Russian Studies, BA (Hons)

As the UK engages in new economic and political negotiations, the demand for Russian language skills remains robust. At Nottingham, we have delivered Russian studies for over a century, fostering strong connections and a vibrant academic community. Our program offers a wide range of modules on Russian language, history, society, culture, literature, and film, alongside opportunities to explore South-East European topics. Students can pursue pathways for beginners (intensive courses to reach degree level in four years) or post-A level entrants (advanced starting points), with options to study Serbian/Croatian as a second language and spend time abroad in Russian-speaking communities for enhanced fluency.The course includes subject options such as Russian, Russian with Serbian/Croatian, or Russian with Slovene. In the first year, students build core language skills and explore introductory modules on history and culture. Year two advances language proficiency and cultural studies, while the third year involves study abroad. The final year focuses on advanced modules, specialized topics, and optional projects like interpreting or dissertation work, tailored to individual interests.

In year one you will develop the four skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing, either via our intensively taught beginners’ course, or via our specially targeted post-A level module. Alongside your study of language, you will choose from introductory level modules on Russian and Soviet history and culture, and on the history and culture of South-East Europe, usually alongside a subsidiary module. If you are studying Russian post-A level you may also begin learning Serbian/Croatian from beginners' level. In year two you will advance your knowledge of Russian in preparation for the year abroad. You will also continue your study of Russian and Eastern European literature, history and culture. You may also begin or continue Serbian/Croatian. Subject to you meeting the relevant requirements you will spend your third academic year studying Russian at one of our partner universities or a language school. If you are taking Serbian/Croatian, you will be able to divide your time to cover the countries of both languages. While students are unable to travel to Russia, we are pursuing other options for language courses in neighbouring countries (for example Estonia and Latvia), and where Russian is used by a native speaking community. In the final year, you will apply your Russian language skills in high-level modules. You will also extend the skills and knowledge acquired earlier in the course in specialised modules on topics in which you have become particularly interested, with the option of writing a dissertation. Our optional modules are taught by experts in areas from the Byzantine period to the present day and range across literature, history, cinema and cultural studies. If you wish to hone your language skills further with the aim of using them professionally you can choose an optional module in Russian interpreting and undertake a language project. If you have studied Serbian/Croatian earlier in the course you can continue it at the appropriate level.