Ethnic and National Identities in Medieval Scotland (P03025)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : HCA-P-ENIMS

Perhaps more than most medieval European kingdoms, the history of medieval Scotland has tended to be highly concerned with issues of ethnic and national identities. This course will introduce students to two broad conceptual themes: the consensus in the humanities that ethnicity or race is historically contingent and culturally constructed, and the debate over premodern national identities. After some consideration of the medieval understanding of ethnic and national identities, this course will concentrate on themes relevant to the history of Scotland. First of these is the sense of Scotland as a collection of diverse peoples and groups in the twelfth century and the development of a ‘national’ Scottish identity in the thirteenth century. Attention will also be paid to other, identities, such as regional identities and pan-national identities based on family and institution. Finally, this course will examine the role of ethnicity in the historiography. Particular emphasis will be placed on the deliberate construction of a national myth during the period of the Wars of Independence, the creation of ‘Celtic’ identity, and the elaboration of a new racially-biased narrative of medieval history during the long nineteenth century. A list of possible essay themes is provided after the bibliography.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Postgraduate (School of History and Classics), (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Schedule E)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

This course is intended to provide students with a thorough grounding in the role played by ethnic and national identities in medieval Scottish historiography. More specifically, students will:

- be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of the role of race and ethnicity in recent humanities debates.
- have an advanced understanding of the processes involved in the development of a national Scottish identity in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
- be able to demonstrate knowledge of the role played by ethnic and national identities in nationalist historiography, particularly in the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries.

They should also be able to demonstrate the following transferrable skills:

- engage in historical debates with evidence drawn from the primary and secondary literature.
- gather relevant evidence independently and apply evidence to a problem
- prepare and present their own work to colleagues in seminars and workshops.
- present their research findings in written form.
- be able to efficiently access library and IT resources.