Course summary

French and Sociology at Aberdeen is a great combination, adding to your language and cultural skills with a fascinating awakening of your ‘sociological imagination’. You will explore how the societies we live in shape us as individuals in all sorts of ways, with top-rated teaching and a culture of dynamic research will give you the skills to be a sought-after graduate by employers in many sectors and with strong international possibilities. French at Aberdeen has an outstanding reputation, gaining the highest possible rating of ‘Excellent’ in the last national Teaching Quality Assessment. You will add to your growing language skills with courses in contemporary civilisation and culture, Francophone and post-colonial studies, philosophy, history, sociology, linguistics, theatre and most genres and periods of literature from the middle ages to the present day. You will be taught by staff recognised internationally for their research, from Renaissance studies to the politics of culture and difference in contemporary France. Sociology at Aberdeen will complement and add depth to your studies of French society. You will explore how society shapes us as individuals in all sorts of ways and study sociology of the family, work-life balance, religion and society. You will be taught by experts in social movements, conflict and peace, religion and secularisation and global political sociology. You will become skilled in the social research methods used to gather the evidence to better understand aspects of society – such as observation, interviews, large-scale surveys or analysing the content of documents and videos. As an integral part of your 5-year programme, you will spend the whole of year three taking your language and cultural skills to a very high level as a Teaching Assistant or visiting student in a French-speaking country. In addition to your technical and language ability, you will develop great skills in thinking critically and posing probing questions – which have tremendous value to employers, for example in journalism, marketing and advertising, social and market research, teaching, health and social services, charities and human resources. **Sociology at Aberdeen is rated 4th in Scotland in the Complete University Guide 2023. Sociology at Aberdeen is ranked 10th in the UK and 2nd in Scotland by The Guardian’s Best UK Universities, 2021.**