Culture, Heritage and History BA (Hons)

What is special about this course?

Combining the complementary subjects of culture and heritage with history, this joint degree covers a wide range of subjects from early history through to the modern day.  You will explore culture, history, language, literature and much more, within a national and international context, preparing you for life beyond university. 

As you progress through the course, you will choose from a combination of modules, equally balanced between the two disciplines. You will have the opportunity to participate in an optional museum studies module, as well as possible volunteering positions across the Highlands.

Please see our FAQ sheet for further information on this course.

Special features

• Study culture, heritage and history in a global context
• Choose from a range of interdisciplinary subjects to suit your own interests and career path
• Gain and polish your research skills
• Study full-time or part-time to suit your personal circumstances
• Individual modules can be studied for personal and professional development

Entry requirements

Entry to year one:

• 3 Scottish Highers at grade BBC or above OR
• 2 A levels at grade BC or above
• At least two should be from the list of relevant academic subjects
• Applicants with other relevant qualifications or experience will be considered on an individual basis

Advanced entry to year two:

• HNC Social Science (12 SQA credits) with 3 additional SQA credits at level 7, which is equivalent to 120 degree credit points, and at least grade C in the Graded Unit will be considered for direct entry to year two

Access routes

SWAP Access courses
If you are eligible to undertake Scottish Wider Access Programmes (SWAP), please visit our SWAP access list for further information on grade profiles and available subjects.

Year 1 - CertHE

Core modules are:

• What is history?

You will also choose one history option module, which may include:

• A Middle Age? Europe c.1100‐1500
• Empire, environment and identity: Scotland, 1600-2000
• People, protest and power: themes in modern British history, 1780-1918

You will also choose two culture and heritage option modules, which may include:

• Scotland: the brand
• Scotland's music
• What is culture?

You will also choose two option modules from our range of humanities and social science subjects.

Year 2 - DipHE

Core modules are:

• Historians and history

You will also choose one history option module, which may include:

• A curious age: European society and culture
• Court, kirk and burgh in medieval and early modern Scotland
• Themes in American history

You will also choose two culture and heritage option modules, which may include:

• Displaying the past: museum studies 
• Golden mead and burning hearts
• Tradition, custom and belief

You will also choose two option modules from our range of humanities and social science subjects.

Year 3 - BA

You will choose at least two history option modules, which may include:

• Conquerors, crusaders and churchmen: the world of the Normans, c.911-c.1204
• Dynastic decline and religious violence: Valois France, 1550-1610
• Jacobites: patriots, rebels or opportunists?
• Land as power: the making of the modern Scottish landscape from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries
• Scots in North America: experience and identity
• Study of things: material culture of medieval and early modern Europe

You will also choose at least two culture and heritage option modules, which may include:

• Celtic and Celtic revival art in Scotland 600-2000
• Perceptions of heritage
• Scotland in film
• The Scottish Enlightenment and Highland society

PLUS

• Interdisciplinary project OR
• Public history

You will choose one further module from one of your two subject areas to ensure that you have a total of three modules from each half of your degree.

Year 4 - BA (Hons)

You will complete a dissertation in culture and heritage OR history. You will also study one option module from your chosen dissertation subject, plus three option modules from the other subject.

Culture and heritage options may include:

• Faeries and fables: the story of Gaelic literature
• For freedom alone: Scotland and philosophy
• Highland journeys
• Vikings and Valkyries

History options may include:

• Death and destruction: the social impact of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) 
• Deviants, rebels, outcasts and villains: history from the margins in medieval and early modern society
• Empire and ‘others’: the shaping of British imperialism in North America
• Reaching the ‘estate of manhood’ in medieval and early modern Europe
• The empire strikes back: how the British empire shaped Scotland

If you wish to exit with a BA (Hons) Culture, Heritage and Scottish History degree you must undertake a Scottish History dissertation plus one further Scottish History module. Alternatively, if you are undertaking a Culture and Heritage dissertation, two of the three History modules must be in Scottish History.

Fees

For students normally domiciled in Scotland, with a term-time address in Scotland, the following fees apply:

This includes

• EU nationals with settled or pre-settled status in the UK,
• EEA/Swiss nationals with settled status in the UK
• EEA/Swiss nationals with pre-settled status who are self-employed or migrant workers in the UK.

Rest of the UK students

For students normally domiciled in the rest of the UK (England, Wales and N. Ireland) or assessed as rest of the UK for fee status the following fees apply:

International students

For students who do not normally reside in the UK studying online from their home country, or living in the UK but assessed as international for fee status, the following fees apply:

This includes EU/EEA and Swiss nationals without settled status in the UK and EEA and Swiss nationals with pre-settled status who are not self-employed or migrant workers in the UK.

A no fee increase guarantee is available for self-funding full-time and structured part-time rest of the UK and international undergraduate students for continuous study for the same award, up to the permitted standard time limit for the relevant award.

Funding

UHI has a number of scholarships, bursaries, awards, and discretionary fund opportunities available to new and current students. Please use the A-Z of funds or use the filter to see which ones may be relevant to you. All students are welcome to apply.

Further information on funding your studies is also available, please see the attached link or contact the relevant UHI partner.