Coastal and Maritime Societies and Cultures MLitt
Course code V300
What is special about this course?
The sea has often acted as a highway for people living along adjacent coasts and on islands; such communities have frequently experienced closer ties with each other than with places further inland. The MLitt Coastal and Maritime Societies and Cultures explores these environments from an interdisciplinary perspective.
This course is based on the internationally significant and world-class research of the staff involved and is led by the university’s Centre for History, in collaboration with our Archaeology Institute and Institute for Northern Studies. MLitt students will study two modules in history, archaeology and northern studies, and then complete a dissertation.
This programme will be of interest to those wishing to develop transferable skills with respect to coastal and maritime themes, and to all who wish to pursue further arts and humanities-based research in these areas.
Taught from the Highlands and Islands, the MLitt Coastal and Maritime Societies and Cultures is available to study from anywhere in the world.
"This masters degree will forever change the way you look at the places where salt water meets the shore." Dr Julie Brown (Professor in English Literature, Clatsop Community College, Oregon, USA).
Special features
- Study on the first ever coastal and maritime themed masters programme
- Opportunity to gain new perspectives on the coast and sea
- Support from expert staff at the university’s Centre for History, Archaeology Institute and Institute for Northern Studies, throughout your studies
- Study online through the university's virtual learning environment which means you can fit your studies around your personal and professional commitments, where it suits you, in the UK and internationally
- Opportunity to study individual modules for personal or professional development, or work towards a PgCert, PgDip, or full masters (MLitt) degree
Entry requirements
- 2:1 honours degree or above (or international equivalent) in: history; Scottish history; archaeology; or culture and heritage studies
- Those with degrees in another strongly-related subject will be considered on an individual basis
*Funding support notice*
Postgraduate Loans (SAAS) (Scotland-domiciled students)
Loans for tuition fees are available from SAAS for eligible Scotland-domiciled students, and loans for living costs for eligible Scottish students.
Access routes
- Students can progress from our undergraduate Humanities degrees
PgCert
Core modules are:
- Rivers, ports and coasts in European history
- Archaeology of the Highlands and Islands
- From Atlantis to Utopia: the nature of ‘islandness’
PgDip
You will choose one option module from each of history, archaeology and northern studies which may include:
History
- Contemplating the clearances
- Introduction to palaeography and languages for North Atlantic history
- Maritime lives: the Scottish northern isles during the Early Modern period
- Primary sources in history
- The lordship of the isles
- Voices from the past: understanding and using oral history
Archaeology
- Digital analysis in archaeology
- Early medieval archaeology
- Exquisite islands
- Iron Age in the Atlantic world
- Neolithic studies
- Research and dissertation skills*
- Vikings and Norse in the North Atlantic
Northern studies
- From Muckle Flugga to Pladda: the Scottish Islands
- Governance in small islands
- Orkney and Shetland: myths and origins
- Selling ‘cold’ islands
- Vikings in the Scottish Islands and the Irish Sea region: settlement, burial and ritual
*Please note: if you wish to undertake a dissertation in archaeology, you must take the ‘Research and dissertation skills’ module as one of your archaeology options.
MLitt
To achieve the award of MLitt Coastal and Maritime Societies and Cultures you must complete a research dissertation which will be taken in any one of the three subject areas of history, archaeology or northern studies.
How will I study my course?
- Full-time
- Part-time (structured)
- Part-time (unstructured)
- You will study through supported online learning using the university's virtual learning environment (VLE)
- In addition to your online studies, archaeology and northern studies modules will have a weekly, two-hour video-conference component
How long will my course last?
- Full-time: 1 year @ 35 hours per week
- Part-time (structured): 2 years @ 17.5 hours per week
- Part-time (unstructured): up to 6 years
Number of hours per week indicates the total number of hours you should dedicate to the course, which includes time spent in online class discussion and lectures and your own time spent on individual study and research.
Where can I study my course?
- UHI Centre for History - You can study this fully online programme from anywhere in the world. You will be enrolled and supported by staff at the Centre for History as well as those from the university's Archaeology Institute and Institute for Northern Studies.
Start date
- September
- January
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.
| 2024-25 | 2025-26 | |
| Per module (20 credits) | £584 | £610 |
| Postgraduate certificate (3 modules, 60 credits) | £1,752 | £1,830 |
| Postgraduate diploma (6 modules, 120 credits) | £3,504 | £3,660 |
| Masters degree (6 modules + dissertation) | £5,256 | £5,490 |
Rest of 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:
| 2024-25 | 2025-26 | |
| Per module (20 credits) | £780 | £840 |
| Postgraduate certificate (3 modules, 60 credits) | £2,340 | £2,520 |
| Postgraduate diploma (6 modules, 120 credits) | £4,680 | £5,040 |
| Masters degree (6 modules + dissertation, 180 credits) | £7,020 | £7,560 |
EU/EEA and Swiss nationals without settled or pre-settled status in the UK
Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the Scottish Government confirmed that EU/EEA and Swiss nationals, who do not have settled or pre-settled status, will be considered as international for fee purposes. These students will get an automatic fee scholarship.
This includes EEA/Swiss nationals with pre-settled status who are not self-employed or migrant workers in the UK.
| 2024-25 | With scholarship | 2025-26 | With scholarship | |
| Per module (20 credits) | £1,110 | £833 | £1,200 | £900 |
| Postgraduate certificate (3 modules, 60 credits) | £3,330 | £2,499 | £3,600 | £2,700 |
| Postgraduate diploma (6 modules, 120 credits, 180 credits) | £6,660 | £4,998 | £7,200 | £5,400 |
| Masters degree (6 modules + dissertation, 180 credits) | £9,990 | £7,497 | £10,800 | £8,100 |
International students
For students who do not normally reside in the UK or European Union, studying online from their home country, or assessed as international for fee status, the following fees apply:
| 2024-25 | 2025-26 | |
| Per module (20 credits) | £1,110 | £1,200 |
| Postgraduate certificate (3 modules, 60 credits) | £3,330 | £3,600 |
| Postgraduate diploma (6 modules, 120 credits, 180 credits) | £6,660 | £7,200 |
| Masters degree (6 modules + dissertation, 180 credits) | £9,990 | £10,800 |
This course is not available to international students requiring Student Route visa sponsorship to study in the UK.
A no fee increase guarantee is available for self-funding full-time and structured part-time rest of the UK, EU and international postgraduate students for continuous study for the same award, up to the permitted standard time limit for the relevant award.
Funding
Eligible Scotland-domiciled students studying full-time can access loans up to £11,500 from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). This comprises a tuition fee loan up to £7,000 and a non-income assessed living cost loan of £4,500.
Eligible Scotland-domiciled students studying part-time can apply for a tuition fee loan from SAAS. You must be intending to complete the course in no longer than twice the length of time it would take for a full-time student. For example, if your course is available to full-time students as a one-year programme, you will be funded for a maximum of two years' part-time study. If your course does not have a full-time option, you must complete within three years. You can apply for a tuition fee loan up to £7,000, which will be paid pro-rata for each academic year of study.
Full details can be found on the SAAS website. Applications for loans open in April.
Students from the rest of the UK who meet the eligibility requirements may be able to apply for a loan from the Student Loan Company.
What can I do on completion of my course?
Once you have successfully completed this course, you might like to consider a career in:
- Heritage and tourism sector
- Teaching
- Media
- Journalism
- Community or adult education
- Museums and libraries
- Research
- Government agencies and local authorities
Can I progress into further study?
You may wish to consider progression to a PhD or MRes at the University of the Highlands and Islands or elsewhere.
Is there more information available online?
You can use the above QR code to connect directly to the course details.
Our staff draw on their research interests in Scottish, British and imperial history, maritime history, and sport, as well as palaeography and languages of the North Atlantic. Students receive a thorough grounding, also, in the ‘history of history’ and the major approaches that historians have taken to our subject.
Our programmes train students in the research methods used by historians and seek to open up a range of new perspectives on local, regional, national and global themes, from the medieval to the modern.
Professor David Worthington, head of the Centre for History.
Apply for Coastal and Maritime Societies and Cultures MLitt
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.