Scottish Ethnology and Scandinavian Studies

Course description

There has long been a strong Scandinavian influence on Scotland and the wider Celtic world.

This innovative joint honours programme gives you the chance to study neighbouring northern European nations which have taken differing routes to modernity, both socially and politically.

You will explore Scotland and Scandinavia through their literatures, languages and cultures.

Highlights of the programme include:

* working with the rich range of materials in the School of Scottish Studies Archives

* learning either Danish, Swedish or Norwegian

* studying or working abroad in Year 3

**Scottish Ethnology**

Ethnology is the study of the culture and traditions of developed societies. It is sometimes described as being at the intersection where history and anthropology meet.

Focusing on Scotland, but also looking at comparative material from elsewhere, you will study the varying ways in which a modern European nation expresses itself culturally.

The programme explores questions like:

* how do customs, beliefs, social organisation, language, music and song help to create and shape identity in the modern world?

* how do we use and make sense of the past from within our present?

* how can this understanding help us to shape our future?

Through the School of Scottish Studies Archives, you can access thousands of hours of recordings of songs, music, stories, rhyme and verse in Scots, Gaelic and English, as well as in dialects now extinct.

**Scandinavian Studies**

Scandinavia's screen and literary cultures attract global critical acclaim, and the socio-economic concept of the Nordic Model is widely studied.

On our programme, you have the opportunity to develop advanced spoken and written language skills in modern Danish, Norwegian or Swedish while exploring Scandinavian culture, past and present.

You do not currently need to know a Scandinavian language, as courses are available for beginners. While you will specialise in one language, you will also gain an understanding of the other two we teach to degree level and can choose to explore their similarities and differences.

You will spend Year 3 in either Denmark, Norway or Sweden gaining lived experience of Scandinavian culture.

**Develop skills for a range of careers**

Both sides of this unique joint honours programme give you a nuanced understanding of culture and society, and how these shape our world.

Graduating in this combination shows an openness to ideas and perspectives other than your own, an essential attribute in many careers and a global marketplace.

Over the course of your four years with us, you will gain the practical and intellectual tools to handle and interpret traditional resources, modern media and digital data. You will also learn a language.

As our pre-honours years are very flexible, you will also gain intercultural competencies in other areas of the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Subjects

• Scandinavian studies
• Scottish studies