French and Russian Studies

French and Russian studies is a combination that connects two of Europe's great linguistic and cultural traditions, both of extraordinary historical significance and contemporary relevance. French is a global language of diplomacy, culture, and international institutions, spoken by over 300 million people across five continents and with one of the richest literary traditions in the world, from Rabelais and Montaigne through the Enlightenment philosophes and the Romantics to the twentieth century's existentialists and the present day. Russian is the most widely spoken Slavic language, a language of imperial and Soviet history, of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, and Akhmatova, and of a country whose relationship with the rest of the world has never been more important to understand deeply.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year programme allows you to develop advanced proficiency in both French and Russian, reading literature and engaging with culture and history in both languages at a genuinely advanced level. Edinburgh has considerable research strength in both Francophone and Slavonic studies, and the programme connects teaching to active scholarship. You will engage with the literatures and cultural histories of France, the Francophone world, Russia, and the Russian-speaking world, developing the linguistic precision and cultural depth that distinguish a serious linguist.

Graduates with French and Russian are valued in contexts that require serious engagement with both Western European and Eastern European or Russian perspectives, whether in diplomacy, journalism, international business, or the cultural sector. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, international organisations, global media, publishing, and translation are all natural destinations, as is academic research in French, Russian, or comparative literature. Teaching modern languages at secondary level is another important career path, and many graduates pursue postgraduate study in French studies, Slavonic and Eastern European studies, or a related field.