University of Southampton

Course Details

BA Ancient History and French

Course Description

Study the history of ancient cultures and enhance your French language skills with the BA in Ancient History and French at the University of Southampton. Examine the modern French culture, while taking a step back in time to study Augustus and the Roman revolution on this Ancient History and French BA course. You will also be given the opportunity to practice your French speaking skills during your third year with the chance to study abroad where the chosen language is spoken. This combined BA degree can help prepare you for a career within translating or the public sector. Graduates have also gone one to study a postgraduate PGCE degree, allowing them to teach in their chosen field in the UK or abroad. This BA programme enables you to combine the acquisition and consolidation of a high level of proficiency in French with the pursuit of your interests in Ancient History and the ancient world. In Modern Languages you will have the opportunity to develop your knowledge, skills and competencies in a wide range of content areas and disciplinary strands which are at the core of languages cultures and societies. It will equip you with a solid understanding of your chosen language and its context of production, history and society and will enable you to critically engage with its cultures. In History you will have the opportunity to study and research to a high level, equipping yourself with specialist knowledge in your chosen areas of study. Studying the ancient world at Southampton offers you the opportunity to learn in an engaging, supportive and highly successful research environment. Southampton’s Faculty of Humanities contains leading experts in a wide range of fields related to the ancient world and its reception (History, Archaeology, ancient and modern languages and literatures, philosophy and film). From ancient Egypt to Minoan civilisation, from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the Roman empire, from Roman Britain to the ancient Americas and the Middle East, from ancient philosophy and the biblical world to the rise of Islam, studying Ancient History at Southampton affords you the chance to study topics about which you are already passionate, or to try something entirely new. Whatever you choose, Ancient History at Southampton will enable you to gain invaluable skills and study topics about which both you and staff are passionate.

Course Duration

NumberDuration
4year

Career outcomes

Studying Ancient History at Southampton will help you to acquire the critical thinking and communication skills that are vital as you embark on your career, opening up an extremely wide variety of career options. Such invaluable transferable skills include the ability to weigh up evidence and arguments, to express your opinions coherently and concisely, to work independently, and to manage your time and workload effectively. These skills will demonstrate to employers that you are uniquely equipped to respond positively to the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow’s workplace. Our graduates specialising in ancient history and ancient world studies have succeeded in careers as diverse as law; the media; IT; the Civil Service; the armed services; advertising, film and television; business and finance; teaching; politics; numerous roles in the public sector and NGOs; publishing; teaching; museums, galleries and libraries – to name but a few. Graduates of Modern Languages have a wide variety of employment options to choose from, some specifically using their language skills, others that draw on the range of employability skills developed during their programme. Graduates from the University of Southampton have progressed to careers ranging from teaching and translating to marketing and accountancy. Events and hospitality, retail and sales and the media are other popular choices. Our destinations survey shows that most of our graduates work in London or the South East, with many working for global organisations. Some graduates move overseas to pursue careers in countries where the languages they have studied are spoken.




BA Ancient History and French University of Southampton