MA French and Social Policy
About this course
French and Social Policy is a combination that reflects the increasingly international nature of the questions that shape societies: how welfare states are designed and funded, how governments respond to poverty, inequality, and demographic change, and how different nations have arrived at different answers to these shared challenges. French gives you linguistic access to one of Europe's most influential intellectual and political traditions, while Social Policy provides the analytical tools to examine the institutions, ideologies, and evidence that drive public decisions about healthcare, education, housing, employment, and social protection. At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year full-time degree equips you with genuine fluency in French alongside a rigorous understanding of comparative social policy. You will develop your command of the French language across speaking, writing, listening, and reading, engaging with contemporary and historical texts, film, media, and cultural contexts. In parallel, you will study the theories and methods of social policy, examining how welfare systems vary across countries, how they have evolved over time, and how they are evaluated and reformed. The combination encourages you to draw comparisons between France and other nations, including the UK, and to think critically about the assumptions underlying different approaches to social organisation. The degree develops strong skills in analysis, written argument, cross-cultural understanding, and the ability to synthesise evidence from multiple disciplines. Graduates of this kind of joint honours programme enter careers across the public, voluntary, and private sectors. Social policy expertise is valued in government, local authorities, think tanks, international organisations, charities, and research institutes working on welfare, health, and equality. French opens additional doors in international business, diplomacy, journalism, translation, and organisations with European or francophone reach. Further study options include postgraduate degrees in social policy, European studies, international development, public administration, or French, as well as graduate entry to the civil service fast stream.
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