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Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology are disciplines built on the study of culture in context. Ethnologists, folklorists, and ethnomusicologists use ethnographic fieldwork to consider how identity is shaped, maintained, transmitted, and adapted. We analyse the social, political, economic, and psychological forces that construct our humanity in its widest sense from narrating everyday life to customs and oral traditions, from beliefs to musical and artistic production, from foodways to interactions with the environment. We investigate how the practices and traditions of a community, region, or country relate to contemporary issues of identity and community, and how these ideas are enacted in everyday life. The Elphinstone Institute offers a unique approach to MRes and PhD research, developing a broad-based understanding of the disciplines of Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology. Dissertation topics have included material culture, custom and belief, music and song, oral narrative, childlore and games, sports and pastimes, Scots language – with special emphasis on culture and tradition in the Scottish and Scottish diasporic context. Graduates will be versed in the concepts, practical skills, and methodologies of Ethnology, Folklore, and Ethnomusicology. Graduates go on to, for example, careers in the public arts, museums, archives, cultural tourism, music performance and teaching, and academia. Dissertations are fieldwork-based and include the development of practical skills in interviewing, fieldnote taking, audio recording, videography and audio/video editing, photography, cataloging and archiving. Rigorous training is also provided in fieldwork ethics and responsibilities. Both academic and public engagement is encouraged throughout the research programme and students have, in addition to their written dissertations, produced public exhibitions, ethnographic films, podcasts and websites to raise awareness of their academic research.
