In this wide-ranging programme you will learn different approaches to studying the past as a way of understanding the present in its political, economic, ideological, social and artistic sense.

Year 1

In your first year you will take a course that introduces you to the history of Scotland. The course offers you a fresh and stimulating approach to the major forces instrumental in the shaping of politics, society and culture in Europe and will explore the rich diversity of the period covered. Topics you will study include

• The independent kingdom
• Medieval society
• Castles
• Government
• The wars of independence
• Catholic belief and a Scottish church
• Renaissance learning and culture
• Reformation and absentee monarchy
• Covenanting revolution
• Cromwellian conquest
• Commerce with Europe and America
• Industrialisation
• 20th-century Scotland
• The widening horizons and road to Union with England in 1707.

Year 2

The following year you will study Scottish history in a wider comparative context, including the history of Medieval Britain.

Years 3 and 4

If you successfully complete the courses in first and second year, you may progress to Honours (years three and four). You can only take Scottish History as a Joint Honours degree in combination with another subject. It is most often combined with Celtic Studies.

Our Honours programme consists of an exceptionally large variety of courses across the whole range of history.

As an Honours student, you will also have the chance to write a dissertation and/or study a special subject. Writing a dissertation will give you an opportunity to study a historical topic of your choice in depth and improve your research skills.

Due to the wide-ranging research interests of our many staff, you will be able to pick from one of the most diverse range of Scottish history courses in the UK, both in terms of the number of courses and their chronological spread.

You will be able to take part in different exchange programmes with leading universities in Europe and North America. There are regular exchanges with the Universities of Athens, Mainz and Stockholm. You may go abroad in your Junior Honours Year (third year) and return for Senior Honours.

As a history graduate you will be able to enter many different careers, from teaching to the financial services. Although a history degree will not train you for one particular profession, the skills you will have developed are extremely popular with employers. Our recent History graduates have been employed by

• Dumfries & Galloway Council, librarian
• HarperCollins, credit assistant
• KPMG, accountant trainee
• Shetland Islands Council, graduate placement.