Scottish History

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for postgraduate taught programmes are a 2:1 honours degree or equivalent qualification (for example, GPA 3.0 or above) in a relevant subject unless otherwise specified.

Note: a short (one paragraph) statement of interest is also required.

International students with academic qualifications below those required should contact our partner institution, Glasgow International College, who offer a range of pre-Masters courses.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The programme is taught by a team of academics in the social, political and cultural history of Scotland from the medieval period through to the 20th century. It has a particular geographical emphasis on Gaelic Scotland, Scotland’s place in the British Isles and Europe, and on urban Scotland.

Why Glasgow

• Teaching and research in Scottish history are firmly embedded in the University, giving benefits from synergies with Celtic and Gaelic, archaeology and Scottish literature, all contributing to the work of the Centre for Scottish & Celtic Studies.
• You will enjoy access to the Baillie Collection, our prized collection of printed medieval and modern sources in Scottish, Irish and English history. The collection also offers printed state papers, Historical Manuscript Commission publications and a select collection of modern monographs.
• Our programme has strong links with the University's Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, giving you access to primary source material including an enormous collection of anatomical and pathological specimens, coins, books, manuscripts and ethnography.
• You will join an extensive medieval research community. Glasgow has active charter and chronicle research groups in medieval studies, a reading group and regular staff-student seminars. The annual Edwards Lecture is the keynote event in the calendar of this scholarly community.

Programme Structure

Our History Masters are built around a hands-on research training course, specialised courses on historical and theoretical themes, and other courses developing your technical skills and other abilities like languages and palaeography.

If you choose to study Scottish History, there will be a guided selection of courses that will provide you with the specialised knowledge in that field. You will be taught through a series of seminars and workshops. Internationally recognised historians give guest lectures throughout the year.

In the final part of the programme, you will select a specialised topic and conduct original primary source research for your dissertation. You are supported in your research and writing up by an assigned supervisor with expertise in your field of inquiry.

Core courses

• Research resources and skills for historians.

Optional courses

Course options may include

• Politics and literature in Jacobean Scotland
• Culture, politics and society in the Highland clearances
• Interdisciplinary perspectives on Scottish culture
• Specialist course in Medieval Scottish studies
• Revolutionary Scotland: literature, culture and politics 1830-1939
• The Scottish Wars of Independence
• Scottish popular culture
• Scottish Reformation.

The courses taught each year vary depending upon staff availability.

To widen your approach and develop an interdisciplinary perspective, you are also strongly encouraged to take one or two complementary courses in cognate subjects, such as

• Monuments in transition in Medieval Scotland
• Records and evidence
• Introduction to museology
• Approaching the past
• Sources for early Medieval Scottish Christianity.

Courses in Scottish literature, English literature, theology, history of art and other College of Arts subjects can also be studied, by agreement with the programme convener.

Career prospects

Apart from continuing to study a PhD, you can transfer the arts research skills and methods you learn on this programme to positions in the public and private sectors, such as heritage, policy and projects, journalism and teaching.

Positions held by recent History graduates include Editor Business & History Products, Lead Scholar/Instructor and Secretary.

Information for international students

Please see the English language requirements and the international page.

Fees and funding

• Fees and funding
• Scholarships and funding

Qualification and course duration

MLitt