International Development and Languages BA (Hons)

The module introduces candidates to the interesting challenges that ICT presents today and covers many anchor points that may serve as a bridge to their interests and lifestyles.

It also means you understand the value of scholarships, allowing you to move on to postgraduate programs at the University of Portsmouth.

You'll explore theories of international relations, the nature of the international system, and factors like conflict, globalisation, and international organisations. You'll also dive into key global issues such as climate change, gender, and human rights.

You'll learn to conduct research using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. You'll also enhance your ability to understand and construct arguments, evaluate the rationale and evidence behind claims, assess the credibility of sources, and deliver well-structured, critically reasoned arguments and opinions both verbally and in writing.

You'll gain an appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of people and their environment, understanding how people, politics, and place are intertwined. You'll also be introduced to criminology, analysing urban crime from a sociological perspective, its causes, and its effects on society.

You'll get an overview of key areas like observation, interpretation, and critical analysis. This module helps you appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of anthropology and intercultural studies.

You'll appreciate how these fields intersect and impact each other, gaining insights into the connections between people, their environment, and societal practices. Additionally, you'll be introduced to technological innovations and examine how they are applied in society from a sociological perspective.

The module will explore the judiciary and other legal practitioners, including judgments, law reporting, and sentencing, as well as barristers and solicitors. You'll gain an understanding of local courts such as magistrates, county, and crown courts, and delve into legal research techniques focusing on the language and discourse of statute and common law.

You'll gain an overview of the history of legal scholarship. By the end of the module, you'll have a solid understanding and the ability to apply essential legal knowledge and skills. This will prepare you to progress onto degree level study at the University of Portsmouth.

You'll hone your abilities in writing, analytical thinking, research, public speaking and networking alongside your fellow students and supported by your personal tutor, alumni and experts in your field.

You'll develop an awareness of conceptual frameworks and methodologies, and learn how to find and analyse sources and data to support your ideas.

You'll study the changing relationships between the different organisations involved in international aid and development, including multilateral and bilateral development organisations and nongovernmental actors.

You'll also look at trends in development thinking and place development within the wider context of global capitalism.

On this module, you'll discover how this 'Global South' came to be, building on different disciplinary approaches.

You'll look issues that affect a range of regions and countries including Africa, South East and South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well development related challenges making an impact in the Global North, such as social movements, political violence and terrorism, social cohesion, discrimination and racism.

You’ll focus on speaking and writing for tourism, travel and business, and learn through films, songs, conversations and cultural tips.

You’ll build language accuracy and confidence by presenting information and ideas, helping you become an independent and collaborative language learner.

You’ll focus on speaking and writing for tourism, travel and business, and learn through films, songs, conversations and cultural tips.

You’ll build language accuracy and confidence by presenting information and ideas, helping you become an independent and collaborative language learner.

You’ll focus on speaking and writing for tourism, travel and business, and learn through films, songs, conversations and cultural tips.

You’ll build language accuracy and confidence by presenting information and ideas, helping you become an independent and collaborative language learner.

You’ll focus on grammar, writing, reading and listening. Through listening, you'll obtain information on familiar and unfamiliar topics from audio sources. You'll learn to use formal and informal French with accuracy and cultural competence in conversations.

You’ll also produce writing that describes and comments upon present, past and future events.

You’ll focus on grammar, writing, reading and listening. Through listening, you'll obtain information on familiar and unfamiliar topics from audio sources. You'll learn to use formal and informal Mandarin with accuracy and cultural competence in conversations.

You’ll also produce writing that describes and comments upon present, past and future events.

You’ll focus on grammar, writing, reading and listening. Through listening, you'll obtain information on familiar and unfamiliar topics from audio sources. You'll learn to use formal and informal Spanish with accuracy and cultural competence in conversations.

You’ll also produce writing that describes and comments upon present, past and future events.

Supported by independent study and a series of language seminars, you'll develop a journalist article in French.

You’ll use diverse French source material for your project, from written to audio-visual, and take part in individual and group presentations on French cultural, social or current affairs.

Through seminars on authentic texts, you'll develop skills for comprehending written and spoken French on diverse topics. Building grammar, vocabulary, and fluency, you'll discuss current events, share opinions, and present ideas - all in French.

Engaging with specialist academic texts boosts your academic literacy, and by reading complex materials, writing accurately, and expressing yourself orally with nuance, you'll gain practical French abilities.

Through seminars on authentic texts, you'll develop skills for comprehending written and spoken Spanish on diverse topics. Building grammar, vocabulary, and fluency, you'll discuss current events, share opinions, and present ideas - all in Spanish.

Engaging with specialist academic texts boosts your academic literacy, and by reading complex materials, writing accurately, and expressing yourself orally with nuance, you'll gain practical Spanish abilities.
 

Through a social justice lens, you'll learn how climate change impacts communities unequally and how activists are campaigning for climate justice.

Gain insight into indigenous perspectives and voices from the Global South to understand how climate discourse has traditionally-centered western worldviews.

Equip yourself with the knowledge and tools to create positive change, from policy recommendations to grassroots campaigns.

You'll assess the strategic control of space and resources alongside economic competition, and examine Africa's rich potential alongside its enduring struggles, from human security to gender equity and beyond.

You'll develop a nuanced understanding of the continent as a crucial nexus of cooperation and conflict between foreign interests.

Through films, news reports and texts from across the Francophone world, discuss engaging topics from travel adventures to current affairs.

You’ll learn to communicate naturally in academic, professional and social situations while appreciating linguistic nuances. You’ll also deepen your understanding of diverse French-speaking societies through lively classes and seminars.

Through films, news reports and texts from across the Mandarin-speaking world, discuss engaging topics from travel adventures to current affairs.

You’ll learn to communicate naturally in academic, professional and social situations while appreciating linguistic nuances. You’ll also deepen your understanding of diverse Mandarin-speaking societies through lively classes and seminars.

Through films, news reports and texts from across the Spanish-speaking world, discuss engaging topics from travel adventures to current affairs.

You’ll learn to communicate naturally in academic, professional and social situations while appreciating linguistic nuances. You’ll also deepen your understanding of diverse Spanish-speaking societies through lively classes and seminars.

You’ll hone your French speaking through debates, presentations and interviews, and refine your formal and informal writing across diverse genres.

You’ll also deepen your cultural understanding through exposure to sociolinguistic nuances and conventions, ready to communicate effectively in French-speaking communities worldwide.

You’ll hone your Mandarin speaking through debates, presentations and interviews, and refine your formal and informal writing across diverse genres.

You’ll also deepen your cultural understanding through exposure to sociolinguistic nuances and conventions, ready to communicate effectively in Mandarin-speaking communities worldwide.

You’ll hone your Spanish speaking through debates, presentations and interviews, and refine your formal and informal writing across diverse genres.

You’ll also deepen your cultural understanding through exposure to sociolinguistic nuances and conventions, ready to communicate effectively in Spanish-speaking communities worldwide.

Moving beyond everyday French, you'll analyse complex texts from media, literature, and academia and with class discussions in French on specialist topics related to living abroad you’ll hone your verbal fluency.

Building on your existing abilities, you'll communicate confidently, express opinions, and present ideas. This module provides the advanced language abilities, critical thinking, and intercultural competence to thrive in diverse French-speaking contexts.

You'll learn how to discuss specialist topics in a variety of subject areas by analysing a range of authentic written, audio and visual media and expand your verbal fluency.

By learning to write confidently in formal and informal styles, you'll build your understanding of complex Spanish across diverse contexts and sharpen your ability to express yourself confidently.

Seminars on grammar, reading, writing, listening and speaking provide a toolkit to thrive in Spanish-speaking communities.

You’ll deepen your understanding of workplace culture and practices in French-speaking countries, boosting your communication and intercultural competence through activities like job interviews, team reports, and presentations.

Gain insights into French job opportunities, company structures, products and services through research, and produce a multimedia report on a company using specialised vocabulary and software.

You’ll deepen your understanding of workplace culture and practices in Spanish-speaking countries, boosting your communication and intercultural competence through activities like job interviews, team reports, and presentations.

Gain insights into Spanish job opportunities, company structures, products and services through research, and produce a multimedia report on a company using specialised vocabulary and software.

You'll learn diverse perspectives on formulating and presenting policy, taking into account key variables like leadership, security, and global dynamics.

You'll deploy theories to critically analyse major decisions and their outcomes, strengthening your understanding through case studies of milestone events.

You'll also debate and discuss how policy intersects with national interests and global security, and build skills to explain and evaluate policies coherently.

You’ll begin by exploring how countries like Argentina, Chile and Brazil transitioned from military dictatorships to democracies towards the end of the 20th century.

You’ll also learn about the dramatic public protests and negotiations that eventually toppled these dictatorships in the late 20th century as part of the "Third Wave" of democratisation.

However, installing democratic systems has not been easy - you’ll also analyse the political, economic and social challenges that societies across the region are grappling with in the 21st century. To what extent have the region's new democracies been able to challenge deep seated inequalities in class, gender and race/ethnicity? And what do ordinary people think about development and democracy across the region?

You’ll explore ideas around modernisation, colonialism and nationalism and how they shape education, gender roles, ethnicity, class, sexuality and everyday life in this part of the world.

By comparing the experiences of different countries when it comes to industrialisation, democratisation and conflict, you’ll learn how to appreciate complex regional dynamics.

You’ll get familiar with the big issues and contemporary debates in education studies as well as the role and expectations of a teacher.

You’ll develops fundamental knowledge and skills that teachers require, as well as your capability to structure and critique a lesson plan.

On this module, you’ll get an introduction to translation skills to open new worlds.

You’ll learn practical techniques while translating authentic texts, explore different genres and languages and discuss real-world translation challenges. You’ll develop professional skills for potential careers in this field.

In this module, you’ll explore European colonisation of Africa, asking questions like - how did they justify colonial rule, and how did African peoples respond to these colonisers?

You’ll learn how, after World War II, colonial rule was increasingly challenged from both within the empire, by growing African demands for political rights, and in the international arena, with the global trend towards trusteeship, development and self-determination.

You’ll also explore European relations with Africa in the post-colonial era, looking at themes which may include ideas about civilisation, universalism and race, modern attempts to 'rehabilitate' empire in the media, and the legacies of colonialism in Britain, Europe and Africa.

You’ll collaborate with students on other courses to explore and address societal and environmental challenges faced by local and global communities. You’ll choose projects from a range of topic areas aligned with the university's Civic Strategy.

With input from local organisations, you’ll think about your topic from multiple perspectives, developing your interdisciplinary thinking and ability to work with others.

You’ll analyse the essence of security, exploring how security needs are addressed around the world and on a national level, down to a community and even an individual basis.

You’ll explore different forms of societal risk and insecurity, and approaches to dealing with security threats, taking into account the nature and impact of economic and political developments.

You'll learn how to think critically about the key concepts that link language, culture and communication, considering the benefits and limitations of these ideas.

You'll explore the different ways in which communication intersects with culture across themes such as identity, education, gender, and the media.

Alongside what you learn, you'll improve your skills in analysis, research and intercultural awareness.

You'll learn about consumer behaviour and brand strategy, and spend time examining real-world marketing campaigns. You'll also think about how social, political and technological forces can affect the way businesses approach marketing their products and services.

Skills you'll develop include carrying out market research and learning how to use what you learn, crafting targeted messaging across different marketing channels, and presenting your ideas verbally and in writing.

You'll learn about major economic, political and cultural changes in Western Europe over the nineteenth century, and how these affected the rest of the world as time went on.

You'll explore the big ideas that have shaped the modern world, and weigh up the benefits and perils of globalisation. Skills you'll develop on this module include independent research, critical thinking and effective communication.

You'll also learn to understand the opportunities and challenges of today's world from an informed, global perspective.

You’ll look critically ideas of nationalism historically and today with a focus on the everyday, intimate and embodied boundaries of nation-states and how these shape our lives, including those of us living in the most privileged parts of the world.

You’ll explore real-world cases to understand the individual and societal impacts on human lives, developing your analytical skills and imagining more compassionate alternatives.

You’ll unpack the language of tabloids, broadsheets and online news, analysing how journalists shape public understanding of current events.

Develop your critical thinking by confronting moral panics and polarised politics in reporting.

Create your own news stories and gain real insight into mass communication in a rapidly changing landscape.

You'll analyse major cases of economic crime and weigh up their wider societal implications.

You'll also learn how to recognise disciplinary perspectives, become familiar with the key investigating organisations, identify investigative techniques, and gather and analyse real case information.

You’ll analyse American texts against the backdrop of intellectual, social and political change, evaluating how writers grappled with emerging ideas around national identity, race, gender and more.

By honing skills for contextual analysis and independent thought, you’ll form your own interpretations of iconic works that reflect the American experience.

You’ll analyse diverse transitional justice approaches balancing community healing and judicial accountability after mass atrocities.

Comparing mechanisms like war crimes tribunals, truth commissions and reparations programmes, you’ll evaluate effectiveness in restoring dignity and preventing recurrence.

With case studies from Europe to Africa, from Latin America to Asia, you'll examine tensions between western models and local cultural perspectives, assessing what ‘justice’ means to vulnerable peoples.

Throughout, you'll trace incremental human rights legislation advances, assessing global institutions’ roles protecting civilians from authoritarian regimes and wartime abuses.

Through interactive lectures with academics, speakers and professionals, you'll discuss, debate and complete practical exercises exploring wildlife crime alongside your classmates.

You'll spend time examining wildlife crimes and the factors behind them, as well as environmental justice and sustainability.

Apply cultural theories in real business scenarios through group projects and develop your communication skills with a global mindset via vibrant discussions.

This module will equip you with cultural awareness, analytical abilities and presentation skills to thrive.

With a minimum 80-hour commitment, you’ll apply what you’ve learned so far on your degree to real-world professional settings within our community of local businesses, social enterprises, and third-sector organisations.

You’ll have support from interactive workshops, tutorials, and guest speaker events, encouraging you to set achievable professional goals and evolve your professional identity.

You’ll explore the professional aspects of these services, learning about opportunities, challenges and training requirements. You’ll also try the core skills for yourself, from post-editing translations to voiceover work.

Living and learning in your chosen country where your language of study is spoken, you'll improve your language skills and develop your cross-cultural understanding.

With international experience, you'll develop your subject knowledge, analytical abilities and self-confidence.

Fresh perspectives and a global outlook will mean you'll return home prepared for the next steps in your degree and your career.

By understanding authentic texts and media in diverse tones and registers, you'll gain broad exposure to regional variations.

Through dynamic discussions and academic presentations in advanced French, you'll build your verbal fluency on current issues and hone your writing skills across formal and informal styles, as your express nuanced ideas with accuracy.

Graduate with the advanced French proficiency, analytical abilities, and cross-cultural competence to communicate effectively across your degree and career.

By understanding authentic texts and media in diverse tones and registers, you'll gain broad exposure to regional variations.

Through dynamic discussions and academic presentations in advanced Mandarin, you'll build your verbal fluency on current issues and hone your writing skills across formal and informal styles, as your express nuanced ideas with accuracy.

Graduate with the advanced Mandarin proficiency, analytical abilities, and cross-cultural competence to communicate effectively across your degree and career.

 

By understanding authentic texts and media in diverse tones and registers, you'll gain broad exposure to regional variations.

Through dynamic discussions and academic presentations in advanced Spanish, you'll build your verbal fluency on current issues and hone your writing skills across formal and informal styles, as your express nuanced ideas with accuracy.

Graduate with the advanced Spanish proficiency, analytical abilities, and cross-cultural competence to communicate effectively across your degree and career.

You'll learn how to analyse various genres of source texts, apply translation techniques and translation theory in a way that helps you to achieve clear meaning, and produce commercially acceptable translations.

Working with your fellow students, you’ll simulate real-world translation agency environments and learn how to produce translations as a team.

You'll also work on your skills in written and verbal communication, critical analysis and intercultural awareness, all of which are essential for a career in the language services sector.

Through a series of engaging translation exercises, you'll gain hands-on experience translating texts commonly used in global business.

Sharpen your analytical skills by examining source texts communicative purpose, language style and structure.

Learn to apply appropriate translation strategies to tackle specific challenges. This module will give you a strong foundation in translation principles and strategies.

Working in groups with other taking your language combination (French/English, German/English, Mandarin/English or Spanish/English), you’ll complete exercises and tasks aimed at developing and improving your skills in public speaking, speech analysis and synthesis, memory and note-taking techniques, vocabulary reactivation, speech reformulation and communication.

You’ll also create and maintain a blog to review your own practice, your peers' practice and how theory underpins practice.

You’ll work again in groups separated by language combination to undertake interpreting training supported by speech analysis and delivery, memory and note-taking, vocabulary, reformulation and communication exercises.

Specifically, you'll demonstrate actively listening to general and specialised speech and show well-developed, real-life communication skills.

You’ll demonstrate intellectual and transferable skills appropriate for your field, and do independent research. You’ll design a viable project proposal using existing studies in your field, and critically discuss assumptions, arguments and data to make judgements, pose questions and identify solutions.

Finally, you'll write up your project tailored to a specified academic or workplace audience.

You'll tackle questions such as, what is capitalism and in whose interests does it work? Do some models of capitalism work better than others? Can we reconcile capitalist modes of production and consumption with protecting our environment?

Examine relevant political economy theory and open up debates about power, multinational capital, gender, identity and climate crisis.

You'll investigate grassroots campaigners alongside major international NGOs - evaluating their tactics, contributions and accountability.

By probing the relationships between volunteer networks, businesses and government, you'll develop new ideas on what can and cannot be achieved by public advocacy. Do civil society organisations challenge or reinforce the prevailing world order?

You'll learn about the job application process from the perspective of both candidates and recruiters, thinking about what employers look for in graduates and how you can optimise your own professional profile.

Through mock interviews and assessments, you'll hone your skills and learn how to communicate your achievements and career goals, ready to take the next step after you graduate.

You'll critically examine the concepts of ethnicity, race and culture historically and theoretically, using regional case studies from Latin America, Africa and those of indigenous peoples.

You'll consider these regional case studies alongside recent developments at the international level regarding cultural and indigenous rights and struggles around racial inequality and violence.

You'll complete the module with a major project on a region of the world of your choice.

You'll evaluate if the aid and development business is a continuation of a colonial relationship between the Global North and the Global South, and whether the aid and development system, as it exists today, is involved in the continuation of poverty and dependency.

You'll explore alternative approaches to economic development and the associated challenges through topics on trade in the developing world, social enterprise, and Buen Vivir, reflecting on humanitarianism and critical race theories for aid and development.

You’ll design a website for a company, charity or NGO in your chosen language, giving you real-world experience in web design, marketing and using your language skills in an international workplace.

You’ll also design a viable project proposal, research the latest information in your field, analyse data to reach conclusions, reflect on your learning, and communicate your findings to a professional audience.

It's up to you what your project is about - this will be your chance to showcase your passion for international development by choosing a subject area or topic that most interests you.

You'll draw on everything you've learned so far to investigate, analyse, craft and refine your project, using existing texts, sources and artefacts to support your arguments and give them context.

You'll have the support of a dedicated tutor to guide you throughout this module.

You'll gain critical insight into the colonial foundations shaping today's world politics, from notions of human rights to capitalism itself.

Explore how legacies of colonisation manifest in different ways, across development to democracy.

Equip yourself to rethink Eurocentric perspectives and address systemic inequities in international relations.

You'll analyse how history, geography, culture, economics and politics converge to impact wellbeing in specific countries and worldwide.

You'll weigh up interventions on issues from malnutrition to maternal mortality, and consider how ethical, evidence-based recommendations can advance health equity, drawing on statistics and on-the-ground experiences.

With a minimum 80-hour commitment, you'll apply what you've learned so far on your degree to real-world professional settings within our community of local businesses, social enterprises, and third-sector organisations.

You'll have support from interactive workshops, tutorials, and guest speaker events, encouraging you to set achievable professional goals and evolve your professional identity.

You'll evaluate diverse cases of religion intertwining with critical issues like nationalism, peacebuilding, violence and more.

Discussing the perspectives of policymakers to extremists, you'll tackle intriguing questions head on.

How do religious ideas still drive political agendas worldwide? How does faith unite communities yet fuel divisions? And could rediscovering religion's role in human life hold keys to solving global problems?