Scottish Ethnology

Scottish ethnology is the study of the culture, traditions, customs, oral traditions, material culture and social practices of Scottish society, examined with the rigour and theoretical sophistication of the broader discipline of ethnology. Ethnology sits at the intersection of history and social anthropology, asking not just what traditions people maintain but why, how cultural knowledge is transmitted across generations and what it means for communities to maintain or lose connection with their heritage. Scotland's rich and distinctive cultural inheritance, spanning Gaelic and Scots language traditions, folk music, material culture, oral narrative and rural and urban ways of life, makes it an especially productive field for this kind of inquiry.

At the University of Edinburgh, which holds the Scottish Studies archive and is home to internationally recognised scholars in this field, this four-year, full-time programme develops your skills in ethnological research, oral history methods, archival work and cultural analysis. You will engage with the history of Scottish culture in all its diversity, studying traditions from both Highlands and Lowlands, urban and rural communities, and examining how these traditions intersect with questions of identity, national culture, diaspora and change over time. The programme includes a year abroad, which gives you the opportunity to study comparative ethnological traditions in other countries and to bring an international perspective to the Scottish material.

You will develop strong skills in research, writing and the interpretation of cultural evidence.

Graduates work in museums, archives, heritage organisations, community cultural projects, broadcasting, publishing, education and the arts sector. The skills in research, cultural analysis and the interpretation of oral and material evidence that ethnology develops are valued in a range of roles connected to the preservation and communication of cultural heritage. Some graduates continue to postgraduate study in ethnology, Scottish studies, folklore, anthropology or heritage management, and some pursue academic careers in research and teaching.