Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Explore the historical and cultural connections between the North-East of Scotland, Pre-Modern Europe, and the global world. Examine the Medieval and Early Modern periods to understand the fundamental changes that connect the modern world with its past. Tailor your degree through diverse topics delivered by experts across specialisms and access historical archives dating back to the 15th century to advance your learning or career aspirations.

The MLitt enables an interdisciplinary approach to exploring medieval, renaissance, and early modern periods to discover the historical developments in art, literature, the built environment, technologies, practices, belief systems, music, society and more.

We deliver diverse topics from specialisms in art history, Celtic culture, church history and theology, languages, legal history, philosophy, and Scottish and Irish studies, giving the flexibility to tailor the degree to your learning or career aspirations. Our world-class academics teaching the programme offer unrivalled expertise and knowledge, with links to researchers and specialists abroad. We also provide personal reading courses and supervisors with varied specialisms to support your research interests.

At Aberdeen, a lively research community welcomes you. We host an annual postgraduate training weekend for students to collaborate and engage in research at the 18th-century estate in the Scottish countryside, The Burn. You can also participate in student seminars and projects through our various research centres, such as the Centre for Early Modern Studies (CEMS), the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies or the Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine.

You have access to the Museum and Special Archives Collections dating back to the 15th Century, giving you excellent opportunities to exercise your research skills by analysing and interpreting art, objects, and unedited literary and archival sources. These historical treasures include the specialist collections on the early modern history of science and medicine, the MacBean Stuart and Jacobite Collection, the UNESCO UK recognised Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, the Scottish Catholic Archives, and private estate papers from the early modern period in North-East Scotland and its networks in the North Sea and Baltic world, offering a broad insights into the historical and cultural changes.