With over 120 million native speakers, Persian is one of the major languages of Middle East and Central Asia. To study Persian is to enter into a rich and diverse culture that has produced major epic and Sufi poets, exquisite miniature painting, fine textiles and world-class cinema. Persian is also a gateway to modern Iran, a dynamic society at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Our programme is designed to give you a thorough grounding in both classical and modern Persian, enabling you to access a wide range of original material.Studying English Literature will further develop your critical, analytic, linguistic and creative skills. Engaging with a broad range of texts and a variety of approaches to reading, you will acquire an understanding of the cultural contexts of writing in English from the late middle-ages to the present. By enhancing your unique literary faculties, our programme prepares you to contribute to a society in which an understanding of texts of all kinds is crucially important.The School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures at the University of Edinburgh is recognised in the UK and internationally as a leading institution for the research-led study of Persian, together with Arabic, Islam, and the Middle East. We're proud to be the world's oldest centre for the study of English Literature and to be located in UNESCO's first World City of Literature, offering a rich array of unique resources which facilitate scholarship and learning.