Subjects
Aside from the compulsory three modules in English, Psychology, and Information Technology, you can choose modules to suit your interests from the range available each year.
Some subjects are offered at lower levels only, and others progress into more specialised Level 3 modules, which can be taken toward the end of your degree programme.
The following subjects are offered as part of the MA Combined Studies. Not all subjects are offered every year.
“I can hand-on-heart say that every single module I took, as diverse as they were, were all superb.”
- Ishbel, 2024 graduate
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Explore artistic periods, movements and new developments from the Renaissance period in the late Middle Ages to Post-Impressionism and Avant-Garde movements in the 20th century.
Examine the themes, subjects and ideas developed by these movements through scrutinising a variety of media, including:
- paintings
- architecture
- photographs
- monuments
- set designs
Develop your critical thinking by analysing artistic and literary texts and discussing various topics, such as how the artists revealed the changing social and cultural concerns and ideas of their day.
Modules running in 2024-2025 are:
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Biology concerns itself with the study of life, examining living organisms to discover:
- what they are made of
- how they function and grow
- how they behave and interact with their environment
- where they are distributed
- where they originated
- how they have evolved.
You will cover a broad range of biological fields of study, providing you with an introduction to the topics, skills and methods required for scientific study. You will then build on this knowledge through critically analysing and interpreting scientific literature.
There are no biology modules scheduled for the academic year 2024-2025, but modules may be available in future years.
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Students will learn about modern developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and develop transferable skills that can be applied in different areas of work and study. The School of Computer Science is rated highly for teaching and research, with enthusiastic and friendly staff, a building with top-class 24-hour facilities, and a great reputation amongst students and graduates.
Module running in 2024-2025 is:
- Level 1: Information Technology 1
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Students of Earth sciences will be equipped with a fundamental understanding of natural processes, allowing graduates to address many of the greatest challenges facing science and society, including natural hazards, resource security, and environmental change.
There are no Earth sciences modules scheduled for the academic year 2024-2025, but modules may be available in future years.
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Literature expresses the values and aspirations, the certainties and uncertainties of the societies in which it was created. To study English at university is to take up these questions in a rigorous and systematic way, relating them to a literary culture of exceptional richness and diversity, extending over a thousand years and more.
In the School of English, eminent scholars and critics of literature from the Middle Ages to the present day work alongside some of Scotland’s leading creative writers.
Modules running in 2024-2025 are:
- Level 1: Reading English
- Level 2: Writing Scotland: Creative and Critical Approaches
- Level 3: Crime and Passion in Popular Culture 2: Since 1900
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When undertaking the study of geography, students explore a fascinating range of important environmental, cultural and economic phenomena at local, national and global scales. Geography offers an exciting challenge to those who wish to think critically and creatively about the world around them.
There are no geography modules scheduled for the academic year 2024-2025, but modules may be available in future years.
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By studying history at St Andrews, you will experience a range of expertise in many areas of the past, including medieval and modern history, from Scotland to Greater Europe, East Asia and beyond.
Thematic interests within the School of History include:
- religious history
- urban history
- transnationalism
- historiography
- nationalism
St Andrews is a medieval town teeming with history, allowing you to be immersed in the history you study.
Modules running in 2024-2025 are:
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Management is the study of how people at all levels organise and coordinate the activities and resources of organisations towards its goals.
You will examine the nature of contemporary thinking about management in an organisational context and develop an awareness of the key management skills, behaviours and theories. You will also have the opportunity to engage in class discussions and relate your own, and others’, experiences to the theoretical concepts learned each week.
Whether you are seeking a rewarding career in management or are a current manager wanting to develop in your role, this course will challenge your understanding of what makes a good manager and will allow you to appreciate the complex skills needed by managers.
Module running in 2024-2025 is:
- Level 2: The Effective Manager
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Mathematicians seek to understand complex patterns and structures and develop the tools with which to analyse them. Whether these patterns relate to physical or biological phenomena or the structure of mathematics itself, the primary aim is to describe, categorise, and understand the processes involved.
Historians of mathematics study the way mathematicians have developed mathematics and related to societies in the past.
Module running in 2024-2025 is:
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The study of philosophy is concerned with trying to make sense of ourselves and the world we live in through rational argument. Philosophy attempts to examine and answer questions raised by natural science, by art and literature, by the nature of language and communication, and by history.
You will become familiar with views put forward by the principal figures of the philosophical tradition and learn how to rationally and independently assess your own arguments.
Modules running in 2024-2025 are:
- Level 1: Morality and Human Nature
- Level 2: Matters of Life and Death
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Physics is a key subject for understanding the world and universe. While there is much that is known, there is still a great deal to be explored. Physics goes all the way from abstract theoretical physics to experimental investigations that can be directly applied to new technologies.
Astrophysics applies the laws of physics and chemistry to study the physical nature of stars and celestial bodies. With access to the University’s own Observatory, students are able to get a close-up view of our magnificent universe.
There are no physics or astronomy modules scheduled for the academic year 2024-2025, but there will be modules in this subject available in future years.
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Modern psychology focuses on the understanding of perception, cognition, motivation and behaviour at several different levels, from the study of the brain to complex social interactions of humans and animals.
Psychology at St Andrews is taught with an emphasis on understanding how the mind and brain work to facilitate our behaviour.
Modules running in 2024-2025 are:
- Level 1: Introduction to Psychology 1
- Level 2: Introduction to Psychology 2
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Social anthropology is a constantly evolving, well-established discipline that asks the fundamental question of ‘what it is to be human’. It seeks to answer this by examining the diverse ways in which human beings establish and live social lives in the contemporary world.
Anthropologists stress the importance of understanding other ways of life, learning about different cultures and the limits to aspects of our own society and culture.
Modules running in 2024-2025 are:
- Level 1: An Introduction to Anthropology
- Level 2: Today’s World
- Level 3: An Anthropology of Global Social Issues
- Level 3: City Life: From Ur to Athens to Motown