These online essays were written by students on the VIP: History of the University. Some of them focus on individual students, or small groups of students; others focus on aspects of the University’s teaching and research activities. You can use the tag cloud to explore.
In October 1914, a new cohort of students had just matriculated at United College in the University of St Andrews. But war had broken out just two months earlier, and at least fifteen of the new students would be in…
For some students attending the university in the early twentieth century, studying at St Andrews was a family affair. When William Maddin Scott matriculated in 1913, he carried on a family tradition. This article was…
In the early-twentieth century, an undergraduate degree was the prerequisite for those seeking ministerial careers in the Church of Scotland. So, when four postgraduate research students matriculated at St Mary’s…
When six Chemistry research students arrived at the University of St Andrews in the early 1920s, they joined a department of world-renowned scientists. Within this collaborative environment, each would go on to produce…
For many students coming to St Andrews from working-class communities, a university education offered access to a wider range of occupations. Several students from Fife coal-mining communities who matriculated in the…
David Dick (1896-1984) and Alek Sawyer (1903-1973) grew up in early 20th century Scotland, and both became ministers in the 1920s. The age gap between them was just enough that one served in the Great War, while the…
Today, the University of St Andrews is undoubtedly international: it is estimated that 49% of our current student body is international.[1] But the presence of international students is perhaps not as new a phenomenon…
Today, the humanities – including subjects like Classics – are sometimes criticised for their apparently low employability prospects. Yet the career pathways of Classics graduates at the start of the twentieth century…
Today there are typically more women at university than men, and here at St Andrews, the ratio is currently 59 women to 41 men.[1] But almost one hundred years earlier, the demographic picture was vastly different. In…
It is 1901, and you are going to university. What do you imagine you will study? Greek and Latin were the traditional basis of much education, or you might choose something like medicine, so you can work in a…