About our School

Welcome to the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies (SLLCS) in Trinity's historic city-centre campus. The School is one of the largest of the 12 Schools in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, with some 80 staff in all (in academic and professional services), as well as affiliated academic staff (which generally brings another 50 to 60 colleagues to the School on an annual basis). We have over 1,000 students registered in our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

History and Rankings

Our tradition in Modern Languages (focusing first on French, German, Italian and Spanish) goes back to 1776, and this sets us apart from our competitors. We are ranked 1st in Ireland and 53rd in the world, as per the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024 (Modern Languages) and Trinity is the only university in Ireland where you have the opportunity to study Russian to degree level, and Irish and Celtic Languages at Trinity has long been recognised as a centre of world-class scholarship in all periods of the Irish language, from the ogham stones to the spoken language of today.

Departments and Centres

SLLCS is made up of seven Departments: French, German, Hispanic Studies, Italian, Irish and Celtic Languages, Near and Middle Eastern Studies, and Russian and Slavonic Studies, and various Centres: the Centre for European Studies, the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Al Maktoum Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation, the Trinity Centre for Resistance Studies, the Centre for Global Intercultural Communications (established in 2021, with funding from the Human Capital Initiative of the Irish Government), and the Centre for Forced Migration Studies.

Teaching and Learning

At both undergraduate and postgraduate levels we strive to teach you in a research-led context and you will be taught by scholars working at the cutting edge of their fields of expertise in various disciplines that also intercept with the interests and activities of other Schools, embracing language learning and linguistics, literary scholarship across all periods and genres, creative practice, cultural studies, drama and performance, film and visual culture, history, translation, and digital humanities, offering interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary perspectives in teaching and research across various regions of the world, offering the possibility of adding to comparative studies.

Undergraduate programmes

At undergraduate level, the Trinity Education Project (TEP), focusing on the renewal of the education curriculum, will allow you to enhance your studies in various combinations of subjects, depending on your main language of study, across the wide range of degree programmes in which the School participates. The School seeks to sustain the distinctiveness of its individual disciplines whilst fostering cooperation and joint programmes within and beyond the School.

We also have innovative flagship programmes in European Studies; Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures; Computer Science, Linguistics and a Language; Law and French; Law and German; and Business Studies and a Language (French, German, Polish, Russian, or Spanish). These exciting combinations will allow you to explore your intellectual interests and add graduate attributes to your career as we prepare you for your future employment whilst nurturing your scholarly interests and knowledge in the humanities and beyond.

Columbia University Dual BA Programme

The School currently participates in a flagship dual BA degree programme with Columbia University, offered with European Studies; Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures.

Postgraduate programmes

In terms of postgraduate provision, the School offers a range of taught Masters programmes, and also contributes to taught Masters programmes in other Schools. We have research postgraduates registered for PhD degrees in various disciplines, and the School has identified further growth in this area as a priority. We currently offer postgraduate degrees in Digital Humanities and Culture; Literary Translation; Comparative Literature; Identities and Cultures of Europe; Applied Intercultural Communications; Middle East in a Global Context (online); Early Irish; and an Old Irish postgraduate diploma. We also offer PhD research supervision in all our areas of expertise.

Research and Collaboration

The School is one of the most active member schools of the Trinity Long Room Hub, Arts and Humanities Research Institute. It is one of five flagship research institutes of the University, and the one dedicated to promoting and facilitating innovative research across its nine Arts and Humanities member Schools. It offers researchers a supportive research environment, showcases research excellence across the disciplines, champions the development of a small number of overarching priority research themes and seeks to pioneer cross-disciplinary collaborative projects within the university and with national and international partners. It provides a focal point for debates between academia and the wider world on the challenges facing the world today and the contributions the Arts and Humanities can make to addressing them. Members of the school are active contributors to the five College wide Arts and Humanities led research themes: Manuscript, Book and Print Cultures; Creative Arts Practice; Digital Humanities; Making Ireland; and Identities in Transformation, the last of which originated in the School.

Outreach and Partnerships

Our academics and professional staff are here to help you belong to our intellectual community. Equality, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity are at the core of our activities in the School and form a key part of our current mission, striving for justice in all our activities. This is further reflected in our interest in an inclusive curriculum covering an international context, which we continue to revise on an ongoing basis, as more colleagues join our endeavours.

We are open for business for potential partnerships and outreach activities, fostering an inclusive environment, intercultural communication, and raising aspirations for all. We link with industry where relevant, including the creative industries and enterprise. If interested, please contact the School office.

Thank you for choosing Trinity College Dublin for your career. We are honoured to have you.