Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Chinese and International Relations with year abroad

at University of Westminster - Regent Campus United Kingdom

Our Arabic and International Relations course focuses on questions of governance, democracy and human rights, while training competent Arabic linguists ready to enter graduate employment.

This course will enable you to achieve a good level of linguistic competence in Arabic in all four skill areas (reading, writing, listening and speaking), and a critical understanding of culture and politics from the perspective of the changing dynamics of the global political order. You'll have the opportunity to study language, culture and international relations in an integrated way, exploring the connections between them and the broader geopolitical and cross-cultural contexts in which they are produced. You'll also gain the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

We place particular emphasis on employability and the contemporary cultural context and offer high-quality teaching in all language skills.

Our Arabic courses are only available to beginner or 'false beginner' entrants – false beginners are students who may be able to read the Arabic script, and/or have the equivalent to one or two years' part-time study. Please note that we may need to test you to determine your entry point.

You'll study an integrated curriculum with a focus on applied language skills and cultural studies, supported by a rigorous development of your foreign languages skills in all areas.

You'll develop a high level of competence in oral and written communication in Arabic, proficiency in language transfer skills, a thorough knowledge of Arabic culture, and the ability to thrive linguistically in diverse cultural situations.

You'll have the opportunity to spend a full academic year abroad at a partner institution and/or, depending on your language level, an approved form of employment in a country where Arabic is the of?cial language. You can also study an elective module from across the University in each year.

Our Translation Studies BA Honours will give you the skills, knowledge and competencies to build a career as a professional translator.

You'll develop knowledge of language structure, register, textuality and discourse, by applying linguistic concepts to practical translation tasks. You'll also gain the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Depending on your entry point, you can combine the main language, Spanish, with another language (Arabic, Chinese or French) or the Global Communication route. You'll study an integrated curriculum, with a focus on professional context and communication skills, bilingual translation skills and theory. Your studies may include developing your skills in a new foreign language or modules in cultural studies. Teaching and learning take place through a combination of formal lectures, seminars, practical workshops, guided self-study, and exposure to professionally relevant simulations and real-work environments.

Alongside core modules in translation, the course offers a wide range of option modules, covering topics including global communications, world cultures, current affairs, politics and gender issues. You'll also have the option to spend a year abroad in a Spanish-speaking country, studying or, depending on your language level, working or volunteering.

As well as careers in professional translation, our graduates have found employment as interpreters, teachers (both in foreign languages and English as a foreign language), and in various other sectors including law, marketing, journalism, and the Civil Service.

We accept intermediate (post-A Level) and proficient speakers in Spanish. This is a linguistically challenging course and we may need to assess you in order to determine your entry point and suitability.

Our Creative Writing and English Language BA combines the opportunity to improve your writing skills with the development of a thorough knowledge and understanding of the structure, history and usage of the English language.

In addition to studying how the language works in its spoken and written forms, and the different kinds of English that exist today, the course provides structured support and guidance in the development of writing skills in various genres (the novel, the short story, poetry, drama, and non-fictional writing). Your knowledge and understanding of English will be enhanced by focusing on its aesthetic possibilities.

This particular combination is suitable for those interested in pursuing a career in any field that involves the highly skilled use of language, such as publishing or journalism, professional writing, or teaching. You could also go on to a career that includes teaching related to language or creative writing.

You'll have the opportunity to study an optional module from a range of different topics across the University in each year of study. The course will also equip you with the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Top reasons to study with us

• Fantastic location for the creative industries - London has unrivalled access to publishing houses, film production companies, theatre and poetry networks, and other literary opportunities
• Writer-led workshops - all of our creative writing tutors are either practising poets, dramatists or novelists
• Gain valuable industry contacts - you’ll have the opportunity to make writing contacts through our talented creative writing tutors, our expert guest speakers and our industry links
• Get experience before graduating – you’ll have the option to do a work placement as part of this course
• Personalised support - you’ll get individually focused academic support and career planning through our tutorials
• Opportunities to gain international experience - our students have been on regular field trips and have had amazing opportunities to travel, work and study abroad. Previous destinations have included Miami, Hong Kong, Cuba, Berlin, Morocco, Washington and Paris.

Our degree offers the exciting combination of the study of Chinese language and culture alongside the wider study of the forms, structures and varieties of language itself.

You'll develop a high level of competence in oral and written communication in Chinese, proficiency in language transfer skills, and a thorough knowledge of Chinese culture. On graduation, you'll be able to thrive linguistically in diverse cultural situations.

You'll study an integrated curriculum with a focus on applied language skills and cultural studies, supported by a rigorous development of your foreign languages skills in all areas. We teach in an integrated interdisciplinary way, exploring the connections between language and culture and the broader historical and cross-cultural contexts in which they are produced. 

Top reasons to study with us

• Enhance your language skills abroad – You'll have the option to spend a full academic year abroad in your third year, or shorter periods ranging from a few days to a full semester
• Mix language with culture – Develop your Chinese language skills alongside your cultural knowledge of the Chinese-speaking world with our integrated curriculum
• Expert teaching – You'll study with world experts in creoles, pidgins and sociolinguistics
• Be supported – You'll receive individually focused academic support through our tutorial modules

Our French and International Relations course focuses on questions of governance, democracy and human rights, while training competent French linguists ready to enter graduate employment.

This course will enable you to achieve a good or high level of linguistic competence in French in all four skill areas (reading, writing, listening and speaking), and a critical understanding of culture and politics from the perspective of the changing dynamics of the global political order. You will have the opportunity to study language, culture and international relations in an integrated way, exploring the connections between them and the broader geopolitical and cross-cultural contexts in which they are produced. You will also gain the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

We place particular emphasis on employability and the contemporary cultural context, and offer high-quality teaching in all language skills.

We accept students at two different entry points – beginner or intermediate. Please note that we may need to test you to determine your entry point.

You'll study an integrated curriculum with a focus on applied language skills and cultural studies, supported by a rigorous development of your foreign languages skills in all areas.

You'll develop a high level of competence in oral and written communication in French, proficiency in language transfer skills, a thorough knowledge of French culture, and the ability to thrive linguistically in diverse cultural situations.

You'll have the opportunity to spend a full academic year abroad at a partner institution and/or, depending on your language level, an approved form of employment in a country where French is the official language. You can also study an elective module from across the University in each year.

Our Creative Writing and English Literature BA combines the study of literary and non-literary texts in English with the development of your own creative writing skills.

The study of texts and their background in the history of ideas informs your progress as a writer, while your experience of writing in a variety of genres (the novel, the short story, poetry and drama) enhances your appreciation of literature.

This course will be of particular interest to those who wish to write or develop their reading with the experience that comes from writing literary texts. You’ll gain the knowledge and understanding necessary to begin a career in freelance writing, publishing, theatre, or teaching literature and creative writing. The course will also equip you with the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Top reasons to study with us

• Fantastic location for the creative industries – London has unrivalled access to publishing houses, film production companies, theatre and poetry networks, and other literary opportunities
• Writer-led workshops – all of our creative writing tutors are either practising poets, dramatists or novelists
• Subject-leading researchers – our English Literature staff are leading experts in their fields, producing internationally recognised research that they bring straight back into the classroom
• Gain valuable industry contacts – you’ll have the opportunity to make writing contacts through our talented creative writing tutors, our expert guest speakers and our industry links
• Get experience before graduating – you’ll have the option to do a work placement as part of this course
• Opportunities to gain international experience – our students enjoy regular field trips and amazing opportunities to travel, work and study abroad

The International Relations MA offers you an innovative, disciplined and intellectually challenging framework for studying issues and perspectives within international relations.

You'll consider various aspects of international order and politics, including the dynamics of international social and political power relationships and conflicts, and state building. These topics are studied comparatively in relation to governmental, political and social processes, and in the contexts of various historical continuities, discontinuities and contrasts.

This is an exciting, interdisciplinary degree at the heart of the humanities. It allows you to explore a wealth of literary texts while thinking deeply about the circumstances of their production and reception, and to learn about a range of events, themes and ideas in history and consider the literary and cultural responses to them.

You'll develop your knowledge and understanding of the key periods, themes, styles and techniques in literary studies, and be able to use that learning in critical form. You'll also develop substantial knowledge and understanding of the modern history of London, Britain and the world.

English Literature 

You'll study literature from a wide range of periods and genres, from Shakespeare to the present day, including non-fiction texts as well as novels, poetry and drama. In the first year,  you'll develop your skills, knowledge and confidence in literary studies in the context of our small group tutorial system.

History 
You'll have access to a variety of interesting modules, many of them unique to our University. Our focus is explicitly modern, but within a very broad geographical sweep, including core modules in modern world history. We offer options on the fascinating history of London in peace and at war, along with an extensive range of other modules on topics such as France in the Second World War, the US civil rights movement, the history of international organisations, Irish history and the history of feminism. You can also take a credit-bearing internship in a museum, library or archive in London.

Law is an interesting and challenging discipline that impacts at every level, from people's individual daily lives to the operations of government on the international stage. Increasingly the international dimension to legal study has become more important, across a wide range of legal areas, as the influence of European and international organisations has become so significant.

The Law LLB Honours offers you an exciting and dynamic educational experience, while also providing you with the core subjects required by the professional legal bodies. The legal profession requires graduates to possess both intellectual and practical skills, and the course explicitly addresses these requirements with a structured programme of skills development. It will equip you with the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

You can also add an international dimension to your studies through a further year of law study abroad in one of the School's partner institutions in Europe and overseas.

Top reasons to study with us

• Practise in a real-world environment – as part of the course, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your legal skills at the Westminster Law School Legal Advice Clinic
• Develop mastery of an area of the law with subject streams developed by our research-led experts – you can specialise in entertainment and media law, commercial law, international law, theory and human rights law, criminal law and justice, or welfare law
• An international outlook – the Law LLB has several international law options, the chance to study abroad, the option to learn a foreign language alongside your studies and is supported by our International and European Student Law Societies
• Boost your employability – skills and work-based learning modules are available in every year of the course
• Personalise your learning – with a vast range of optional modules to choose from

Our Creative Writing and English Literature BA combines the study of literary and non-literary texts in English with the development of your own creative writing skills.

The study of texts and their background in the history of ideas informs your progress as a writer, while your experience of writing in a variety of genres (the novel, the short story, poetry and drama) enhances your appreciation of literature.

This course will be of particular interest to those who wish to write or develop their reading with the experience that comes from writing literary texts. You’ll gain the knowledge and understanding necessary to begin a career in freelance writing, publishing, theatre, or teaching literature and creative writing. The course will also equip you with the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

Top reasons to study with us

• Fantastic location for the creative industries – London has unrivalled access to publishing houses, film production companies, theatre and poetry networks, and other literary opportunities
• Writer-led workshops – all of our creative writing tutors are either practising poets, dramatists or novelists
• Subject-leading researchers – our English Literature staff are leading experts in their fields, producing internationally recognised research that they bring straight back into the classroom
• Gain valuable industry contacts – you’ll have the opportunity to make writing contacts through our talented creative writing tutors, our expert guest speakers and our industry links
• Get experience before graduating – you’ll have the option to do a work placement as part of this course
• Opportunities to gain international experience – our students enjoy regular field trips and amazing opportunities to travel, work and study abroad