Teaching and Curriculum
How has the teaching and examining of History at St Andrews changed over the last 120 years? Old exam papers, degree ordinances, and lecture timetables provide some insights into what our women students would have been taught.
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Ann Kettle
Ann Kettle was a lecturer in the Department of Mediaeval History at St Andrews for more than forty years. In addition to her teaching and research, she held various administrative posts in the university. Beyond St Andrews, Ann has made substantial contributions as a campaigner, reviewer, evaluator, and consultant on higher education matters. The following…
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Barbara Crawford
Barbara Crawford lectured in the Department of Medieval History from 1971 until 2001. She had previously been both an undergraduate and postgraduate student at St Andrews, and was the first long-term woman staff member to have a PhD. The following account of her time as a student and researcher at St Andrews was drawn from…
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Past History Papers: 1980s and 1990s
As we explore past exam papers throughout the twentieth century, it is clear they have been getting more and more similar to the examinations that history students at St Andrews sit today. The papers from 1905 were very different in format and content, the papers from the 1950s were starting to offer hints of the…
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Past History Papers: 1970s
Once we reach the 1970s, we finally start to see more diversity in what was being taught and examined in History at St Andrews. The examinations are still being split into general papers on historical period, but we finally start to see what would be a recognisable sight to honours history students today: small and…
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Past History Papers: 1950s
Past exam papers allow us to piece together information about how History at the University of St Andrews was conceptualised and taught to students, and how that differs from different decades throughout the twentieth century and today. The exam papers from the 1950s suggest that the teaching of History was becoming more organised and categorised…
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Past History Papers: 1905
Looking at past papers can offer a great deal of insight into the ways that History was taught, studied and examined in the early years of the twentieth century, when history at the University of St Andrews was still a relatively young discipline with very few students and staff members. In this post I will…
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The Style and Format of Past History Exams
When I began looking at University of St Andrews History examination papers from the twentieth century, I was surprised by how similar they were to the examinations that history students at the university sit today in style, format and content. Looking at the wording of the questions, the content that is being examined and the…
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The joint History-English degree
St Andrews is now well known for offering a variety of joint honour degree courses, but this has not always been the case. In the early twentieth century, students taking an Honours MA (and not all did) took Honours in a single subject – but were expected to have studied at least one other separate…
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History at St Andrews in 1965
In 1965, there was no ‘School of History’ at St Andrews, but History was being taught in a number of different contexts. The annual St Andrews University Calendar [i.e. directory or year book] for 1965-66 provides a fascinating view into the staff, and what they taught. The only three women historians on the staff at…