Undergraduate Course: Improving the Nation. Change and Modernisation in Scotland, 1660-1730 (HIST10379)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the way Scotland was transformed in the period from the Stuart Restoration until the first quarter of the eighteenth century, especially as a result of its engagement with the Continent, as part of the Republic of Letters. |
| Course description |
This course examines the way Scotland was transformed in the period from the Stuart Restoration until the first quarter of the eighteenth century, especially as a result of its engagement with the Continent, as part of the Republic of Letters. The self-conscious ways in which politicians, intellectuals and professionals expressed their concern with Scotland and its place in the world, both in relation to England, to the rest of Europe and the emerging Atlantic empires, sets this period apart from the sixteenth and earlier seventeenth centuries and their culture of migration. It specifically looks at the language and intellectual underpinnings of such various projects of improvement as the quest for a Scottish colony, the reform of the universities, the development of the legal and medical professions and the Union debate.
The course aims to:
- develop an in-depth knowledge and an advanced, critical understanding of processes of modernisation and change in Scotland between c. 1660 and c. 1730
- deepen students' knowledge and understanding of early modern Scottish history
- develop students' skills and confidence in interpreting primary texts;
- develop students' analytical, critical and communication skills, in both written and verbal forms.
Topics and outline:
Historiography; Restoration Scotland; Economic ambitions; Revolution; Civic aspirations; The Universities; The Republic of Letters; Darien; Union; Post-Union Scotland; Improvement & Enlightenment
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Administrator to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503780). |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- a nuanced and critical understanding of the themes of change and modernization in Scottish history from 1660 to 1730.
- a detailed knowledge of key events and developments during that period
- independent research skills commensurate with this level of study, including the ability to identify and organize relevant information on the subject through extensive reading in the relevant literature (using the course bibliography as a starting point)
- the ability to interpret primary sources and to evaluate critically secondary literature on the subject
- the ability to use evidence effectively and argue cogently in writing and orally.
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Reading List
Berry, Christopher J., The Idea of Commercial Society in the Scottish Enlightenment (Edinburgh, 2013)
Emerson, R.L., 'Scottish Universities in the Eighteenth Century, 1690-1800', Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, 167 (1977), 453-474
Idem., 'Sir Robert Sibbald, Kt., The Royal Society of Scotland and the Origins of the Scottish Enlightenment', Annals of Science, 45 (1988), 41-72.
Grafton, Anthony, 'A Sketch of a Lost Continent: The Republic of Letters', Republics of Letters: A Journal for the Study of Knowledge, Politics, and the Arts, 1, no. 1 (May 1, 2009)
Harris, T., 'The People, the Law and the Constitution in Scotland and England: a Comparative Approach to the Glorious Revolution', Journal of British Studies, (1999)
Macinnes, Allan I., Union and Empire. The making of the United Kingdom in 1707 (Cambridge, 2007), Ch. 6 and 7
Mckillop, Andrew (ed.), The State of Early Modern and Modern Scottish Histories, The Scottish Historical Review, Vol. XCII, Supplement: No. 234 (April 2013)
Mijers, Esther 'The Netherlands, William Carstares and the Reform of Edinburgh University 1690-1715', History of Universities, XXV/2 (Oxford, 2011), 111-142
Ouston, Hugh,'Cultural Life from the Restoration to the Union', in: A. Hook ed., The History of Scottish Literature. II 1660-1800 (Aberdeen, 1987), 11-31
Phillipson, N.T. & Mitchison, Rosalind (eds), Scotland in the Age of Improvement: Essays in Scottish History in the Eighteenth Century
Raffe, Alasdair, 'Scotland Restored and Reshaped: Politics and Religion, c. 1660-1712', in T.M. Devine and Jenny Wormald (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History (Oxford: Oxford U.P., 2012)
Smout, T. C., Scottish Trade on the Eve of the Union 1660-1707 (Edinburgh, 1963) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The module also aims to encourage the development of oral communication skills and the student's effectiveness in group situations. Students will also develop their IT skills by use of relevant web resources. |
| Keywords | Nation |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Esther Mijers
Tel: (0131 6)50 3756
Email: E.Mijers@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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