Why this course

Intended learning outcomes

• Develop an understanding of the origins and functions of the Scottish Highland clans, and assess their social structures, economy and culture
• Investigate the contrast between hostile stereotypes of the clans as barbaric and warlike and their day-to-day role as complex social communities
• Reflect on the processes of feuding, civil war, revolt and social-economic change between 1500 and 1800 that resulted in the slow transformation and decline of the clans
• Identify and assess the modern legacies of the clans in events such as Highland Games, Clan Societies and Tartan Parades, as well as their portrayal in film and television
• Assess in an informed way the key characteristics of Scottish Highland clanship, their history, their decline and their modern reinvention
• Assess the social and cultural basis of the new representations of clans, such as Highland games and clan societies, that developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

How to register

Registration is free.

The course is hosted on an external learning platform, Futurelearn.