Syllabus
1. Scottish history from the Late Medieval Ages to the late 1770s
2. Scottish history from the 1780s to the 1837
3. Scotland’s Regions
4. Social Background
5. Science and Medicine
6. Philosophy and Education
7. Church and Universities
8. Lawyers and Law-Breakers
9. Culture and Literature
10. Sir Walter Scott
11. Sir Walter Scott’s Circle
12. Scottish National Movement
13. Nationalism after 1822
Annotation
The end of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century was a period of Scotland’s prosperity. Several military conflicts between England and Scotland ended in fiasco, so the Scots engaged in intellectual and economic rivalry with the rest of the UK.
Edinburgh was soon proudly nicknamed "Athens of the North", while Glasgow and other Scottish major cities were growing in economic importance. In 1822 King George IV made a visit to Scotland and the Scottish national movement paradoxically culminated in a reconciliation with England.
The seminar will begin with an overview of the history of Scotland from the Late Middle Ages to Queen Victoria's ascension to the throne. Following lessons will focus on the social condition and problems as well as on the regional differences in the Georgian Scotland.
We will discuss science, medicine (Scotland became a major centre of medical teaching and research), philosophy, education, churches, universities, the law (and its opposite - the criminal underworld) in the Scottish Enlightenment. The final lessons of the seminar will be devoted to the Scottish national movement, which was greatly influenced by literature, the world's most successful novelist Sir Walter Scott became also a leading figure of the movement…