History masterclass to inspire pupils

A leading scholar is to meet school pupils at a one-off event in a bid to inspire them to engage with Scottish history.

Best selling author, Professor Tom Devine will speak about the remarkable influence of Scotland on shaping the modern world at the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s annual Christmas lecture.

Live webcast

The event, for an invited audience of 350 of senior pupils, will be webcast 'live' by BBC Scotland to schools and the wider ‎public across the UK.‎

Professor Devine, Director of the Scottish Centre for Diaspora Studies at the University has successfully helped put Scottish history into the spotlight during an academic career which has spanned over 40 years.

Professor Devine was the Sir William Fraser Professor of Scottish History and Palaeography at the University until this year. From January he will hold the post of Senior Research Professor in History, focusing on new research and supervising Scotland’s future generation of history researchers.

History in the spotlight

During the lecture Professor Devine will examine the remarkable material and social transformation in Scotland during the Victorian era.

I am honoured to be asked to give this lecture, it’s a great opportunity to help a younger audience understand that Scots history is bound up with the development of a greater sense of Scottish identity.

Professor Tom Devine

School of History, Classics and Archaeology

The schools lecture is now full. However, schools can still take part via a live webcast. An evening lecture is open to all members of the public, at ‎‎7pm on Monday 12 December‎.

Best selling author

Professor Devine is the author and editor of over 36 books, including the bestselling The Scottish Nation, 1700-2000, which outsold the Harry Potter books in Scotland for a few weeks, when it was published in paperback in 2000.

His latest book, To The Ends of the Earth charts the story of the Scots at home and abroad over the last three centuries.

He is a Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), the only UK-based non-scientist to be elected to all three of the leading learned academies in the British Isles for which he is eligible.

Among his many prizes and awards are the OBE, for services to Scottish History, the RSE’s Royal Medal, recognised as Scotland's supreme academic accolade and instituted by Her Majesty The Queen to individuals of distinction and international repute. He has honorary doctorates from four universities.