Celtic & Anglo - Saxon Studies

Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies Department at Aberdeen is the only one of its kind in Scotland. Focusing on the literature and culture of early and mediaeval Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, as well as Normandy, Scandinavia and Iceland, we pursue interdisciplinary research in collaboration with neighbouring disciplines, especially Gaelic, Scandinavian Studies, History and English.

Our primary research specialisms include:

• Interactions between the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon worlds and Classical literature
• Gods, monsters and Otherworlds in mediaeval and modern literature
• Celtic and Germanic heroic tales
• New Testament apocrypha in the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon worlds
• Comparisons between Gaelic and Nordic literature and folklore
• Kingship in the Gaelic world
• Mediaeval understandings of history and fiction

Postgraduate degrees in Gaelic or Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Studies can lead to careers in University teaching and research, but they can also lead to careers in, for example, the civil service, tourism, heritage management and the media. With the implementation of the Gaelic Language Act, special opportunities may be expected to arise for graduates who have acquired the ability to speak and write Scottish Gaelic with fluency.

Please note that part-time study is not available for resident international students. The PhD may be conducted, full-time or part-time, by distance learning, which carries no residency requirement.

The PhD at the University of Aberdeen is a research degree. Research degrees are defined by the student’s own research proposal, on which the student will write a thesis. Research students read on their own research topic and work closely with their supervisors to define their research and write a thesis. They also attend regular research seminars, are provided with opportunities to attend conferences and for some postgraduates, there are opportunities to gain undergraduate teaching experience.