Culture, Heritage and Literature BA (Hons)

Course code V90L

What is special about this course?

Most of our humanities subjects can be studied as joint honours as well as single honours. Joint honours programmes give you the opportunity to combine two subjects, which complement your interests or career goals. You will usually concentrate on both subjects equally. It can be possible to transfer between single and joint honours options, usually during your first or second year, and advice will be available from your personal academic tutor.

This course is aimed at anyone who wishes to study in a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field. You can set your own research agendas, choosing your topics for study at all levels and bringing together the multi-disciplinary teaching and learning you will experience throughout your studies.   

You will have the unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the wealth of the fascinating and varied culture and heritage of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and, using a wide range of authors and texts, from classic to contemporary, explore literature in a global context, looking in-depth at language and literary history.

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

Special features

  • Gain a unique understanding of Scotland and the communities of the Highlands and Islands: the customs, traditions and values
  • Choose from a range of interdisciplinary subjects to suit your own interests and career path
  • 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 Sciences (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

You will study the following modules.

Culture and Heritage

  • Scotland the brand OR What is culture? (S1)
  • Culture. Heritage. What? OR Scotland's music (S2)

Literature

  • Travellers in the wilderness: literature and exile
  • Theories of literature: an introduction

You will also study two option modules from across the university's humanities portfolio.

Year 2 - DipHE

You will study the following modules.

Culture and Heritage

  • Tradition, custom and belief OR Folklore (S1)

You will also choose one of the following (S2):

  • Golden mead and burning hearts
  • Languages on the edge
  • Displaying the past: museum studies

Literature
You will choose two of the following:

  • Mediaeval literature: texts and contexts
  • An introduction to Gaelic poetry
  • Heroic literature: epic from classical to contemporary
  • Theatrical powerplay: classical and modern tragedy

You will also choose two option modules from across the university's humanities portfolio.

Year 3 - BA

You will study one core module:

  • Interdisciplinary project (S1)

Culture and Heritage

Plus two options which may include:

  • Perceptions of heritage (S2)
  • Scotland in film (S1)
  • The Scottish Enlightenment and Highland society (S2)

Literature
You will study three modules, which may include:

  • Imagining new worlds: renaissance literature and thought
  • Nature writing and ecology
  • Continental philosophy
  • Romantic genius: Scottish and European literature, 1750–1830
  • Risk anything! The modernist short story
  • Literary borrowings: adaptations and appropriations

Year 4 - BA (Hons)

You will complete a dissertation in either Culture and Heritage or Literature. You will also study one option module from your chosen dissertation subject, plus three option modules from the other subject.

Culture and Heritage

  • Scottish tradition in philosophy
  • Faeries and fables: the story of Gaelic literature
  • Visual research methods
  • Highland journeys
  • Vikings and Valkyries

Literature

  • Avant-garde literature
  • Apocalyptic fictions
  • Metafiction: self-referential texts
  • Satire: the art of attack
  • Past and present: historiography

How will I study my course?

  • Full-time
  • Part-time (structured)
  • Part-time (unstructured)
  • You will learn through a combination of scheduled video conference lectures and tutorials, and online study via the university’s virtual learning environment (VLE), with support from your tutors. There is normally a weekly two-hour timetabled video conference lecture for each module.

How long will my course last?

  • Full-time: 4 years @ 40 hours per week
  • Part-time (structured): 8 years @ 20 hours per week

Number of hours per week indicates the total number of hours you should dedicate to the course, which includes time spent in lectures and your own time spent on individual study and research.

Where can I study my course?

  • Argyll
  • HTC
  • Inverness
  • Moray
  • North, West and Hebrides
  • Orkney
  • Shetland
  • This fully online course can be studied from anywhere in the world
  • Students based near to one of the listed campuses should apply to, and be enrolled and supported by, their local campus
  • All other students should apply to, and will be enrolled and supported by, UHI Orkney

Start date

  • September

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.
  2023-24 2024-25
Full-time (120 credit modules) per year £1,820 £1,820
Part-time (structured) (3 x 20 credit modules) per year £915 £915
Part-time (unstructured per module) (per 20 credit module) £305 £305

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:

  2023-24 2024-25
Full-time online per year (120 credit modules) £6,120 £6,120
Part-time online (per 20 credit module) £1,020 £1,020

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.

  2023-24 2024-25
Full-time online per year (120 credit modules) £6,540 £6,960
Part-time online (per 20 credit module) £1,090 £1,160

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.

What can I do on completion of my course?

Once you have successfully completed your BA (Hons) Culture, Heritage and Literature, you might like to consider careers in:

  • Primary and secondary teaching  
  • Tourism 
  • Research and academia  
  • Museums, archives and libraries sector 
  • Government agencies and local authorities 
  • Research and academia  
  • Community development 
  • Marketing and PR  
  • Policy development  
  • Journalism and the media 

Can I progress into further study?

You can progress from the BA (Hons) Culture, Heritage and Literature to the following postgraduate courses:

Is there more information available online?

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Apply for Culture, Heritage and Literature BA (Hons)

I want to start in Aug/Sep 2025

We are delighted that you are thinking about studying at the University of the Highlands and Islands. We operate a fair and open admissions system committed to equality of opportunity and non-discrimination. We consider all applications on merit and on the basis of ability to achieve, without discrimination on grounds of gender, age, disability, ethnicity and socio-economic background. We welcome applications from all prospective students and aim to provide appropriate and efficient services to students with disabilities.