Danish and Italian

Danish and Italian represent a pairing that spans two quite different but equally significant European cultural traditions. Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, the official language of Denmark and one of the official languages of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Denmark is a country of considerable cultural significance in the arts, design, architecture, literature and social policy, with a global reputation for innovation in public life and a vibrant contemporary literary and artistic scene.

Italian is one of the great literary languages of the world, the tongue of Dante and Leopardi, of the Renaissance and the opera, and the official language of Italy and San Marino, with native speakers of around 65 million and a cultural influence far exceeding that number.

At University College London this four-year programme takes you to an advanced level in both Danish and Italian, developing your proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening in each language alongside serious engagement with the literary, cultural and historical traditions they carry. UCL's location in London provides access to communities of speakers of both languages and to cultural institutions connected to both countries. The programme benefits from UCL's expertise in Scandinavian studies and Italian, drawing on scholars active in both fields.

You will study Danish and Italian literature, film, cultural history and contemporary society, developing the analytical and linguistic skills that sustained engagement with complex material in two languages requires.

Graduates go on to careers in translation and interpreting, diplomacy, international business, journalism, cultural organisations, academic research, education and the civil service. The combination of Danish and Italian is genuinely unusual and marks graduates out as people with real linguistic commitment and cultural range. Many continue to postgraduate study in Scandinavian studies, Italian, translation, comparative literature or area studies.

The degree is a thorough literary and linguistic education that opens a diverse range of career paths.