Curious about studying Italian and Swedish - BA (Hons)at UCL (University College London)? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
UCL (University College London) - Bloomsbury Campus
Full Time
Sep 2027
4 Year
In years one, two and your final year, you will take language modules in Italian and Swedish, as well as cultural modules, covering a range of topics that draw on literature and film, history and linguistics.You will spend your third year abroad, split between two countries where Italian and Swedish are spoken. You will achieve the same linguistic competence regardless of whether you start a language from scratch or have previous knowledge of it.Our Italian and Swedish degree offers huge scope for developing in-depth, comparative and intercultural approaches to the humanities. You will be able to choose from a wide range of modules including literature, linguistic traditions, history, sociology, philosophy, art, film or other aspects of the cultures associated with the language(s) you'll be learning.
This module belongs to Italian. This is an intensive mandatory module for all students studying Italian in any Modern Languages and Modern Languages Plus combination, as well as for those taking single honours Italian. Students with previous knowledge of Italian are tested during Induction Week and streamed into groups (advanced and intermediate). All other students will attend the beginners' module. Teaching focuses on the development of integrated skills (written and oral production and reception) and on the appropriate use of language functions. The aim is to bring all students to post-A level standards of communicative competence in Italian in its linguistic, socio-linguistic and pragmatic aspects by the end of the academic year.
This module belongs to Italian. This module studies the cinema and literature that reflected many of the issues of the decade following Mussolini's fall. It will also serve as an introduction to the study of narrative in film and literature more generally. The themes covered may include: realism and 'Neorealism'; ideological conflict and propaganda; the legacy of the resistance; consumerism and glamour.
This module belongs to Italian. In this module, we engage with one of the most famous works in European literature: Dante's Inferno. We begin by briefly reviewing the life and times of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): his career as a writer, and his experiences in the social world of medieval Florence, and later as a political refugee after he was exiled from his home town. This prepares us for reading the Inferno, the first part of Dante's great narrative poem, the Commedia, telling of a journey through the afterlife from hell to heaven. It is a poem that has fascinated readers for nearly 700 years, with its vivid language immersing us into a compellingly imagined otherworld. The Inferno is at once a ghost story, a quest, a road-trip, a love story, a virtual reality, and a spiritual vision - though as we will discover, each of these terms requires definition in the context of medieval life and thought.
This module belongs to Italian. This module introduces students to Italian culture during Fascism, focusing on education, gender, literature, arts, and cinema during Mussolini?s dictatorship (1922-1943). Students look at Fascist policies in a European context and in a transnational comparative perspective, and are invited to reflect upon different methods in historical research as well as upon the historiography on Mussolini?s dictatorship, considering how scholars have seen Italian Fascism over time. By looking at Italian culture and society under the Fascist rule, the module also aims to make students reflect upon issues of censorship and freedom of speech, nationalism and internationalism, propaganda, education, and the relationship between culture and politics.
This module belongs to Italian. This introductory module allows students to broaden their understanding of this key period of Italian civilization by exploring the politics, society and culture from the late 14th to the 16th centuries. The module discusses a variety of topics, such as the political landscape, the rise of the papacy, the role of the family and friends, the Medici, humanism and education, and the changing status of artists. Students will also have the opportunity to study two of the most significant works of the period both linked to the Medici dynasty of Florence. Machiavelli?s Prince (1513) presents a fascinating and still very relevant analysis of the darker aspects of political life; Vasari?s Lives of the Artists (1550; 1568) is an influential history of art, with vivid biographies of artists like Giotto and Michelangelo and perspectives on their masterpieces. The module will be taught by a combination of formal lectures and seminars.
This is a Swedish language module. The module aims to teach students basic vocabulary, grammar and sentence patterns so as to enable them to read elementary Swedish texts, understand simple everyday conversations and express themselves with some fluency in both speech and writing. By the use of a variety of techniques the students will gradually become acquainted with spoken and written Swedish and develop the skills necessary to express themselves in the language.
This is a Swedish language module. The module aims to teach students basic vocabulary, grammar and sentence patterns so as to enable them to read elementary Swedish texts, understand simple everyday conversations and express themselves with some fluency in both speech and writing. By the use of a variety of techniques the students will gradually become acquainted with spoken and written Swedish and develop the skills necessary to express themselves in the language.
This is a Swedish language module. This module focuses mainly on language as a set of formal, interdependent sub-systems, such as phonetics/phonology (sound production and sound systems), grammar in the sense of morphology (word-formation and word classes) and syntax (phrases, clauses, sentences and word order), as well as on broader aspects of language as a special communication system. This will initially be illustrated with the help of English and the knowledge thus gained will then be applied to the mainland Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish). Where it adds to the discussion and understanding, reference will also be made to Icelandic and Faroese.
Basic Swedish is a comprehensive language course which is open to students from all disciplines. This is a course for students who have little or no prior knowledge of Swedish and who wish to attain a level of competence which will allow them to communicate effectively in a number of straightforward situations. Students will also be introduced to the reading of simple texts, including newspaper texts, and works of literature, in Swedish. The course provides a knowledge of basic Swedish grammar and vocabulary as well as an introduction to the culture of Sweden, and other Nordic countries.
This module belongs to Italian. This is an intensive mandatory module for all students who are studying Italian in any Modern Languages and Modern Languages Plus combination, as well as for those following the single honours Italian BA. The module assumes a satisfactory performance in the first year Italian language module. The aim of the module is to develop knowledge and use of Italian and a knowledge and understanding of Italian culture sufficient for students to cope successfully with the demands of their Year Abroad programme in Italy. In view of this, the module will also aim at developing increasing autonomy in student learning, including the ability to identify and plan individual strategies for the learning of Italian and the study of literary, historical and other subjects in Italian.
This module belongs to Italian. The course explores the pivotal role Italy played in the early 19th century. Politically divided, culturally torn between legacies of the classical world and the new nationalist ideology that swept through Europe after the Napoleonic wars, Italy was a powerful magnet for the development of the new subjectivity we indicate with the word Romantic. Goethe, Heine, Byron, Shelley, Stendhal, and most of the great writers, musicians and artists visit Italy between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries. They write, compose and paint inventing a new idiom. In Italy itself, the solitary and extraordinary genius of Giacomo Leopardi reacts and enlightens a debate that will shape following generations, in many ways still very relevant today. Alessandro Manzoni's The Bethroted will also be part of the reading list. We will also refer to Operas and paintings of this period.
This module belongs to Italian. Between 1860 and 1925 Italy underwent profound transformations: the creation of the Italian state, and its difficult aftermath; industrialisation and urbanisation; the spread of literacy, popular culture and the vote; the traumas of the First World War and the rise of Fascism. The module aims to examine Italian literature?s response to some of these changes by examining a variety of the most important works of the period, ranging from verismo and children?s literature, to modernism.
This module belongs to Italian. Throughout its history, Italian cinema has shown a particular interest in the mixing up of fiction and reality through the production of films that combine documentary elements with fictive ones. This module will be focused on examples that move along the whole spectrum between documentary and fictional film. The lectures will provide the students with the historical and social background to the films and with a range of film-critical terminology that will be applied to the material introduced by the module tutor. Furthermore, various topics, such as the cinematic representation of power, the struggle for civil rights, the anthropological analysis of disadvantaged realities and the influence of media, will be investigated and discussed during the lectures and the subsequent seminars.
Italy was exceptional in sixteenth-century Europe for the large number and adventurousness of the publications produced by women. This module explores this phenomenon by looking at literary practices and ideas on gender and women in Italy c.1380-1600 in a selection of texts by both male and female writers. You will study selected works by Giovanni Boccaccio and Vittoria Colonna, as well as by the Venetian courtesan Veronica Franco and Moderata Fonte who set out more radical positions and challenges to the status of women. You will study these writers against the context of significant social, historical and intellectual shifts over the period, such as the rise of printing, the Counter-Reformation, and challenges to Aristotelian thought on women. The module aims to provide critical perspectives on the early modern representation of women and on literary culture. You will explore related topics of sex vs gender, women?s writing and the literary canon, the Renaissance debate on women (querelle des femmes), Petrarchism, religious culture, and neoplatonic ideas on beauty and love.
This is a Swedish language module. The module aims to build on and improve the students? existing knowledge of Swedish so as to enable them to read Swedish texts, understand everyday conversations, and express themselves fluently in both speech and writing. Through the use of a variety of techniques (such as study of various types of text, grammar exercises, translation, conversation on everyday topics, etc.), the students will gradually improve their spoken and written language.
This is an intermediate course in Sweden language.
The module aims to build on and improve the students? existing knowledge of Swedish so as to enable them to understand a wide range of authentic spoken and written Swedish texts and express themselves fluently in both speech and writing.
This is a Swedish language module. The Intermediate Project Work in a Scandinavian Language provides a module of guided learning for students who have completed the Intermediate language module or otherwise reached the B2/C1 level (CFR) in their target language. It offers an opportunity to broaden linguistic proficiency in four core areas (reading, writing, translation/grammar, aural) while covering a number of topics and areas connected to the language region. The module also aims to develop communicative skills by setting tasks (both formative and as part of the portfolio assessment) designed to give opportunity for writing different type of texts, constructing audience-targeted material, and engaging with a variety of different practices of language usage.
Year Abroad
Your third year is spent abroad. This will not only bring the language and culture you are studying to life, but also strengthen your resourcefulness and self-reliance. You will normally spend this year studying at a university in your chosen country (or countries if you are studying two languages), but alternatives, such as work placements, may be possible.
This module belongs to Italian. This is a mandatory module for all students who are studying Italian in any Modern Languages or Modern Languages Plus combination, as well as for Italian BA students. The module requires successful completion of ITAL0009 Second Year Italian Language and of the Year Abroad Programme. The aims of the module are: to develop a high level of knowledge of Italian as a medium of understanding, communication and expression; to develop the understanding of the structure of Italian and of the historical and sociocultural contexts in which it has developed and it is used; and to study Italian as a gateway to other areas and subjects (literature, history, philosophy etc) and possibly further study at postgraduate level. Please note that a thorough knowledge of basic Italian grammar is a prerequisite for this course.
THIS COURSE IS ONLY FOR ESPS STUDENTS. IT IS TAUGHT TOGETHER WITH ITAL4040. The course offers European Social and Political Studies finalists a half-unit in Italian language assessed on the basis of the essay in Italian and the Italian oral.
This module belongs to Italian. The modules central themes are national identity and nation-building in Italy between Unification and the First World War. The first seminars are taken up by a theoretical and historical discussion of nations and nationalism, and by preparatory study of the state of Italian society in 1860. The main body of the module comprises topics that may include the following: education and children?s literature; crime and criminal anthropology; political culture; feminism; opera; patriotic monuments; Italian cuisine; Futurism; the South; the Galatian state. A representative work is studied for each topic, along with a wide range of historical and theoretical material. Students are therefore expected to know the set works in detail, to engage with new theoretical concepts, and to develop a good understanding of the central questions related to the issue of national identity in Liberal Italy.
This module belongs to Italian. This module offers the opportunity to study Dante?s Commedia, one of the most famous works of European literature. It is a poem that broke the mould in its own time, and has continued to fascinate readers ever since. At a time when serious literature was supposed to be written in Latin, Dante used everyday Italian, which caused scandal by giving open access to his opinions of popes and political leaders, bankers and warriors, poets and artists. The poem plunges its readers into a vividly imagined journey through the afterlife, raising all sorts of questions along the way about what Dante wanted to say, and how he chose to say it. What did he mean by calling his poem about death and judgement a ?comedy?? Why did he make the pagan poet Virgil his major guide to a Christian afterworld? Where did he imagine heaven, hell and purgatory to be located, and how did he claim to have gone there?
This module belongs to Italian. This module explores perceptions of identity in Renaissance Italy, bringing recent perspectives to the compelling thesis of Renaissance man?s individuality in Burkhardt?s foundational The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). The focus is especially on how identity could be construed, or socially, politically, and culturally constructed, by individuals or groups, through theatre and the rich culture of the princely courts. We will examine Castiglione?s Il cortegiano (1528), which provides a subtle portrait of the court of Urbino and of the multifarious roles played by the ideal courtier. Theatrical works by Bibbiena, Ariosto and the Intronati of Siena will provide a further basis for exploring the complex dynamics involved in ?self-fashioning?, from dress and leisure pursuits to more challenging issues of imitation and dissimulation. Students will explore the aesthetics and ethics of performance, debates on nobility, linguistic issues, class and political identity, gender play, and also attitudes to sociability and humour. The study of theatrical texts will allow students opportunities to engage practically in class with issues of performance. A theatre visit will be programmed depending on availability.
This module belongs to Italian. Since the middle of the twentieth century the Italian novel has undergone profound transformations. Each generation of writers tends to take certain themes as its own and to establish stylistic trends: neorealism, experimentalism, new narrativity, ?I cannibali?. Within each generation important alliances are formed with publishing houses and newspapers, new literary magazines are founded, the map of Italian society is redrawn. These groupings tend to be abandoned once individual careers have been established. Each new generation of writers unfailingly accused the older one of provincialism, of being too tied to the national tradition. Occasionally, however, unexpected alliances appeared between young writers and others fifty years older ?I nuovi narratori? and Morante, Moravia, Bilenchi; ?I cannibali? and ?Gruppo 63?. The module will examine these changes in relation both to generational differences and to the individual careers of the authors themselves.
This module belongs to Italian. This module gives students practice of translation from Italian into English and vice versa, and of essay writing in English. For the translation classes, Affiliate students are allocated to the Final Year language groups to work on a range of texts. One half of each term is spent working on translation from English into Italian, the other half on translation from Italian into English, with different tutors. Students are encouraged to reflect on and discuss problems inherent in the practice of translation.
This module belongs to Italian. This module gives students practice of translation from Italian into English and vice versa, and of essay writing in English. For the translation classes, Affiliate students are allocated to the Final Year language groups to work on a range of texts. One half of each term is spent working on translation from English into Italian, the other half on translation from Italian into English, with different tutors. Students are encouraged to reflect on and discuss problems inherent in the practice of translation.
This module introduces students to representations of men on horseback in literature, arts, popular artefacts and publications, caricatures, animations, and films in Italy since 1861, and considers how images of cavalrymen and knights were received, transformed, appropriated and re-adapted by single authors and artists, cultural movements, and political powers. Students will look at a very broad range of primary sources from 1861 to the present by both canonical and lesser-known Italian writers, artists, and directors, and will learn how to connect and interpret written and visual images through the lenses of various theories.
This module is a Swedish language module. The course has three main aims: to develop a high proficiency in Swedish ? including expanded vocabulary, grammatical security, and awareness of different styles, text types, and registers; to develop knowledge and understanding of Swedish society and culture, through study of particular issues and texts; and to develop awareness of language learning processes at an individual level and its place in society.
This module is a Swedish language module. The module aims to expand the vocabulary, oral skills and written skills of students who already have a high level of fluency and proficiency in their chosen language. It is designed to challenge all students at their individual level and give them the maximum opportunity to develop their own strengths within the framework of the module, while at the same time give the students the opportunity to undertake a longer and more in-depth study of a specific topic that relates to their main language.
This module is a Swedish language module. This module is designed to (a) provide practice in translation from the three languages, (b) identify strategies for using knowledge of one Scandinavian language to develop comprehension of the other two, and (c) introduce translation theory and apply it to practical translation tasks. The module is timetabled for one hour per week throughout the academic year, in order to provide ample time to develop skills. The first five weeks focus on translation theory, using a range of authentic translations to identify approaches most relevant in the Scandinavian context. Thereafter, classes cover a range of text-types and genres across the three languages, organised in three language-specific blocs of five weeks each. The module is team-taught by language specialists and with occasional guest appearances from practising Scandinavian-English translators. Students may be able to attend events relating to translation throughout the year, including one or more briefing sessions on translation careers and technological tools for translators.
This module is a Swedish language module. The dissertation is a compulsory element of the Scandinavian Studies degree. It is an original academic work on a topic completely of your choosing. You can write on any topic you like (so long as a staff member is willing to supervise it) but are encouraged to write on a topic relating to your specialism (the language, literature, culture, history etc. of the Scandinavian country you have focused on during your studies).
Norse myths and medieval sagas have been the source for ?popular? cultural trends since the first nationalistic approach of the Romantics in 19th century Europe. Today, such Norse-based representations have established a distinct visual and thematic identity within popular culture transcending national and cultural boundaries. Through study of the source myths combined with theoretical analysis of various popular texts such as fantasy and graphic novels, comic books, film, music, video games and MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games), this module will guide students to situate these depictions within a larger theoretical framework of Nordic studies and cultural theory, while simultaneously enabling them to analyse their own relationship with the various representations of the ?popular Norse?.
This module is a Swedish language module. This module builds on the foundation laid by SCAN1102 Introduction to Linguistics and the Scandinavian Languages, and is aimed at students in their second or fourth year of study. Exploring the structures and usage of the Scandinavian languages in their modern form, the module covers areas such as language form, language meaning and language in context. The module seeks to offer students a theoretical grounding in the broad field of Linguistics and neighbouring disciplines, and a solid introduction to their methods and applications (including the study of speech, dialects and sociolects), with a key feature being cross-linguistic comparison between the Scandinavian languages.
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