Mhairi Ferrier

Home, hearth and heritage – exploring multi-disciplinary approaches in engaging fragile, living heritage.

Supervised by Dr Iain Robertson, Dr Rebecca Rennell (Archaeology) and John Joe MacNeil (partner supervisor from Ceòlas Uibhist.)

My project is a Collaborative Doctoral Award funded by SGSAH and is focused on the Taighean Tughaidh (domestic dwellings maintained and lived-in from the mid-18th until the late 20th century) in South Uist. This is a multi-disciplinary project bringing together archaeology and oral history techniques to engage with the living Gaelic culture and heritage and use this to better understand and engage with the Taighean tughaidh. I’ll be working collaboratively with the local community, supported by my partner organisation (Ceòlas Uibhist) to better understand the cultural and historical significance of these dwellings. Alongside the thesis, the output of this project will be the creation of an online archive utilising both historical recording and archaeological work conducted throughout the project, allowing the community and wider interested parties to continue engaging with it after the conclusion of the project.

This is an ambitious project, however adopting a multi-disciplinary approach will allow a better understanding of the Taighean tughaidh in both the post medieval archaeological landscape and the cultural memory of South Uist.

Outside of this project my research interests are mostly focused on the social and cultural history of modern and contemporary Scotland, primarily the Highlands and Islands. I am especially interested in protest, infrastructure and documentary film history. I enjoy utilising multi-disciplinary approaches and think they can offer something innovative to historical research by engaging with other disciplines and methods.

Before I began my doctoral studies I previously worked in the museum and heritage sector.

I previously studied at the University of Edinburgh, where I gained an MA (Hons) degree and a MSc by research degree, both, in History.  For my undergraduate dissertation I researched the Skye Bridge Anti-Toll Movement, 1995-2004 focusing on the role of protest group Skye and Kyle Against the Tolls (SKAT). My MSc project examined the depictions of the Highlands and Islands within the Films of Scotland collection, 1955-82. When I have the time I plan to work on publications from both of these projects, as well as conducting further research in these areas. I would be interested in chatting with anyone who has an interest in these topics.

I loved my time studying in Edinburgh but I am very excited to be completing my PhD at the Centre for History studying within the region that my research focuses on. Although I am registered through the CfH, I am physically based at Cnoc Soilleir in South Uist with UHI North, West and Hebrides and Ceòlas.