Undergraduate options at a glance
St Andrews offers a wide range of undergraduate programmes with Iranian dimensions to them. The key decision is whether you wish to study Persian language. Persian is the second language of the Middle East, spoken by over a hundred million people, and the national language of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. At St Andrews, the focus is on Modern Persian, spoken and written, with an emphasis on language, literature, drama, visual culture and cinema, although students at Honours level also have the opportunity to encounter and engage with classical literary and historical texts.
Students wishing to study Persian language and literature will need to be admitted to the Persian degree programme, delivered through the School of Modern Languages. The Persian degree is delivered as a joint degree with a wide range of other subjects or a triple degree (with two other languages). The full list is set out below but for further information, please consult here:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/modern-languages/subjects/persian/
If you wish to study Iran but do not want to learn Persian, there is a wide range of modules with Iranian dimensions or relevant taught within the Schools of Art History, Classics, History and International Relations, covering all periods of the Iranian past from the Achaemenids to the present. Again you would need to be admitted on the relevant degree programme to have access to these modules. To get a sense of the options presently being offered within the School of History, please click here and follow the links to the individual programmes (Medieval, Modern and Middle East Studies)
Persian MA joint honours degrees
You can take Persian as part of a joint Honours degree alongside one of the following subjects:
- Ancient History
- Arabic
- Classical Studies
- Classics
- Comparative Literature
- Economics
- English
- French
- Geography
- German
- Greek
- International Relations
- Italian
- Latin
- Management
- Mediaeval History
- Middle East Studies
- Modern History
- Philosophy
- Russian
- Social Anthropology
- Spanish
For students taking Persian with another language, you will have the opportunity to take an integrated year abroad. It is possible to combine a degree in Persian with two modern languages – any combination of Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. You can also take Persian as part of a Modern Languages joint Honours degree with two modern languages and one additional subject.
Finally, you can take Persian as part of a “with” Honours degree in which the majority of the course deals with the first named subject. St Andrews offers the following “with” degrees in Persian:
- Geography with Persian
- International Relations with Persian
- Mediaeval History with Persian
- Modern History with Persian
Further information
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The University of St Andrews’ position as one of the world’s top universities has been reinforced with the publication of two benchmark league tables.
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The University of St Andrews has achieved the highest possible ranking in a new assessment of the quality of teaching and the undergraduate experience at universities across the UK.
