History and Theory
• Learn about the current thinking on translation by exploring some specific case studies.
The historical approach to translation will allow you to develop a critical awareness of the role played by: genres, readership, institutional influences, market constraints, gender attitudes and discourses, purpose. In seminars, you will explore the challenges facing translators when dealing with literary, scientific, philosophical, and political texts.

Year 2

• Compulsory modules
• In International Development: Approaches to International Development and Research Methods for BSc International Development
• How to Think in French
• Strengthen the links between the linguistic and cultural study of French language and achieve ‘thinking in French’.
You’ll focus on French rhetoric and style and how writing and thinking are taught within the French education system. You’ll also explore the way ideas about the French have developed and have been debated over time.
• Children’s Books in France
• Discover some of the important texts, authors, and themes in the study of children’s literature in modern France.
• The First World War: Then and Now
• To understand the French experience of the First World War and its wider impact on twentieth-century France, you’ll analyze experiences and responses to the conflict and consider representations and memory of the war.
• Global French Life-Stories
• You'll also take at least one of the following:
• Intermediate French Language
• Advanced French Language I
• Advanced French Language II
• Optional modules
• In International Development: Students must select 20 credits of optional modules from a list available from the Department of International Development/School of Agriculture, Policy, and Development.
• Science, Perversion, and Dream in Global Fantastic Literature
• You’ll examine how French, Hispanic, Italian, and German literary traditions have impacted global fantastic literature, considering the usage of Gothic, grotesque, supernatural, and uncanny elements in selected key texts.
• Society, Thought, and Art in Modern Europe
• Discover the birth of modern humanity in late 18th-century Europe and the revolutionary changes that Enlightenment and Romanticism intellectual movements brought in all spheres of thought and social life.
You’ll also explore how different European nations contributed to innovation, how modernity diffused beyond the Western world, the transformations brought by non-European influences, and the leading role of art in the modernization process.
• Unity, Nationalism, and Regionalism in Europe
• Discover how modern ideas of nation, national identity, the nation-state, and nationalism have shaped modern Europe and the rest of the world from the 18th century to the present day.
You’ll examine the impact of the idea of the nation and the persistence and profound significance of regionalist tendencies across Europe. You’ll also explore the dynamic relationship between nationalism and other ideologies of community and identity.
• Global Ecologies: Discourse, Environment, and Society
• Explore case studies of climate discourse and activism from around the world.
You’ll gain the skills needed to think critically about environmental issues and discourses and their wider implications.

Year 3

• Study abroad year
• Compulsory modules
• Extended Essay
• Prepare for postgraduate study and engage in extended research on a topic of your choosing, within the subject area and relevant to your degree program.
• Future Worlds in Film
• Explore genre features, contexts, and aesthetic genesis of science-fiction films from different traditions and periods.
You’ll analyze formal and thematic features of the films and identify central ethical questions they raise, evaluating each film in its specific cultural, political, and social context.
• Identity and Conflict in Modern Europe
• Explore the diversification, evolution, and fluidity of definitions of modern notions of race, gender, and how individual and collective identities have been redefined by intellectuals and ideologies.
You’ll be encouraged to engage with competing and conflicting visions and values both through set case studies and group projects.
• Language and Power
• Language is a powerful tool that can construe reality, challenge power, harm, and discriminate individuals and foster social cohesion.
You’ll investigate a range of genres, discourse, and theoretical approaches to disclose a text’s underlying ideological stance.
• The French Caribbean: Language, Literature, and Identity
• You'll take at least one of the following:
• Advanced French, German, Italian, or Spanish Language I
• Advanced French, German, Italian, or Spanish Language II
• Advanced French, German, Italian, or Spanish Language III
• Optional modules
• In International Development: 60 International Development credits will be made up of optional modules from a list provided by the Department of International Development/School of Agriculture, Policy, and Development, which includes the option to select the 40-credit dissertation module.
• May '68
• Investigate the events of May ’68 in France and put them in relation to the wider moment of global protest and counter-cultural turbulence.
Through examining key texts, visual sources, ideas (and ideologies) from the period, you’ll explore the significant political, social, and cultural change of these events and their legacy on contemporary French society.
• Philanthropy à la française: The History of Ideas and Practices in the French Third Sector
• You’ll examine case studies that address the significant role that charity has played throughout French history and consider the social, economic, political, and cultural motivations and consequences of voluntary action.
• French Popular Music and Society
• Explore French popular music of the late 20th and 21st centuries, focusing on the development of the relevant genres and on music’s wider socio-cultural role.
You’ll spend time looking at the texts, performances, and personae of major artists in contemporary music genres including rap, rock, and electronica.

Careers:

Your degree in French and International Development will equip you with a valuable skillset, including a mix of natural and social sciences, quantitative and qualitative analysis skills, and knowledge of the challenges facing international development. These skills could lead to a career in translation, business, aid agencies, charities, government departments, and research institutions. In the latest Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020-21, 93% of our leavers are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation (based on our analysis of HESA data © HESA 2023, Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020/21; includes first degree Languages and Cultures responders).

New UK/Republic of Ireland students:

£9,250

• New international students:
£22,350
• Fees changes
UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

Placement year fees

If you spend a full year on placement, you will only pay 15% of your usual tuition fee for that year.

Additional Costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources.