Share in:

Have you always wanted to try to write poetry but never quite managed to start? This unit is designed to illustrate the techniques behind both the traditional forms of poetry and free verse. You will learn how you can use your own experiences to develop ideas and how to harness your imagination.

Share in:

The heritage traditions of Scotland are unique in comparison to the rest of Britain. This unit uses two case studies to demonstrate how heritage sites have helped to forge the Scottish national identity and history.

Share in:

From Catholic rebellion to Civil War, what happened during the latter years of the reign of Charles I that caused people to take up arms against their fellow citizens? This unit looks at the background of the wars between England, Scotland and Ireland and how the king’s actions led to the rift between royalists and parliamentarians.

Share in:

Childcare, education, working conditions, healthcare, crime … these issues are hotly debated in today's society. They are also issues that Robert Owen, seen by some as a visionary and by others as a knave and a charlatan, sought to address in the early 1800s. This unit uses a series of essays written by Owen to explore the ideas of this important and controversial figure.

Share in:

This unit examines Hume's reasons for being complacent in the face of death, as these are laid out in his suppressed essay of 1755, ‘Of the immortality of the soul’. More generally, they examine some of the shifts in attitude concerning death and religious belief that were taking place in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century, through examination of this and other short essays.

Share in:

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the approach to medicine was vastly different from today. Health is now recognised, at least in most European countries, as a universal right, but what was it like in the past? How did social and political boundaries affect access to treatment, and what were the treatments of the day? This unit examines how Scottish healthcare institutions were influenced by these underlying social, economic, political and cultural contexts.

Share in:

This unit examines the role that Scots played in contributing to the developments in healthcare during the nineteenth century. The radical transformation of medicine in Europe included the admission of women as doctors and the increased numbers of specialised institutions such as asylums. Such developments were also influenced by wider social, economic, political and cultural backgrounds – these are also examined.

Share in:

Sorley Maclean (1911-1996) is regarded as one of the greatest Scottish poets of the twentieth century. This unit will introduce you to his poetry and give you an insight into the cultural, historical and political contexts that inform his work. MacLean wrote in Gaelic and the importance of the language to his work is also examined.

Share in:

How is it that a small, poor country in northern Europe became one of the most dynamic centres of Enlightenment thinking? This unit examines the cultural, intellectual and religious characteristics of Scotland in the eighteenth century that led to the emergence of such intellectual pioneers as James Hutton, Joseph Black and William Cullen, and briefly describes their key ideas and findings.

Share in:

Modern Scotland is a multi-lingual country. Gaelic, Scots and English, along with newer introductions from Europe and beyond, all influence the way Scotland’s people now speak to each other and to the rest of the world. Created with the positive encouragement of Bòrd na Gàidhlig and with support from BBC Alba, this unit – available in both

Share in:

Scotsman John Napier is best known to for his treatise on Protestant religion. However, it was his interest in a completely different subject that radically altered the course of mathematics. After forty years of dabbling in maths, he revealed his table of logarithms in the early 17th century.