Place and Community-based Projects in the Western Isles

Dr Iain Robertson reflects on his recent trip to visit his PhD students in Harris and South Uist content

Dr Iain Robertson reflects on his recent trip to visit his PhD students in Harris and South Uist

Over the last two years I have been very lucky to have been the lead supervisor on two successful bids to The Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities Collaborative Doctoral Awards scheme. To be eligible for these awards projects must be based on and in a partnership with a non-Higher Education Institution. It has been hugely rewarding to have worked with the West Harris Trust and Ceòlas Uibhist to develop these studentships and now to be a co-supervisor with colleagues from both wonderful organisations.

What is so very exciting about both projects is that they reflect and extend the Centre’s deep interest in community-based history through a distinct place-based approach. As such both also reflect our growing partnership with the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community (CHPPC) at the Institute of Historical Research. The CHPPC’s focus in on the localised, the micro-historical, and the site-specific. We began our collaboration with a summer internship and will continue it this autumn through a seminar in their People, Place and Community series.

Group of two men and two women smiling at the camera(from left to right) - Iain Robertson, Mhairi Ferrier, Rebecca Rennell and John Joe MacNeil (Photo: Iain Robertson)A stone house with a thatched roof that now has grass growing from it.

Taighean Tughaidh (a traditional blackhouse) in the Outer Hebrides (Photo: Iain Robertson)

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It is entirely appropriate, then, that I recently visited students and organisations in their “place”. I first made my way to Harris for a series of meetings with our student, Jo MacDonald. Jo’s project celebrates the fact that West Harris is the only estate to have passed from governmental to community ownership, explores the history of that transfer and its consequences. Jo also aims to learn from the community what they wish to take from their past and present to preserve as future heritage.

From Harris it was another ferry trip through the Sound to Berneray and North Uist and then on to Daliburgh in South Uist. Here Mhairi Ferrier has just started studying the island’s blackhouses or Taighean Tughaidh as they should more properly be known. This is also a "placed" community history collaboration which, very excitingly, will combine archaeological survey and recording of selected Taighean Tughaidh with memories of living with them. Therefore, it was perfect to be able to meet with Mhairi “in place” and to help her get a feel for her project sites. As she said, ‘Being physically present in South Uist allowed me to think about the project in ways that I hadn’t been able to thus far. Visualisation is something I find necessary to really get into a project, being able to spend time in the landscape and really take it all in has guided me to some questions and perspectives to consider’.

What is also exciting about these PhDs is that both involve collaborations with UHI partner colleges. Rebecca Rennell is a co-supervisor on the Taighean Tughaidh project and Domhnall Uilleam Stewart is undertaking the same role on the West Harris one. Collaboration is exactly what UHI is about!

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We look forward to bringing you more updates on both projects. For full project titles and supervisors, please see below.

Jo MacDonald - The past, present and future of a community-owned estate: building resilient ‘future heritage’ in West Harris / Oighreachd an seilbh Coimhearsnachd, An-Dè, An-Diugh, agus A-Màireach: a’ togail dualchas a mhaireas air Taobh Siar na Hearadh

Supervisors:

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

Supervisors: