Portuguese/Geography

Portuguese and geography is a combination that brings together a major world language and an academically diverse discipline that addresses some of the most pressing issues of the present day. Portuguese is spoken by around 250 million people across Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique and other countries, and it opens access to a rich literary and cultural tradition as well as to some of the world's most economically significant and culturally dynamic societies. Geography examines the relationships between physical and human landscapes, asking how environments are shaped by natural processes and human activity, how people are distributed across space, and how local and global forces interact to produce the world we inhabit.

At the University of Glasgow, this five-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year in professional placement and a work placement, giving you substantial practical experience alongside your language and geography studies. You will develop high-level proficiency in Portuguese while engaging with the geography of the physical and human world, covering topics including coastal management, environmental hazards, migration, urban geography, solidarity and the dynamics of globalisation. The programme develops a wide range of skills, from language and cultural understanding to qualitative and statistical data analysis and independent fieldwork research.

With a typical entry tariff of 200 UCAS points, this is a demanding programme. Graduates from Portuguese and geography programmes work across international development, environmental consultancy, the diplomatic service, NGOs, urban planning, journalism, education, research and the private sector. The combination of Portuguese language competence and geographical understanding is particularly valuable in organisations working with Brazil, Lusophone Africa and Portugal, where Portuguese-speaking geographers and environmental scientists are in genuine demand.

Postgraduate study in geography, environmental science, Portuguese studies or development studies is a natural next step.