History of the University

The History of the University VIP aims to improve our understanding of the relatively-recent history of the University of St Andrews. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are the period in which the curriculum was modernised and expanded (e.g. introducing new honours programmes, and degrees in science and modern languages), and when the student community became more diverse, with the admission of women and the growth in international students. Yet, we currently know much more about the medieval and early modern history of the University than about its more recent past. This project aims to change that, with a particular focus on the student community.

You will work with archival and printed materials from the University Collections (as well as digital resources), and will learn how to analyse these materials to improve our understanding of the staff and student communities of the past.

In 2026 and 2027, our aim is to create a dataset of students at St Andrews from the period 1898-1945. This will ultimately form the basis of an expanded edition of the Biographical Register of the University of St Andrews (which currently covers 1579-1897, see https://arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/biographical-register/). We estimate that there were at least 8,400 graduates of the University in the 1898-1945 period, but their identities, backgrounds and later careers are currently hidden in handwritten ledgers and printed lists held in the University Collections. Ultimately, every historical student will have a standard biographical entry in a new online resource, but the expansion of the Biographical Register is a long-term goal. In the meantime, we will share our ongoing work through a project website.

Each semester, work will proceed in three phases:

Phase I: gathering student names by transcribing the matriculation, academic and graduation records for a specified period;
Phase II: undertaking biographical-historical research to find out more about the family background, academic life, and the later life and career of each student;
Phase III: investigating key trends, statistical findings, or notable individuals (or groups) and writing them up for the project website.

By participating in this VIP, you will:

Learn how to handle and transcribe archival materials in a careful and responsible manner
Gain experience in synthesising and analysing historical information from diverse (primary and secondary) sources to produce a coherent narrative
Gain experience in communicating historical information in different media, genres and registers

Students from any faculty or level may take 10 credits in this VIP.

For higher credit loads, we particularly welcome students from the Faculty of Arts. We would also consider students with statistical or computational skills who would be interested in exploring how to analyse and visualise the data. NB regardless of background, all students will contribute to the transcription work.

Those taking 30 credits should normally be taking History as part of their degree programme (or have a substantial historical element in their degree programme).
Students working on this project will use the following methods and technologies:
- Best-practice for transcription of archival materials, and compilation of a digital resource
- Analyse raw data, and relate it to socio-economic and cultural trends in the history of universities
- Primary historical research to find and extract information from archival, published and online sources
- Draft and edit textual content for a public audience
This project will be assessed through the following coursework:
- Phase I assignment = 20%
- End of semester reflective commentary = 20%
- Online feature stories = 40%
- Weekly logs = 20%

History of the University

Candidate eligibility

Methods and technologies

Assessment