Dr Sarah Leith
Associate Lecturer in the History of Scotland and the Wider World, c.1707-c.1914
Biography
A cultural historian of modern Scotland and the wider world, my research lies at the intersection of politics and culture, with particular interests in Scottish identity, print culture and environmental thought. My articles have been published within Northern Scotland and the Scottish Literary Review, and my first monograph is under contract with Edinburgh University Press.
From 2024 to 2025, I am co-investigator for a Royal Society of Edinburgh-funded Small Research Grant project. Additionally, I am a member of the Steering Group of the AHRC-funded Scottish Magazines Network.
I have been Communications Manager for the Institute of Scottish Historical Research since 2018. As Communications Officer for the School of History, I was the editor of the 2023 and 2024 editions of the School's alumni magazine, The St Andrews Historian.
Previously, I have been employed as a Lecturer and Research Assistant at the University of Glasgow, working within its School of Critical Studies and its Centre for Robert Burns Studies.
Teaching
Sub-honours
MO2008: Scotland, Britain and Empire, c.1707-2000
HI2001: History as a Discipline: Development and Key Concepts
HI1801: Scotland's History: Kingdom, Nation, People
Honours
MO3264: Microhistories of a Global Nation: Scotland, c.1707-c.1843 (module co-ordinator)
HI4101: Communication in History (module co-ordinator)
HI4999: Honours Dissertation in History
HI4998: Honours Project in History
Postgraduate
SC5204: Building Britain: The Construction and Deconstruction of Britishness, 1707-2000
MO5152: Global Times - Plural Spaces 2
HI5107: Directed Reading in Transnational History
MO5999: Dissertation for MLitt Programmes
Selected publications
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Institutions, organisations and prizes
Leith, S. J. H., 28 Mar 2025, (Accepted/In press) Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia to Scottish Literature. Carruthers, G. & Hansen, M. (eds.). Wiley-BlackwellResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
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Land, Community, Culture: Scottish Magazines, the Environment and 'The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil', 1968-1975
Leith, S. J. H., 27 May 2025, (Accepted/In press) Scottish Magazines and Political Culture, 1968-1999. Bell, E., Hames, S. & Petrie, M. (eds.). Edinburgh University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Scottish history, culture and Robert Burns's handwriting: Burns Chronicle reports of manuscript forgery from c.1892 to c.1978
Leith, S. J. H., 19 May 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Burns Chronicle. 134, 2Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
The University of St Andrews and the legacies of Empire, 1700-1900
Fyfe, A., Robinson, I., Vancisin, T., Leith, S. J. H. & Ylitalo, M. W., 13 Mar 2025, St Andrews: University of St Andrews. 86 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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'And on one toils, into the hill': working and walking in Nan Shepherd's North East
Leith, S. J. H., 1 Apr 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Studies in Scottish Literature. 50, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Bog, bothy, Zen: introducing Sydney Scroggie's environmental and metaphysical thought
Leith, S. J. H., 1 Jun 2023, In: Northern Scotland. 14, 1, p. 60-79 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Review of The Living World: Nan Shepherd and Environmental Thought by Samantha Walton
Leith, S. J. H., 1 May 2022, In: Northern Scotland. 13, 1, p. 83-86Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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Hames, The Literary Politics of Scottish Devolution: Voice, Class, Nation
Leith, S. J. H., 1 Mar 2021, In: Scottish Historical Review. 100, 1, p. 167-169Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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McCaffery (ed.), Sydney Goodsir Smith, Poet: Essays on His Life and Work
Leith, S. J. H., 1 Mar 2021, In: Scottish Historical Review. 100, 1, p. 166-167Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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Sensuality, nationality, country: connecting the Muirs, Naomi Mitchison, and Hamish Henderson in Scotland's long renaissance
Leith, S. J. H., 8 Dec 2021, In: Scottish Literary Review. 13, 2, p. 51-70 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review