Greek and Persian MA (Hons)

University of St Andrews

Persian - The Persian portion of the four-year joint Honours degree course is run by the Department of Arabic and Persian within the School of Modern Languages. Persian is relatively easy to learn, and students can gain a good command of the language within the first two years and then proceed to engage with the more challenging historical and literary aspects of the Persian-speaking world. Your first two years focus on enabling you to read, write and converse in simple Persian. You will cover the Persian alphabet and writing system and begin the study of Persian grammar. You will also be introduced to contemporary issues and key themes in Persian culture.

Greek - Knowledge of Greek is the key to both a literature of enormous richness and to in-depth understanding of a fascinating culture. The MA (Hons) in Greek will develop your Greek language skills and will also develop skills of literary and cultural analysis which are important for understanding complex texts, arguments and problems in our own culture too. It will require you to engage in depth with a wide range of texts from classical antiquity. The course involves study of the many different genres of ancient Greek literature from tragedy and epic to historiography and philosophy. You will be required to develop skills of reading and understanding these texts in the original language. In the process you will also gain a broad understanding of ancient social, cultural and political history.