Culture, Heritage and Sociology BA (Hons)

Course code V90S

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 covers:

  • Culture and heritage: cultural identity of the Highlands and Islands, its communities and issues affecting the region, within the context of Scotland, the British Isles and internationally
  • Sociology: the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society

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  Science (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)

Sociology

  • Understanding the social world OR Introduction to psychology
  • Making social lives OR Questions in psychology

Plus 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 study one of the following:

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

Sociology
You will study two of the following:

  • Sociological theory
  •  Beliefs, culture and community
  • Qualitative research methods

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

Year 3 - BA

You will study the following modules:

  • Interdisciplinary project (S1)

Culture and Heritage

Plus two options which may include (S2):

  • Perceptions of heritage
  • Scotland in film
  • Celtic and Celtic Revival Art in Scotland 600-2000
  • The Scottish Enlightenment and Highland society

Sociology
Modules may include:

  • Advanced social research methods
  • Work and society
  • Gender, crime and justice
  • Frontiers, landscapes and journeys
  • Issues of risk
  • Developmental psychology: learning in the classroom

Year 4 - BA (Hons)

You will complete a dissertation in either Culture and Heritage or Sociology.

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 (S1)
  • Faeries and fables: the story of Gaelic literature (S1)
  • Highland journeys (S2)
  • Vikings and Valkyries (S2)

Sociology

  • Insiders and outsiders in society
  • Network society: mass media and the information age
  • Restorative justice: ideas and values
  • Cultural criminology
  • Developmental Disorders
  • The darker side of the internet
  • Cognition, communication and eLearning
  • Psychopathology: mental health and wellbeing

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
  • Perth
  • Shetland

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 Sociology, you might like to consider careers in:

  • Primary and secondary teaching in english, history and modern studies
  • Journalism and the media
  • Tourism
  • Museums and archives
  • Research

Can I progress into further study?

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

Is there more information available online?

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I love Shetland and couldn’t really imagine living in a city. This course allows me to study while continuing to work and live in the same place. Through my work I have a passion for Shetland and the History of the Highlands and Islands, so this course seemed to be the perfect progression in my education.

Ailish Parham, BA (Hons) Culture and Heritage student.

Apply for Culture, Heritage and Sociology BA (Hons)

I want to start in Aug/Sep 2024

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.