Dissertation

You will undertake a piece of independent research which results in a 30,000 word dissertation which is submitted on an assigned date in August.

You have considerable freedom to define your own dissertation project — it must be a feasible project that one or more staff members have the expertise to supervise. You are expected to have a defined research proposal before applying to this programme and you can discuss this further with the Programme Director or directly with members of academic staff working in your area of interest.

Example dissertation topics

Past dissertation topics have included:

  • Andreas Scheu – The Forgotten Man of Scottish Radical Politics?
  • Changelings, Sexual Violence, and Disordered Eating: Trauma and the nature of fairy belief and spirit guide relationships in early modern Scotland
  • 'Lowland Lords and Highland Chiefs': the Gradation of Cultural Identity Amongst the Perthshire Elite
  • Causes and Results of the Forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles: 1493-1506