Scottish Ethnology and Scandinavian Studies

Scottish ethnology and Scandinavian studies is a combination that sits at a productive intersection of two related but distinct scholarly traditions, both concerned with the cultures, languages, and histories of the northern world. Scottish ethnology is the study of the traditional and contemporary cultures of Scotland, including its material culture, folklore, oral tradition, Gaelic and Scots languages, social customs, and the ways in which communities have created and maintained shared identities over time. Scandinavian studies brings you into contact with the languages and cultures of the Nordic countries, which share deep historical and cultural connections with Scotland through the Viking Age, the Norse settlement of the Northern and Western Isles, and centuries of subsequent cultural exchange.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year full-time programme benefits from one of the UK's leading centres for both disciplines. The School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh has an internationally recognised archive of traditional Scottish culture and a research tradition of remarkable richness, while the Scandinavian studies provision draws on Edinburgh's long engagement with the Nordic world. You will develop proficiency in a Scandinavian language alongside the ethnological methods and frameworks needed to study culture empirically and interpretively, engaging with fieldwork, archival research, oral history, and material culture studies.

A typical entry tariff of 184 points reflects the demanding and distinctive nature of the programme.

Graduates of this combination work in museums, cultural heritage organisations, archives, community arts, broadcasting, journalism, and organisations concerned with the documentation and promotion of Scottish and Nordic cultural life. Many continue to postgraduate study in ethnology, folklore, cultural heritage, Scandinavian studies, or a related area. The combination is distinctive enough that graduates occupy a specialist professional niche with relatively few competitors.