School of Humanities / Sgoil nan Daonnachdan

Interlace panel from the Govan sarcophagus, carved for the bones of St Constantine, c. 900 AD

Celtic & Gaelic Postgraduate research degrees

Whether you are interested in literature, language, history and culture, we provide a supportive environment for postgraduate research. We offer courses and supervision in a range of subject areas related to the research activities and interests of academic staff.  The postgraduate research degrees which we offer are the one year MPhil, the one year MRes (in Celtic Studies, Gaelic or Gàidhlig), a two-year MLitt and three year PhD, all of which can be taken part-time. For further details please see: A guide to postgraduate study in Celtic and Gaelic for 2013-14.

 

We are especially qualified to supervise research in the following areas:

  • medieval Irish narrative
  • early Gaelic and medieval Welsh literature and law
  • linguistic, literary and religious aspects of early medieval Scotland
  • 19th, 20th and 21st century Scottish Gaelic literature
  • Scottish Gaelic oral tradition and oral transmission
  • the early church in the Celtic countries
  • Celtic inscriptions
  • the Gaelic world in the 19th century
  • early and modern Gaelic languages
  • Gaelic dialects, dialectology, and historical linguistics
  • Gaelic onomastics Gaelic sociolinguistics
  • Scottish Gaelic education

Externally Funded Research Projects
Celtic and Gaelic are involved with a number of externally funded research projects. Ongoing projects include ‘The Expansion and Contraction of Gaelic in Medieval Scotland: The Onomastic Evidence’; ‘Digital Archive of Scottish Gaelic’; ‘Whithorn’s Early Medieval Sculptured Stones’; ‘The Paradox of Medieval Scotland’ (with Scottish History).

Interdisciplinary Context
We are well placed to provide an appropriate environment for cross- and interdisciplinary research. Staff and students benefit from collaboration and interaction in research and teaching with members of other subject areas such as Archaeology.  We are committed to creating and sustaining an open and involved research environment, and are one of the core subject areas of the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies. We also participate in the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Current and Recent Student Research
The number of postgraduate research students supervised within Celtic and Gaelic is currently around seventeen. Recent and on-going postgraduate work includes theses on the relationship between medieval literary theory and early Irish narrative, studies of Bàrdachd Baile, Gaelic poetry of the 19th century, early Modern Gaelic literary texts, Gaelic-medium schools, early church history in Scotland, early Irish kingship, the early Irish church, saints and saints’ lives, Gaelic linguistics, and Gaelic place-names.

For further details on members of staff, please click here

How to Apply

More information on the application process can be found in the College of Arts pages.  Applications for a research degree should be made online. 

The Duncan and Morag MacLean Studentship 2013-14

For further details on the Duncan and Morag MacLean Studentship, please see this document:- The Duncan and Morag MacLean Studentship 2013-14