Exploring the ongoing impact of Scottish innovation & creativity
Teaching
The University of Dundee offers a range of modules and courses dedicated to the history, literature and art of Scotland – catering to undergraduates, graduate students, post doctoral scholars and adult learners (distance learners and in classroom).
Undergraduate degree modules
Scotland and the Wider World
This core second-year module explores Scotland’s interactions with the outside world from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. Thinking in British, European and global contexts, we explore themes including emigration, diplomacy, empire, trade, religion and slavery.
Reading Seventeenth Century Scotland
This third-year module introduces you to seventeenth-century Scotland through an examination of different types of sources available for the period. It will cover political and cultural themes. A distinctive aspect of the module will be archive-based training in the reading and interpretation of original manuscript sources.
Life at the Margins
Through a series of case-studies of discrete marginal groups, including the poor, witches, criminals, migrants, sexual deviants, and Highlanders, this third-year module aims to explore the experiences and treatment of the ‘other’ in early modern Scotland (c.1550-c.1750). Upon completion of the module, students will have acquired a comprehensive understanding of why early modern society regarded certain behaviours and backgrounds as abnormal or deviant, and how it went about policing the boundaries of the mainstream.
Contemporary British Writers of Comics and Graphic Novels
Study an important emerging area of contemporary literature – comics and graphic novels, examining the work of contemporary British comics who have revolutionised comics by treating the medium as one rich in literary potential and cultural significance, challenging the very notion of authorship in comics, a medium known for its creative anonymity.
The Scottish Diaspora, c.1700-1945
This third-year module offers students a comprehensive overview of Scotland’s diaspora history, focusing on a broad range of themes and settlement locations. Covering the period c. 1700 to 1945, the historical geographies explored include the ‘near diaspora’ of England, Wales and Ireland; Continental Europe; North America; the Antipodes, Africa; and Asia.
Scotland: Restoration, Revolution, Union
This fourth-year module aims to explore the political, social, cultural, and economic development of Scotland in its final phase as an independent kingdom, from the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 to the passage of the Treaty of Union in 1707. Through consideration of cross-cutting themes (for example ‘politics and government’, ‘Parliament’, ‘the religious question’, and ‘the Highland problem’) within an overall chronological framework, students will acquire an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of Scottish politics and society, alongside a nuanced appreciation of Scotland’s place within the broader British conglomerate monarchy.
The Scottish Highlands and Islands: Health, Politics and Society, 1750-1948
This fourth-year module will focus on fostering a critical engagement of the historiography of the Scottish Highlands & Islands. Why did a peripheral rural region of Scotland experience disproportionate governmental intervention throughout the nineteenth century in the political, social and health spheres. Students will use contemporary, archival and modern sources to inform their analysis of the historiography, which will enable them to develop those critical skills..
Scottish Nationalism: Historical Perspectives
This fourth year Special Subject guides students through the sources indicative of the Scottish national movement from the mid-eighteenth century until the present day. Contextualised by political development within Great Britain, this module critically examines the intellectual foundations and political reach of Scotland’s nationalist movement. The discussion takes students into practical issues of source creation and source survival, contrasting campaigning and cultural materials with state-created documents in a nation without its own parliament. Students gain understanding of the complexities of nationalist narratives, including imperial and post-imperial political contexts to these narratives, intertwined with British state building and patriotism.
Postgraduate degree courses
Scottish History (on campus)
As part of the History MLitt programme, you can work on Scottish history since the early modern period, with a special focus on social, cultural and political development, and Scottish connections with the wider world.
Scottish History (distance learning)
Examine the many different interpretations of Scottish history, think critically about the various ways in which historians have viewed the development of Scotland over the past five centuries and consider some of the ways in which Scottish history has been portrayed in a popular context.
English Studies
The MLitt in English Studies is a stand-alone postgraduate qualification. It can also be taken as research preparation for a PhD. We offer choice and flexibility: you can study full-time or part-time, and we have a wide range of topics from Arthurian to Contemporary Literature, reflecting our key strengths and expertise.
Film Studies
Our interdisciplinary Film Studies programme will provide you with an understanding of the cinema and the way films are developed, and their medium’s relationship to other art forms..
Film Studies
The MLitt in Film Studies will expand your appreciation of the medium in terms of its history, formal properties, and its relationships with other art forms. There is a particular focus on authorship and adaptation, as well as the transition from script to screen, drawing on an extensive collection of unpublished script material.
Science Fiction
A highly interdisciplinary one-year, masters course, offering modules on Science Fiction literature, film, comics and other media, with scope to incorporate creative practice into your studies.