Arabic and Comparative Literature and International Relations

Arabic, comparative literature, and international relations is an ambitious triple combination that equips you with linguistic depth, literary and cultural analysis, and the political and analytical frameworks needed to understand the contemporary world. Arabic is by far the most widely used language of the Middle East and North Africa, and studying it seriously alongside international relations gives you genuine access to one of the most geopolitically significant regions on earth, not just through the filter of English-language commentary but through the language in which political, cultural, and intellectual life is conducted. Comparative literature adds a further dimension, developing the ability to read across linguistic and cultural traditions and to understand how texts, stories, and ideas travel and transform across different contexts.

At the University of St Andrews, this five-year full-time programme reflects the depth and breadth of what is being attempted: developing competence in Arabic alongside the analytical rigor of international relations and the interpretive skills of comparative literature takes sustained effort and careful curriculum design. St Andrews offers Arabic in combination with a wide range of other subjects precisely because this kind of cross-disciplinary engagement is valued, and Arabic is seen as a subject that enriches almost any other through the comparative perspective it brings. You will develop reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in Arabic, engage with Arabic literary and intellectual traditions, study the theory and practice of international relations, and work across literary traditions through comparative literature.

You will develop skills in language analysis, political argument, literary interpretation, research, and cross-cultural communication that together form a profile of unusual sophistication and breadth.

Graduates with this combination are well placed for careers in diplomacy, the foreign service, international organisations, journalism, international law, development, research, and academia. The combination of Arabic and international relations is particularly distinctive. Postgraduate study in Middle Eastern studies, international relations, comparative literature, or international law is a natural continuation.