Humanities, Higher Education, and the Digital Age: An Overview of the Provision of Online Taught Postgraduate Programmes at the Four Ancient Scottish Universities

As demonstrated by their fundamental role in our modern societies, the humanities represent an important area of research and study at university level. However, in the light of increased social, economic, and political interest in STEM-related subjects, the humanities appear to have become less prominent in recent years. Noting the rise of online education, this study presents and analyses the online taught postgraduate provision currently available at the four ancient universities in Scotland (St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh). After a short historical summary of the position of the humanities in university education, as well as the particularities of Scotland and the four selected universities, this study employs a qualitative and desk-based approach to analyse the relevant online programmes. It aims to look at the types of subject areas covered, the level of qualifications available, as well as giving a comparative overview of the different offerings, thus illustrating and discussing the range of online humanities-based provision at the present time.