Hear from members of the undergraduate staff within the School.
We are delighted that you are considering a degree programme with us and hope to welcome you to the School in the very near future. While you will be supported and taught by many staff members during your studies, here are three key contacts - Ewen, Esther and Anne - to welcome you to our community and share their thoughts on what makes Edinburgh such a great place to study.
Our School is a vibrant academic community. All three disciplines represented are concerned with the study of the human past: historians, classicists and archaeologists have much in common with each other. Together we form a diverse and international community and you will have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. We will encourage you to be adventurous, try out new areas of study and take the chance to explore disciplines and languages you have not studied before. The Scottish degree system allows breadth of study over four years and Edinburgh has a greater range of choice than most institutions – take advantage of that – your wider student life should be enriched by your experience.
Our priority is to ensure the high quality delivery of our undergraduate degrees in order to guarantee you an excellent education, whilst also preparing you for life after graduation. Academic rigour coupled with employability is at the heart of our degrees. Our hands-on innovative approach will equip you with the skills, insights and perspectives necessary to enhance your career prospects. By choosing to study with us you’ll be investing in an education that offers the very best in teaching and research, and one that will help you build a successful future. On the social side we recognise that the friends you meet, places you discover and the lasting memories you create will contribute as much to your university life as your formal learning. Our undergraduate population is large and diverse with plenty of opportunities to meet other students, but the School still retains a real sense of kinship enjoyed by students and staff alike.
As Undergraduate Director, I have several roles. Firstly, I’m committed to help our students achieve their best possible performance during their time at Edinburgh – from finding your feet when you first arrive, to helping you truly excel in your Honours year. I’m also here to support staff in the provision of all their diverse teaching and assessment activities and, as you might imagine, this has been very challenging in the last two years. However, HCA quickly adapted to deliver a high-quality degree experience no matter what restrictions were placed on us. It is good to see students and staff returning to our lecture theatres, and it’s clear that everyone is bringing new ‘lockdown skills’ to the learning process. Finally, I play a role in a vital balancing act: maintaining our high standards of education, while also driving forward the changes that keeps our degree programmes fresh and fit for purpose – to produce skilled graduates ready for all of the challenges of the 21st century.
