COURSE CURRICULUM

The Arabic and Japanese BA is a five-year joint honours degree designed to develop advanced proficiency in both Arabic and Japanese while providing deep insights into the histories, cultures, and societies of the Middle East, North Africa, and Japan. In the first year, students study core modules to build foundational language skills in Arabic and Japanese, alongside exploring the politics, history, culture, and religion of these regions. Optional modules allow further development of language and cultural knowledge. In the second year, students continue advancing their language skills and choose from a variety of optional modules covering topics such as Middle Eastern history, Arab media, Japanese cinema, religion, and international relations. The third and fourth years involve immersive study abroad experiences, spending one year in Japan and another in an Arabic-speaking country, which provide practical language use, cultural understanding, and transferable skills while living in a different society. In the final year, students return to Leeds to study advanced language modules and undertake a final year project, which can be a dissertation, translation, or public engagement project. Optional modules in areas such as Arabic stylistics, Japanese translation, modern Japanese history, and Sino-Japanese relations allow students to tailor their studies. The program combines language mastery, cultural competence, and international experience, preparing graduates for careers in diplomacy, international business, translation, education, and other globally focused professions.