SCOTTISH CULTURAL STUDIES - KEY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the first half-session as KL 1030.

Overview

This course offers a selection of short stories and novels, which will introduce the student to the study of narrative technique as well as an insight into the development of the genres from roughly the nineteenth century to the present. Amongst the short story authors are; Walter Scott, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, George Mackay Brown and Jessie Kesson, and novelists include James Hogg, Neil Gunn, and William McIlvanney.
Weekly web-based seminars, including directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour examination (33%) and continuous assessment (67%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the second half-session as KL 1531.

Overview

This course offers a selection of poetry from the Middle Ages to the present and will include works by John Barbour, the Scots Makars, Allan Ramsay, Robert Burns, Hugh MacDiarmid and others. Dramatists will include Liz Lochhead, Sue Glover, Rona Munro and other major Scottish playwrights. Also included will be a play, which has recently been translated into Scots, to show how the language is becoming more and more popular for this type of treatment.
Weekly web-based seminars, including directed study with a learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour written examination (33%) and continuous assessment (67%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

By means of illustrated lectures, fieldwork and directed reading, to develop a coherent picture of the physical landscape of local areas of Northern Scotland. The course will begin with a broad outline of the geological evolution of the area and of the key elements of the geology and structure. After considering the early development of the landscape and drainage pattern, the main focus of the course will be on the effects of glaciation and deglaciation in the uplands and lowlands and on the recent development of the coastline.
Fortnightly tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour written examination (40%) and continuous assessment (60%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the first half-session as KL 1033.

Overview

This highly practical course will explore sources of local history and how these sources can be used. Through a combination of teaching and practical exercises, it will cover sources for family history, secondary published sources, maps, local newspapers, archives, oral history, archaeological records, and the work of local history societies and other specialist groups.
Fortnightly tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) 1 essay/project report (30%) and 5 short reports on practical exercises equally weighted (30%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will focus on land use in N-E Scotland which, because of its geography, offers an easily defined area of study of patterns of change in land use, from the first land enclosures and crofting, to the 19th century agricultural improvers and the large purchases of land by the Forestry Commission in the first half of this century. Within this framework, the course will compare the changes in and around the hill of Bennachie, a one time Community with its own crofting colony, with the major changes in land use in the N-E generally. Themes will include: the effect of enclosing land, agricultural improvements, sporting estates, the effect of transport and roads, the war years, the Forestry Commission, and the effects of leisure and recreation.
Fortnightly tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 reports equally weighted or 1 report and 1 essay equally weighted (60%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course involves the study of the history and institutions of the early Celts on the European continent and in Britain and Ireland.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination paper (50%) and 2 essays equally weighted (50%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the first half-session as KL 1036.

Overview

This course will trace the major movements and figures in Scottish Art from 1800 to the present day. It will examine the history of Scottish Art in an international context - showing how Scots were influenced by foreign art and how they, in turn, came to influence other painters. The course will examine the social context in which artists worked and explore how this affected the development of both subject matter and style.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination paper (33.3%) and 2 essays equally weighted (66.7%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This module introduces the geology and physical geographical history of Scotland, the aim being to illustrate how the physical landscape has developed over the millennia. Topics include the Lewisian Gneiss, Torridon sandstone, Eriboll quartizite, Durness limestone, the controversy of the Iapetus Ocean, the effects of continental drift, the Old Red Sandstone and equatorial rift valley volcanoes and delta swamps. The course will vary to take in local developments and geology, as appropriate.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (33.3%), 2 essays or 1 essay and 1 field report equally weighted (66.7%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course provides an introduction to key areas of folklore from an ethnological and interdisciplinary perspective. The course will explore Scottish culture and expressive traditions with relevance to contemporary Scottish society. Subjects will include languages of Scotland, ballad & song, tales & legends, custom & belief, Gaelic tradition, sport & recreation, instrumental music, and traditions of dance.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and continuous assessment (60%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course covers an introduction to the study of Orcadian dialect from the development of the Orkney Norn to the use of dialect by modern writers; an introduction to Orcadian folklore and the work of the main collectors; the study of traditional song with reference to the work of collectors and the influences of Scottish and Scandinavian traditions; and introduction to the main characteristics of traditional Orkney dances and their social context; traditional festivals; the features of older Orcadian rural life and the factors leading to changes in recent times.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 assignments equally weighted (20%) and 1 essay (40%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course examines the impact of people on Scotland’s landscape over the last six thousand years. Attention is focused on the visible patterns of human endeavour within the Scottish landscape, although archaeological archival and cartographic lines of evidence are used to supplement these from time to time. Sources of information are discussed so that students can subsequently discover more about their home area if they so wish.


The first half of the course covers the period from prehistory to Medieval Scotland, while the remainder of the course will bring the study up to the present.
Fortnightly evening seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 essays equally weighted (50%) and 2 exercises equally weighted (10%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in 2003/2004.

Overview

An exploration of the cultural, political, religious and economic aspects of the development of Scotland, from the unification of the Kingdom in the 12th century to the union with England in the 18th century, which includes the study of the background and course of the wars of independence, the early Stewart monarchy, the early Renaissance, the reformation, the Civil War, the restoration and the rise of Jacobitism.
Weekly web-based seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (33.3%) and 2 essays equally weighted (66.7%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in 2003/2004.

Overview

An exploration of the varying experience of the Scottish people from the Act of Union to the current interest in Scottish Nationalism. The course investigates the enlightenment, economic "improvement", the role of working people and especially women, the Highland clearances and emigration, Red Clydeside and the revival of Scottish Nationalism. There will be an emphasis on different historical approaches and on the ways Scottish history is written.
Weekly web-based seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (33.3%) and 2 essays equally weighted (66.7%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the first half-session as KL 103K.

Overview

Scotland, and particularly the North of Scotland, is rich in antiquities dating from the Stone Age onwards. This course will examine the wealth of man-made structures to be found in the landscape with a view to interpreting their function, their periods and method of construction, their cultural significance and their inter-relationships. Beginning with the traces of the earliest settlers, the course will consider chambered tombs, standing stones, stone circles, brochs and forts, as well as artefacts associated with the first metal workers, the Picts.
Weekly web-based seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed practical work.
1 two-hour examination (33.3%), 2 essays equally weighted or 1 essay and 1 practical report equally weighted (66.7%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

Scotland's Natural Environment deals with the arrival and development of Scotland's flora in the Holocene epoch. The course will consider: (1) the factors which determine plant spread and distribution, (2) sources of evidence of past climatic change, (3) the time scale of vegetation change, sources of evidence and methods of study, (4) the patterns of post-glacial vegetation change in Britain and a comparison with past inter-glacial vegetation, (5) the post-glacial vegetation history of Scotland, variation and possible reasons, (6) the impact of man, from prehistoric times to the recent past, (7) the development of the present flora - how much of our vegetation is natural?
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (33.3%) 2 essays equally weighted (66.7%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the second half-session as KL 153N.

Overview

The course will examine the resources available in Northern Scotland for tracing ancestors, showing how civil registration and church records provide a framework for family history which can be further enriched by documents which help to create a fuller and more rounded picture of the lives of the people involved. Techniques of family history research such as planning and data compilation will be developed, since the course will have a strong practical emphasis with students carrying out directed research.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and directed field work.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay / project report (30%) and the monitored compilation of the family tree (30%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course involves the study of the art of the early Celts and of the Celtic church and a study of the most important aspects of the literature of the Celts (in translation).
Fortnightly evening seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (50%) and 2 essays equally weighted (50%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the first half-session as KL 103Q.

Overview

The course will begin by exploring the ancient legends of the Highlands such as those related to the Fenians, Ossian, Fingal and how these provide a sense of a heroic ancient past. It will then focus on legends about Highland Chiefs, the MacDonald Lords of the Isles, the Campbells, the MacKenzies of Seaforth, Camerons of Locheil and explore how these give people a sense of their identity and history. The influence of seers such as the Brahan Seer will also be considered. Finally, students will consider local tales, and how these have modified views of the history of their own particular locality.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and 2 essays equally weighted (60%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course will examine the Lowland Scots tongue in its development from a northern Anglo-Saxon dialect to the official national language of Stewart Scotland, and its subsequent sociolinguistic decline. The development of the tongue will be discussed with reference to texts of all periods, special attention being paid to the contrast between local dialect writing and the Non-regional "synthetic" Scots of the present day.
Fortnightly evening seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (33.3%) and written exercises (66.7%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

By means of spot studies, selected to provide a unified as opposed to a fragmented picture, the course will build up an understanding of geography of Northern Scotland as a whole. The geographical elements, which are of particular importance in forming the character of specific areas, will be studied in terms of the physical foundation (geology, glaciation and soils, landforms, weather, rivers and coast) and the human response to that foundation (land use, population, settlement and local economy).
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination paper (40%), 1 practical exercise (10%), 1 essay or project report (50%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 103K / KL 153K or other courses deemed equivalent.

Overview

This course will look in detail at the archaeological and historical evidence for the Viking Age, AD 780-1150. Since much of the archaeological evidence is either invisible in the field (especially graves) or limited to the Northern Isles (houses), the fieldwork element will therefore be tailored to suit the location of the students. There will be a strong element of artefact studies, and emphasis will be placed on the limitation of the evidence - the information that is missing from excavations, for example as well as the historical bias of monastic annals and Icelandic sagas. Students will use primary as well as secondary sources.
Weekly web-based seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials and fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (60%) and 1 extended essay (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

20 credit points at level 1.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will provide students with an understanding of the historical context of farming in Orkney through the 19th century to the present time, and from this perspective to consider the future.
Fortnightly evening tutorials with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (30%), dissertation (30%) and 2 essays equally weighted (40%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course involves the study of the origins, development, economic and social structure, and culture of the Crofting Community; also a study of different kinds of emigration and the nature of the emigre communities and networks.
Weekly evening seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (50%) and 2 essays equally weighted (50%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1036 / KL 1436

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

Relying on the landscape of Scotland, this will explore the themes of landscape depiction, land surveying and town and country planning, landscape symbols as a depiction of power, social organisation and wealth, models of urban development, lowland and upland rural landscapes and the pressures on them, recreational, heritage and coastal landscapes and caring for the landscape. Students will be made aware of the legal and conservational issues relating to the Scottish landscape. The course will adopt an approach, which will pay particular attention to the methods, research strategies and variety of secondary and primary sources available to study the Scottish landscape.
Fortnightly evening seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (70%) and 1 essay (30%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from level 1 courses in History and Economic History or History of Art, or equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

Between 1200 and 1500 Christendom was convulsed by war, plague and climatic regression. The social fabric was undermined by popular revolt while both the political and religious unity of earlier centuries began to crumble. Yet the later medieval centuries also witnessed a cultural renaissance, voyages of discovery, and the development of nation states and national identities. This course offers a thematic survey of the later medieval west as Europe emerged from Christendom. Material focuses on religion, kinship and warfare, society and culture and the economy and environment. In tutorials these themes are investigated from the perspective of development in particular countries: students may, for example, choose to specialise in Scotland.
Weekly evening seminars in addition to directed private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 103R / KL 153R, or KL 1030 / KL 1530 or completion of courses in English at SD level 1.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The theme of this course is the landscape of Orkney as it is reflected in the mirror of the prose and poetry of Orcadian writers. In exploring how the relationship between Orcadians and their immediate environment has been expressed, the range of authors studied will include Eric Linklater, Edwin Muir, Robert Rendall, John Firth, Walter Traill Dennison and George Mackay Brown. The main emphasis will be on prose writing.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (60%), practical exercises (20%) and 1 essay (20%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

30 or more credit points from courses in schedules for Certificate and Diploma awards in Scottish Cultural Studies, Scottish Archaeology, or courses deemed equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This offers an introduction to the discipline of ethnology applied in a Scottish context, including an introduction to concepts of folklore and ethnology. Although the discipline of ethnology contains many elements of other disciplines such as cultural history, sociology, anthropology and literature, it has a distinctive perspective and approach. The course will explore Scottish traditions and how these are translated into contemporary culture. This will be achieved, using living examples where possible, by study topics such as social organisation, material culture, sport and recreation, custom and belief, childlore and emigration.
Weekly seminars and directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour exam (40%), 2 essays (60%) or a proposal for a simple research project and project report (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

At least 40 credit points in Literature courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course deals with very recent literature and focuses on two specific areas which challenge in different ways established cultural assumptions and practices: non-Gaelic Scottish and non-Gaelic Irish literature.
Texts: Brian Friel, Translations (Faber); Frank McGuinnes, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching to the Somme (Faber); Robert McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle Picador Pan); The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, (Fallon and Mahon) William McIlvanney, Strange Loyalties (Sceptre); A.L.Kennedy, Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains (Pheonix); Three Scottish Poets: MacCaig, Morgan, Lochhead, ed. R Watson (Canongate); Janice Galloway, The Trick is to Keep Breathing (Minerva); Alastair Gray, Lanark (Picador Pan).
1 tutorial per week.
1 two-hour examination (50%) and continuous assessment: essay (40%), tutorial assessment (10%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1036 / KL 1536 or other courses deemed equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will concentrate on five themes in Scottish Art: identification of media, printmaking, artistic bodies and galleries, private patronage and Scottish identity in Scottish Art. The course will examine the different media used by Scottish artists, showing how these can be used to assist in dating and identifying works. Similarly it will show how identification and classification of prints can help to date works and in exploring the history of printmaking in Scotland. The course will also look at artistic bodies and show how art galleries, societies and individual patrons furthered the careers of artists in Scotland. Finally, it will explore what makes a work identifiably Scottish.
Fortnightly evening sessions in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed fieldwork.
1 three-hour examination (70%), 1 essay (20%) and 1 practical exercise (10%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from level 1 courses in History and Economic History or History of Art, or equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

During the sixteenth century, Europe was fragmented into a number of increasingly hostile religious faiths and increasingly powerful and aggressive states. The conflict produced during this period, and the problems of political and religious revolt culminating in the cultural and political crises of the mid-seventeenth century provide much of the material of this course. But this fission also released much of the creative energy which fuelled the economic, intellectual and geographical expansion, and secularisation evident in Europe by 1750. Within this broad thematic survey the Scottish experience will be discussed as a variation upon the broader European theme and placed in its European context.
Weekly seminars in addition to directed private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination paper (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1033 / KL 1533 or KL 103B / KL 153B, or equivalent evidence of study at SD level 1.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will start by looking at the vernacular farm buildings in the present Orcadian landscape. The function of the buildings will be considered both in the context of earlier communal farming and later family farms. The construction of the buildings will be considered in some detail especially in respect of roof construction and an apparently unique thatching technique (simmens needling). The internal features of the buildings will be considered, as will the effects of 19th century mechanisation of threshing by horse, wind and water power. The resources of the County Archive will provide historical background. Field studies on the Orkney mainland and other islands are an important aspect of the course.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%), group project (20%) and individual project (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

30 or more credit points from courses in Scottish Cultural Studies, Scottish Archaeology, or courses deemed equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course offers an introduction to the discipline of ethnology applied in a Scottish context, including an introduction to fieldwork and research. This will be achieved by studying topics including language; names; traditional narrative; ballads; Gaelic, folk and instrumental music; and dance. By using living examples where possible, the course will explore how these traditions are translated into contemporary culture.
Weekly seminars and directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour examination (50%), 2 essays (60%) or a proposal for a simple research project and project report (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course provides a guide to identifying key developments in Scottish Architecture. It provides a thematic analysis of building types appropriate to each period from 1100 to the present day. Topics will include: churches, country houses, industrial buildings, townscapes. Students are encouraged to explore and develop knowledge of their own locality.
Web-based tutorials, with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and continuous assessment (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

Students will be required to examine the overall condition of the Highlands and Islands in the period following the '45 Rising; to come to some general understanding of the complex of events known as the Highland
Clearances; to investigate the impact of these events in their own locality; to attend to the experiences of the emigrant communities, especially in North America, which resulted from the Clearances; to take account of what followed on from the Clearances in the way of eventual land reform; to make some assessment of the continuing significance of these historical episodes in the context of the modern Highlands and Islands.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study and directed field work.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay/project report (40%) and 2 practical exercises equally weighted (20%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The themes to be covered in this course include the general history of fishing in the North of Scotland up to 1603, and in the period between 1603 and 1786; the role of the British Fisheries Society and other fishing companies; the social, economic and cultural life of fishing communities in the period up to 1939; developments ashore and afloat in the fishing industry from 1786 to the present day.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and directed field study.
1 two-hour examination (40%) 1 essay/project report (20%) and 2 practical exercises equally weighted (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course deals with the story of the islands within the period that written records have been available: from about 1200 to the present day. It will examine the late medieval period; the era of the Stewart earls; the crisis-ridden seventeenth century; the long period when merchant-landlords organised the fishing industry (1700 - 1875); the years when the herring fishery was supreme (1870s - 1914); and the manifold changes of the twentieth century.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay/project report (30%) and 2 practical exercises equally weighted (30%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course covers the economic and social history of the post 1500 period. It deals with occupations such as agriculture, kelp-making, linen, whaling, and service with the Hudson's Bay Company. It examines demographic trends. It looks at the church, education and the "mental world" of 19th century Orcadians.
Emphasis is placed on handling source material such as Statistical Accounts, estate plans, sound archive material, agricultural statistics, Crofters Commission evidence, kirk session records and school logs.
Fortnightly seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 extended assignments equally weighted (20%) and 1 essay (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course covers three main themes. It begins by examining a range of accounts of the development of local clans, their feuds and their relationship with the Scottish Crown. It then considers the intrusion and effects on Lochaber of such national conflicts as the Civil War and the Jacobite Risings between 1688 and 1745. It will conclude by considering the social and economic changes of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and their effects on the Lochaber area in the period leading up to the Clearances.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay (30%) and 2 practical exercises equally weighted (30%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The period spanned by the course (13th - 18th century) begins with the final years of Norway's claim to the area and ends with the demise of clan based society. Focus will be on power struggles within the area and with the Crown. Themes will include the structure of Gaelic society; the region's relationship with the Lordship of the Isles; the rise of Gordon (Sutherland) and MacKenzie power; and the region's links with Scandinavian countries.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed field work.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay (30%) and 2 practical exercises equally weighted (30%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course explores the following: Historical origins of Scots, General features of Scots as a language, Characteristics of North East Scots words and pronunciation, Language and Culture of the North East, City and Country speech and North East Scots as a literary language.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 practical exercise (20%), 1 report (20%) and 1 essay (10%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course explores the following: locality, community and cultural expression; the oral ballad tradition; folk song and folk say; tradition bearers and collectors; regional writing in the age of industry; region and nation in the literary tradition.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and independent fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay (20%) and 2 practical exercises (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course offers an introduction to the study of poetry through selected work of three Orkney poets of the twentieth century: Edwin Muir, George Mackay Brown and Robert Rendall. The emphasis throughout will be on close reading and discussion of texts.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and 2 practical exercises equally weighted (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

By studying the life of Columba and other Celtic Saints, and by examining the influence of Columba and that of the community on Iona, this course will chart the spread of Christianity throughout the North of Scotland. The course will concentrate on the area from Lochaber northwards to the Northern Isles, and will include Grampian and Inverness, Ross & Cromarty. It will also give particular attention to history of the spread of Christianity in the particular local area in which the course is taught. The course will make use of primary sources in translation.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

This course will consider a number of habitats where there are particular environmental issues. With respect to each habitat type, students will consider the ecology of the habitat, and will look at the threats to each habitat and how this habitat type can best be conserved or otherwise managed. The range of habitats will include: peatland, moorland, high tops and plateaux, natural broad leaved and deciduous forest, river systems and estuaries.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course explores relations between forest and society up to the present day, with particular reference to N-E Scotland. The tensions since prehistoric times between the demand for forest products in all their variety, and forest clearance for the organised production of food and space will be examined. Topics studied will include the development of society in terms of agriculture and industry (bronze and iron manufacture) and the effects on forests; extensive afforestation; the amenity and recreational use of woodlands; and the need for studies of the ecology of woodlands.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and 2 essays equally weighted (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course focuses on the development of medieval society in the N-E. Through archaeology and documents, it will consider: the Age of Saints and the mission of Columba and his successors, consequences of unification of Picts and Scots in the 9th century, the Scottish “conquest” of Moray in the 11th and 12th centuries, the developments of Burghs and Sheriffdoms, the wars of independence and the “Herschip” of Buchan, N-E society in the later middle ages and the reformation, rebellion and reaction: the N-E from Bishop Elphinstone to the Battle of Corrichie.

Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed fieldwork.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and 2 essays equally weighted (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This course provides a grounding in folklore and ethnology, with an emphasis on material culture and folklife. The course will explore the Scottish context with relevance to contemporary society. Subjects will include: home life, community life occupations, communications, foodways, costume & dress, human life, the natural world, time, and belief systems.
Fortnightly evening tutorials with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and continuous assessment (60%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

None

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

Study of the Gaelic-speaking community in Scotland since c 1872 from social, cultural and historical perspectives, with emphasis on the social and other pressures, which affect its distinctive character.
Weekly seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (50%) and continuous assessment (50%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1038 / KL 1538 or KL 203Z / KL 253Z or equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will explore a broad range of traditional material culture in Scotland; primarily from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, but within a broader chronological and geographical framework. The course will assess interpretations of the material and its role in traditional society, with particular reference to the home, religious practices and the production and preparation of food and dress. The ways in which material culture is interpreted and used in contemporary society will be a particular focus of the course, such as the contrast between its continuation and development in ordinary life and its interpretation in museums and heritage centres. Northern Scotland is particularly rich in material culture from this period and students will be encouraged to study examples in their own locality.
Fortnightly evening tutorials and directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 essays (60%) or a proposal for a simple research project and project report (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1038 / KL 1538 or KL 203Z / KL 253Z or equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course deals with the historical emergence of the study of ethnology from the nineteenth century to the present day. It will survey the extensive literature on ethnology which has grown in this period and which serves as a resource for current work in Scottish Ethnology. Training in research methods will be given include training for fieldwork research.
Fortnightly evening tutorials and directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 essays (60%) or a proposal for a simple research project and project report (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1038 / KL 1538 or KL 203Z / KL 253Z or equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will trace the development of interest in oral traditions of song and balladry in Scotland from the early eighteenth century to the present day. It will deal with the nature of the oral tradition itself and with its changing relations to print-mediated culture, and also with ideas, motivations and methods of collectors of ‘folk’ materials. These will be considered in the context of larger political, social and cultural developments. The course will consider recent continuations and revivals of folksong and ballad tradition in the light of contemporary social conditions and technologies, and present day approaches to collecting.
Fortnightly seminars and directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1038 / KL 1538 or KL 203Z / KL 253Z or equivalent.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The topics covered in this course are at the heart of traditional behaviour and culture and therefore also at the centre of ethnological study and research. They include beliefs about the life cycle (birth, infancy, childhood, domestic pursuits, social relations, love, courtship, marriage, death, and funeral customs), about the natural world (times, numbers, seasons, weather, animals, plants, etc), about the supernatural, including folk religion which has been defined as “views and practices of religion that exist among the people apart from or alongside the strictly theological and liturgical forms of official religion(s)” (Yoder); rites-of-passage customs, calendar customs and folk festivals in which many aspects and ingredients of traditional culture tend to be brought together and can therefore be released from their isolation and studied in their interaction and mutual dependency.
Fortnightly seminars and directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 essays (60%) or a proposal for a simple research project and project report (60%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

At least 240 credit points.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

This lecture and seminar course offers a chronological survey of Ireland’s political, social and economic history from the Union with Britain to the winning of Independence in 1922. It will focus on a number of issues: how confessional differences, especially between Catholics and Protestants, have influenced the course of Irish history; the slippery concept of Irish National identity; Anglo-Irish relations; the rise of Irish Nationalism; and finally the role of the Irish migrant, especially in America.


1 two-hour lecture and 1 two-hour seminar per week where the lecture is taped and where the seminar is delivered by audio-conferencing to allow distance students to join the seminars in Aberdeen.
Continuous assessment: 1 source-based essay of c. 4000 words (60%) 2 documentary exercises of c. 500 words each (20%) and individual and group seminar presentations (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

At least 240 credit points.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will examine aspects of Scottish social history since the mid-18th century, with reference to the impact of industrialisation and urbanisation, in terms of working conditions, public health, housing and poor relief. Particular attention will also be paid to strains in Highland society, to the migration of Scots, to developments in religion and education, and to the impact of World War 1 and the Depression on Scottish society.
3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week where the lecture is taped and where the seminar is delivered by audio-conferencing to allow distance students to join the seminar in Aberdeen.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will examine: the evidence of early fishing (before 1700); salmon, herring and white fishery in the early 18th century; exports of salt herring and the links between fishing and other trades; changes in the methods of fishing, selling, and preserving the catch during the 18th and 19th centuries; the herring boom of the 1820s; the fishing communities in the inner Moray Firth including their origins, dialect, folklore, and relations with other townsfolk; the development of the herring fishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Fortnightly tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and directed field work.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay/project report (30%) and 2 practical exercises equally weighted (30%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will explore the economic and social history of Cromarty from 1707-1840 by dealing with the following topics: the trade in salt fish in the early 18th Century; smuggling, including the development of flax and hemp working after 1745; the changing role of local merchants; development of the Cromarty estate under the ownership of Captain Urquhart (1741-1786), a model for what could be achieved with the resources of the area; subsequent developments, including the revival of herring fishing in the early 19th Century; the decline of the local economy in the 1830s. Care will be taken to relate the local topics to general trends in the economy of the Eastern Highlands.
Fortnightly tutorials in addition to private study with support materials and directed field work.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 1 essay/project report and 1 practical exercise equally weighted (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will examine the wide spectrum of names, which occur in N-E Scotland, showing how an examination of maps can reveal the ethnic origins of the settlers who first inhabited different parts of the region. This will involve looking at how English, the most recent incomer, is represented in N-E nomenclature as well as a rich Scots heritage, and traces of languages such as Scots Gaelic and Pictish which are no longer found in the area. Name systems of all kinds, including street names, field names, farm, house and boat names, will be covered; since these can tell us a great deal about the cultural development of the region. The course has a strong practical element, with students carrying out directed research.
Fortnightly tutorials in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and 1 report (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will provide an overview of Orkney history in the 18th and 19th century by means of a series of linked case studies. It will give practice in handling original source material in a critical way to add depth to the study of the 18th and 19th century, while developing skills, which allow students to pursue original historical studies in this period.
Fortnightly seminars in addition to private study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and continuous assessment (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004 (Aberdeen only).

Overview

Study of types of scripts, their evolution and relationships and the technical background of writing and materials. Practical exercises in transcription of documents will be undertaken, but knowledge of Latin will not be required.
1 two-hour seminar/workshop per week for six weeks.
1 two-hour practical transcription test (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 1030 / KL 1530 or KL 1031 / KL 1531 or equivalent.

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the first half-session as KL 303C.

Overview

The course will provide a close examination of literary texts in the context of the social, political and cultural life of nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Scotland focusing on three themes: Romanticism, the Storytelling tradition of the middle of the century and the rise of Modernism at the end. It will introduce students to the exceptionally rich and diverse literature of the period 1814-1914, a period which witnessed great upheavals in the political, social and cultural life of Scotland. Examining a range of authors and genres, it raises questions about how the literary texts studied relate to the socio-economic, political and cultural conditions in which they were written and published. It will focus primarily on works by Walter Scott, R.L.Stevenson and Hugh MacDiarmid supplemented by a study of their contemporaries.
Weekly seminars and directed study with learning support materials including taped lectures.
1 two-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course investigates the history of Shetland from the pawning of Shetland by Denmark to Scotland in 1469, to the end of the Stewart Earldom in 1611. The history of the islands will be set in the context of wider events in Europe, particularly in Scotland and Scandinavia, and will involve the study of available contemporary sources, their purpose, and the information they provide. This documentary evidence will be compared with later views of the period.
Fortnightly evening tutorials and directed study with learning support materials.
1 two-hour examination (40%) and 2 essays equally weighted (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

The course will begin with definitions and the history of ecology. It will examine single species autecology, distribution and recruitment and patterns of distribution, including zonation, succession, the concept of range of territory and dispersal. It will then consider communities and assemblages of species in an ecosystem, including habitats, foodwebs, prey selection and predator/prey interactions. Recording methods and techniques for monitoring communities will be studied. Species diversity will be considered in the context of island biogeography, and measures of diversity and the question of stress will be raised. Resource management, including sustainable development and practical aspects of conservation, will be studied together with techniques such as risk assessment.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and directed fieldwork.
1 three-hour examination (60%), 2 essays equally weighted (30%) and 1 Fieldwork report (10%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

Thematic treatment, with the evidence relating to Orkney considered against a sufficient background of European history and culture for it to be placed in context. Political, Church and State, Cults, Romanesque, Romantic, Monastic Life, Rural Settlement and Urbanisation are among the themes considered.
Weekly seminars, in addition to private study with learning support materials and directed field study.
1 two-hour examination (40%), 2 extended assignments equally weighted (20%) and 1 essay (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

40 credit points from the Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology programmes of courses.

Notes

This course is not available in session 2003/2004.

Overview

Following an introduction to secondary sources for the study of the herring boom, the range of primary sources will be reviewed and problems in handling and interpreting such material discussed. After the herring industry in N-E Scotland has been set in a wider European and world context in terms of resource exploitation and management, the engagement system and other factors which determined the course of the herring boom will be the subject of detailed study, as will the social and economic effects of the boom, and the causes and effects of the great crash of the 1880's. Finally, the North Sea will be considered as a theatre of herring action over time, so that aspects of marine environments can be taken into account which are as much a background to the industry as we enter the 21st century as they were to the great boom.
Fortnightly evening tutorials in addition to private study with learning support and independent field work.
1 three-hour examination (60%) and 1 project/essay (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

KL 10/1533 or equivalent Higher Education experience.

Notes

This course is available in session 2003/2004, in the second half-session as KL 353H.

Overview

This dissertation course provides an opportunity for students to develop ideas and themes, and to develop skills and techniques in local history by pursuing independent, supervised research studies of their local areas.
Individual supervision over two half-sessions.
Dissertation (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

Notes

This course is available in 2003/2004 in the first half-session as KL 303J.

Overview

This course focuses on the nature, condition and perception of natural resources at the beginning of the 21st century. Trends in major resource sectors (such as forests, agricultural land, energy and minerals) are considered against the background of the debate on adequacy and scarcity and of the evolution of the concept of sustainable development. The significance of the structural and institutional framework of resource management is examined, and recent trends and tendencies in it are reviewed. This course is set at the global level, with examples and case studies drawn as appropriate from national scales.
Teaching will be by WebCT and weekly online tutorials.
1 two-hour examination (67%) and continuous assessment comprising either two projects reports or one essay (33%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

120 credits in Scottish Cultural Studies, of which 60 credits must be at level 2 or above.

Overview

An intensive study of a limited Scottish theme, topic, period or problem based on primary sources and other relevant material to allow students to pursue a programme of reading and analysis of with tutorial support, guidance and direction. It will be used to develop themes encountered in previous courses, but will also allow reading around a subject to foster linkages across taught courses. Precise themes will be determined annually by the department, in consultation with available staff and identified student interest.


The summer school will be full-time for a week during the summer. Students will also be asked to prepare in advance and to produce work in the period following the study week.
Continuous assessment (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

100 credit points in Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology, of which 60 of these credit points must be at level 2 or above.

Overview

An intensive study of a limited Scottish theme, topic, period or problem based on primary sources and other relevant material to allow students to pursue a programme of reading and analysis of a specific subject area with the support, guidance and direction of an academic well-versed in the subject. It may be used to develop themes encountered in previous study, but will also allow wide reading around a subject, which may provide the focus for the dissertation. Precise subjects available will be determined annually by the department, in consultation with available staff and identified student interest.
Each student will be assigned a supervisor, who will make available regular consultation times.
Continuous assessment (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr Deborah Simonton

Pre-requisites

100 credit points in Scottish Cultural Studies or Scottish Archaeology, of which 60 of these credit points must be at level 2 or above.

Overview

An intensive study of a Scottish Theme, topic, period or problem based on primary sources and other relevant material. Students will produce a dissertation of 10,000 words on a topic to be agreed by the supervisor and the Programme Co-ordinator.
Each student will be assigned a supervisor, who will make available regular consultation times.
Dissertation (100%).