Centre for Scottish Studies

The Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph is the oldest and most eminent academic unit in North America to carry out research, graduate training and teaching on Scottish history and Scottish culture, with special emphasis on the history of the Scottish Canadian community. Our graduate program was founded in 1968 and we are proud to host special events and public lectures that presents current research by graduate students and scholars from Scotland, Canada and elsewhere around the world.

We began publishing Scottish Tradition in 1971, which was relaunched as the International Review of Scottish Studies in 2003. The IRSS is the leading interdisciplinary journal for international scholarship on Scottish history and culture, with a mission to create a space for scholars at all career levels exploring Scotland’s past and present. From 2023, the IRSS, which has been publishing innovative research for 50 years, will be published by Edinburgh University Press. 

In 2004, the Scottish Studies Foundation endowed the position of Scottish Studies Foundation Chair. This was a singular achievement of fundraising and generosity by the Scottish Canadian community towards the advancement of Scottish scholarship. Both our past and our present international reputation give us pride and we look forward to placing Guelph at the centre of innovative research uncovering Scotland's past and exploring its future, in a global framework.

Our Faculty

Prof Kevin James - Scottish Studies Foundation Chair, Professor of History
Prof Elizabeth Ewan - Professor of History Emerita
Prof Linda Mahood - Professor of History
Prof James Fraser - Professor of History
Prof Cynthia J. Neville - Professor of History
Prof Susannah Ferreira - Professor of History
Prof Cathryn Spence - Professor of History
Melissa McAfee - Archival & Special Collections Librarian, McLaughlin Library