Legal Studies and Spanish & Latin American Studies

Combining legal studies with Spanish and Latin American studies creates a degree with unusual reach. Spanish is one of the world's most widely spoken languages, the primary language of Spain and the vast majority of Central and South America, and it carries with it access to a rich and varied set of literary, cultural, and political traditions. Legal studies develops the analytical rigour, close reading, and structured argument that are the hallmarks of legal education.

Together these disciplines prepare you for a world in which legal and commercial relationships increasingly cross linguistic and cultural borders.

At Aberdeen this five-year full-time programme builds a strong foundation in Spanish and Latin American culture alongside a close examination of law, including European law and how it shapes contemporary life and practice. You will develop your Spanish to a high level of proficiency, studying the language, its literature, and the cultural and political contexts of the countries where it is spoken. Your legal studies will introduce you to the key areas of law and legal reasoning, equipping you to understand how legal systems operate and how they engage with the issues and controversies of today.

In the third year you will spend time studying in a Spanish-speaking country, an immersive experience that deepens your language skills and cultural understanding in ways that classroom study cannot replicate.

The five-year structure gives you the time to develop both strands of the degree properly, graduating with language and legal skills that genuinely complement each other and open a range of career options that neither strand alone would provide.

Graduates are well placed for careers in European and international affairs, law firms with Latin American or Spanish practices, diplomacy, international business, translation and interpreting, and the civil service. Further professional training in law, or postgraduate study in international law, Latin American studies, or European affairs, is also a route pursued by many graduates.