About Us
Founded in 2007, the Institute of Scottish Historical Research draws together a thriving community of historians, postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers and visiting fellows and scholars working on all periods of Scottish history from the early Middle Ages to the present. It is the largest institute for research into Scotland’s past and holds a central place in the life of Scottish historians at the University of St Andrews.
Director
Professor Michael Brown
I have published books on the personal reign of James I of Scotland (1424-1437), the Black Douglases and on the battle of Bannockburn in its wider context. I am also the author of The Wars of Scotland 1214-1371; Disunited Kingdoms: People and Power in the British Isles 1280-1460 and co-editor (with Katie Stevenson) of Medieval St Andrews. My research is on Scotland in the period c.1200-c.1500, in particular politics and elite society and on the lands of Britain and Ireland during the same period. I teach modules on Edward I, Scotland and Wales, the Castle in Medieval Scotland, Political conflicts in fifteenth century western Europe, and Robert Bruce and Edward II.
Members
Dr Amy Blakeway
I am a historian of sixteenth-century Scotland. For the academic year 2023-4 I have funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh for a research project on the Anglo-Scottish wars of the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots, including writing a monograph and delivering workshops on this subject in primary schools and high schools throughout Scotland.
Professor Margaret Connolly
Professor of Palaeography and Codicology in the Schools of English and History, and Director of the St Andrews Institute in Medieval Studies.
Mr Tom Dawson
Professor Aileen Fyfe
I am a historian of science, knowledge and its communication. I’m interested in what people know, and how they learn it. My research usually focuses on Scotland, Britain and beyond, from c.1700 to the present, and I have investigated travel guidebooks, religious tracts, scientific journals, museums, universities and publishing companies, among other things. My books include Steam-Powered Knowledge (2012, a study of an Edinburgh publishing firm) and A History of Scientific Journals (2022). I am currently involved in two projects on the modern history of the University of St Andrews: one is investigating the university’s historic connections to colonialism and empire; while the other investigates the experiences of academic women historians in the twentieth century.
Professor Colin Kidd
Dr Sarah Leith
I am an Associate Lecturer (Education Focused) in the History of Scotland and the Wider World and my interests lie at the intersection of modern Scottish politics and culture, most especially identity, environmental thought and Scotland’s global connections. My articles have been published by Northern Scotland and Scottish Literary Review and my book reviews have been published within The Scottish Historical Review and Northern Scotland. This year, I am a co-investigator of a Royal Society of Edinburgh Small Research Grant project, which is entitled ‘A history of the Saltire Society: Setting and achieving national cultural priorities’.
Dr Christine McGladdery
Dr James Nott
Dr Derek Patrick
Dr Malcolm Petrie
Dr Jacqueline Rose
Dr Valerie Wallace
I am primarily interested in the influence of Scottish ideas, particularly those associated with Scotland’s distinctive religious and legal institutions, in the settler colonies of Britain’s nineteenth-century empire. My first book, Scottish Presbyterianism and Settler Colonial Politics: Empire of Dissent (2018), which won the Frank Watson prize for best first book in Scottish history, examined the subversive politics of Scottish religious dissenters in the Anglophone world during the age of revolution and reform. Current research, funded by a major grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand, considers the role of Scots law in the British empire. In addition, I manage People of Parliament, a digital resource on New Zealand’s parliamentary history for researchers, students and the public, which includes the first searchable database of New Zealand’s politicians, past and present. I also co-edit the Journal of Scottish Historical Studies.
Professor Alex Woolf
I am responsible for delivering the teaching of Scottish History up to the early thirteenth century with a particular focus on the long seventh century and the latter part of the Viking Age. I have a background in medieval literature and archaeology as well as history. My textbook, From Pictland to Alba, Scotland 789-1070, won the Saltire prize and I have published many articles and book chapters on a variety of topics.
Working on the period before the Scottish polity expanded to cover the majority of its present territory, I believe that it is important to understand Scotland within its regional context. Scotland is, after all, the place where Ireland, England, and Norway come together.
Honorary Members
Professor T. C. Smout – Historiographer Royal in Scotland
Dr Barbara Crawford
Dr David Dobson
Dr John Gilbert
Dr Alexia Grosjean
Professor Rab Houston
Professor Roger Mason
Dr Peter Maxwell-Stuart
Dr Norman Reid
Dr Kathrin Zickermann
Associates
Mr Daryl Green – Special Collections Rare Books Librarian (Collections Management)
Mrs Rachel Hart – Deputy Head of Special Collections and Muniments Archivist
Mrs Elizabeth Henderson – Special Collections Rare Books Librarian
Dr Gillian MacIntosh –