BA History and Beginners' Portuguese
About this course
History at Oxford is among the most intellectually demanding undergraduate programmes in the world, developing the ability to engage with primary sources across multiple languages and archives, to construct original arguments from evidence, and to write with analytical power and clarity. Portuguese, taken here as a beginners' language, opens access to one of the world's most widely spoken languages and to the cultures of Portugal, Brazil, and the Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa and Asia, all of which have been deeply shaped by histories of colonialism, revolution, and cultural exchange. This four-year programme at Oxford takes you from first principles in Portuguese, developing reading, writing, and speaking skills progressively while your historical studies operate at the demanding level Oxford's history degree has always required. You will read primary sources in English and increasingly in Portuguese as your proficiency grows, engaging with British, European, and wider world history through the tutorial system that ensures your thinking is constantly challenged and refined. The combination of historical breadth and Portuguese specialism is particularly productive for the study of the Atlantic world, empire, colonialism, and the histories of Ibero-America and Africa. Graduates from this combination are well placed for careers in academia, diplomacy, journalism, the civil service, international organisations, cultural institutions, publishing, law, and the many roles in which the ability to think historically and communicate across languages is directly valuable. Portuguese is increasingly significant for commercial engagement with Brazil, and graduates with both historical training and Portuguese are distinctive in the graduate labour market. Postgraduate study in history, Portuguese and Brazilian studies, area studies, or international relations is a natural direction for those who wish to pursue scholarship or specialist professional work.
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