Whether you have A Level Spanish or are just a beginner, you can study History and Spanish at Aston. Aston's language degrees offer an up-to-date approach to becoming a highly competent Spanish speaker and a cultural expert on contemporary Spanish-speaking countries.

Crucially, Aston languages degrees aim to prepare you for working life in the 21st century at a time when the world of employment is being revolutionised by artificial intelligence and automation. In this context, they focus closely on helping you develop excellent intercultural understanding, the power of persuasion, empathy, and skills for deep-listening, problem solving and cross-systems thinking. They also offer a series of modules focused on routes into employment, not only in the language industries but right across professional life.

In the final stage of our language degrees it is possible for students to take a series of modules that lead to an additional ‘Translation Studies’ exit award. By acquiring intercultural communication competencies, technological skills and negotiation skills in multicultural contexts, our graduates become equipped for successful careers in the growing international language industries.

The value of a language degree is all the greater when combined with a discipline like history.

Working closely with experienced historians, you’ll have opportunities to study topics such as nationalism, state-building and inter-state relations; the history of war and peace; religious and ethnic conflict; trauma and memory; and issues of globalisation in the present that can only be understood by looking to the past. For example, you’ll learn how the British Empire helped to create the NHS, why Britain voted to stay in the EU in 1975 and why Margaret Thatcher became the first pop star of British international relations.

With a global outlook, our teaching is informed by exciting historical research. As part of the course, you’ll participate in field trips to historical sites and get your hands dirty by digging into local archives, as well as conducting original research on a topic of your choosing. Studying cutting-edge techniques such as digital and oral history will give you new insights and further boost your employment prospects.

In your third year, you will complete an integrated placement either working or studying abroad in a Spanish-speaking country, to ensure that you master the language and add further value to your degree. A year abroad teaches students self-confidence, independence and self-reliance, as well as helping them to understand another culture from the inside.

We are extremely proud of the high level of preparation, orientation and support that we provide before and during your year abroad. We have a full-time Careers and Placements Team who will give you plenty of individual help and advice, and even come and visit you during your time away.

History graduates go on to a range of professions with recent roles including Academic Librarian, Archivist, Broadcast Journalist, Conservation Officer, Editorial assistant, Civil Service Administrator, Heritage Manager, Human Resources Officer, Marketing Trainee, Museum Education Officer, Museum/Gallery Curator, Policy Officer, Research Assistant, Solicitor and Languages Teacher.

Potential employers include IBM, Interserve, Capgemini, Virgin Active, and the BBC.