Program Overview

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Studying Politics and Spanish at Queen’s, you will appreciate how the insights of political analysis (e.g. political theory, political institutions, international relations) and the tools of literary and linguistic inquiry combine to illuminate political and historical developments, including those in the contemporary world.

By studying Politics and Spanish, you will also analyse a wide variety of literary, political, social, cultural and linguistic aspects of Spanish-speaking countries across the globe. All students follow modules in Spanish language which are of a broadly communicative nature, focusing on contemporary Spanish/Hispanic social and cultural issues and drawing on authentic materials. The degree takes four years to complete (which includes the study abroad year).

Politics and Spanish Degree highlights

In the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021, Iberian Languages is ranked • 7th in the UK overall • 2nd for Research Quality • 5th for Research Intensity.

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Global Opportunities

After stage 2, you will spend an academic year working or studying in a Spanish-speaking country. Students have the possibility of acquiring valuable professional experience by teaching in a school, undertaking a work placement, or doing voluntary work; they may also elect to study at a Spanish university.

Students taking a BA in Politics and Spanish undertake an extended period of residence abroad (typically 8 months), normally working as an assistant in a school or undertaking a paid work placement in a Spanish-speaking country (options include Spain and Latin America). You can also elect to study at a Spanish university, or do voluntary work.

In addition to the benefits for oral competence, the residence provides a unique opportunity for immersion in Spanish and Spanish/Hispanic culture. Moreover, the Year Abroad is a significant learning and employability enhancement opportunity. This feature of our degree programme gives students the opportunity for personal development, and further develops communication and language skills and intercultural awareness. The challenges of living abroad come to be a unique (and unforgettable) stage in their own personal development.

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Industry Links

Graduates in Spanish have risen to the top in a number of fields, including media, print journalism, translating, marketing, local government, fast-stream Civil Service, and a very wide range of local, national and international companies.

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Career Development

Politics offers a range of employment placements where students can gain real world work experience which is invaluable in terms of employment after graduation.

Internship: students in their final year have the opportunity to secure a semester long internship, giving them hands-on experience of political issues and policymaking. Placement: unique to the BA Politics programme is the opportunity in the final year to undertake a part-time placement within a local organisation to gain direct experience of policy-making and political decision-making.

Placement: students have the opportunity in the final year to undertake a part-time placement within a local organisation to gain direct experience of policy-making and political decision-making.

Given that Belfast is a regional capital with devolved powers, we can offer students placements in the high profile political and related institutions on our doorstep - for example in the Department of Justice, Equality Commission, Police Ombudsman’s Office, or BBC Northern Ireland.

Graduates have risen to the top in a number of fields, including media, print journalism, translating, marketing, local government, fast-stream Civil Service, and a very wide range of local, national and international companies.

Queen's is ranked 26th in the UK for graduate prospects (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020).

Queen’s is ranked in the top 140 in the world for graduate prospects (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020).

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World Class Facilities

Queen’s Library has an outstanding collection of resources relating to Spain and Latin America, as well as a range of political topics. The Language Centre has state-of-the-art facilities for language learning, and the IT provision more generally is excellent.

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Internationally Renowned Experts

Spanish at QUB has world leading experts in Spanish and Latin American literature and culture. Research in Languages at Queen’s was ranked 3rd in the UK in REF 2014 for Research Intensity and 5th for Grade Point Average.

Professor David Phinnemore is an expert on EU Treaty reform and EU enlargement, which led to his secondment as an advisor to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

With over 30 staff at the cutting edge of research and publication, the School is the largest in Ireland and one of the largest in the UK and Ireland, with specialisms in Irish and British politics, political theory, sustainable development, the politics of film and literature, gender, democratic innovations, European Union politics, ethnic conflict, and international relations.

Spanish at Queen’s is one of the few areas in the UK where you can study courses that cover the 15th-21st centuries in Spain and Latin America. Subject include:

• Visual Cultures (cinema, art, textiles, photography)

• History (colonialism, disease, Civil War)

• Poetry

• Theatre

• Digital Humanities

• Migration

• Spirituality

• Ecology

• Gender

Professor John Garry is an internationally recognised expert in the areas of citizens’ political attitudes and voting behaviour. His research has informed governments both in Belfast and Dublin on offering ordinary citizens the chance to have greater input on policymaking.

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Student Experience

Students run both a lively Spanish and Portuguese Society and Politics Society, and staff offer support through a personal tutoring system, skills development programme and a structured framework for feedback.

https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/happ/student-experience/undergraduate-opportunities/

“I chose Queen’s because the wide choice of modules essentially allows me to build my own degree. I enjoy the way we are taught through lectures and tutorials where we are given an overview of a topic, able to research more for ourselves, and then debate with our peers in tutorial sessions. The School is very open to the input of students and I enjoy the level of student engagement through societies and student-staff consultative committees.”

Jessica Simonds

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