Course Catalogue

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The goal of this course will be to investigate how people, environment and animals interact over past, present and future timescales through the application of methods of study from different disciplinary approaches, focusing around the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Because this location has a unique linguistic & cultural heritage, intertwined with human dependence on natural resources such as marine mammals, seabirds, peat and agriculture, it presents an ideal place for students to experience how examples of sustainable resource use, community identity and cultural values have influenced both historical and current conservation needs in each of those areas. It will consist of an intensive teaching period based in Glasgow focusing on background concepts and methodologies within each discipline, followed then by travel to the Hebrides to meet with stakeholders in this place and apply their acquired methodologies during a 7-day residential field course.

Sessions will be taught by staff from across the disciplines and students will work in cross-disciplinary teams to deliver practical sessions requiring expertise from each field. All assessment will based on application of skills within the students' own discipline that includes an element of reflection on the value and interaction with other disciplines.

This is an in-person 3 week course held in summer, consisting of lectures in Glasgow and a residential field period held over 2 weeks in the Inner or Outer Hebrides.

Normally, only available to final-year students in one of the following programmes: Life Sciences, Geographical & Earth Sciences, Humanities. Students must apply in advance for a place on this course. Visiting students may be allowed to enrol, at the discretion of the Life Sciences Chief Adviser and the Course Coordinator. 

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The course will be assessed by 100% continuous assessment, consisting of the following: 1. Map/visual materials of disciplinary perspective related to fieldwork (40%)​; 2. Research proposal around stakeholder activity, including (40%)​, and 3. Interdisciplinary reflective presentation (20%).

These assessment methods were designed in conjunction with student partners from the relevant disciplines. In order to support students in being assessed across disciplines, the expectation as outlined in the marking guidance, will be that assessments will be delivered from the students' own disciplinary perspectives & methodologies, but need to incorporate some reflection or understanding of how the others integrate. All assessments will be marked by staff within the relevant discipline. Assessment deadlines will be balanced between the summer teaching period and the period after completion of the taught sessions.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The main aims of this course are to:

■ Critically analyse how the unique ecosystems present in Scottish coastal areas have been shaped by the people, habitats and landscapes

■ Analyse examples of both past and present conservation practices in terms of their degree of sustainability   

■ Gain an in-depth interdisciplinary understanding of Scottish landscapes and ecology and how past human resource use has shaped them.

■ Using a range of complementary qualitative and quantitative research techniques, investigate aspects of the terrestrial and marine environments

■ Interact with stakeholders to address challenges of linguistic, cultural, species and/or habitat conservation.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Critically engage with current debates around key cultural and ecological conservation challenges

■ Appraise of the diversity of habitats and related ecosystems services in the coastal and peatland contexts in order to understand challenges in decision-making

■ Develop advanced communication and teamworking skills through generating collaborative outputs that synthesise data from across disciplines  

■ Evaluate the perspectives and role of key stakeholders in Scottish rural communities and environments using an evidence-informed approach based around a broad range of sources that acknowledge cultural contexts and often unrecognised historical perspectives

■ Reflect on the differences and similarities inherent in interdisciplinary experiences and skills gained throughout the course. 

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.