Dr Sarah Leith
Associate Lecturer in the History of Scotland and the Wider World, c.1707-c.1914
Honorary Research Fellow
- sjhl@st-andrews.ac.uk
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Biography
An historian of modern Scotland, I am especially interested in cultural, political and intellectual histories. My research lies at the intersection of politics and culture, and I focus upon Scottish identity, print culture and environmental thought. My PhD was funded by the Arts and Humanties Research Council (AHRC).
, my first monograph, is forthcoming with Edinburgh University Press in 2027. My articles have been published withinÌýBurnsÌýChronicle,ÌýNorthern Scotland,ÌýÌýandÌýScottish Literary Review, while my book reviews have appeared within The Scottish Historical Review and Northern Scotland. I have also contributed pieces to edited collections and to the forthcomingÌýWiley Blackwell Encyclopedia to Scottish Literature.
Between 2024 and 2025, I was co-investigator for a Royal Society of Edinburgh-funded Small Research Grant project entitled 'A History of the Saltire Society: Setting and Achieving National Cultural Priorities'. My chapter about the women of the Saltire Society has recently been published in (University of South Carolina Press, 2026). Additionally, I am a member of the Steering Group of the AHRC-funded .
From 2018 to 2025, I wasÌýÌýfor the Institute of Scottish Historical Research. As Communications Officer for the School of History, I was the editor of the 2023 and 2024 editions of the School's alumni magazine,ÌýThe StÌýÌÇÐÄlogo Historian.
Previously, I have been employed as a Lecturer and Research Assistant at the University of Glasgow, working within its School of Critical Studies and its Centre for Robert Burns Studies. I have also been a Research Assistant for the University of StÌýÌÇÐÄlogo School of History'sÌýÌýandÌý projects. My blog posts for these St ÌÇÐÄlogo projects may be read via the previous links, while contributions to other projects may be found at The Bottle Imp (forthcoming), ,ÌýÌýand theÌý.Ìý
As well as editing magazines and writing, my public engagement activities have included talks given at the (2026), the Advocates Library (2025), the (2025) and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club's World Golf Musuem (National Sporting Heritage Day Lecture 2024).Ìý
Teaching
Supervision
PhD (secondary supervisor)
MSt (Res) (primary supervisor)
Sub-honours
MO1008: Themes in Late Modern History (c.1776-2001)
HI1801: Scotland's History: Kingdom, Nation, People
MO2008: Scotland, Britain and Empire, c.1707-2000
HI2001: History as a Discipline: Development and Key Concepts
Honours
MO3264: Microhistories of a Global Nation: Scotland, c.1707-c.1843 (module co-ordinator)
HI4101: Communication in History (module co-ordinator)
HI4999: Honours Dissertation in History
HI4998: Honours Project in History (module co-ordinator)
Postgraduate
IH5005: Current Controversies in Intellectual History
IH5006: Turning Points in the History of Ideas
SC5204: Building Britain: The Construction and Deconstruction of Britishness, 1707-2000
MO5153: Global Times Plural Spaces
MO5152: Global Times - Plural Spaces 2
MO5602: Directed Reading in Modern History
HI5107: Directed Reading in Transnational History
MO5999: Dissertation for MLitt Programmes
PhD supervision
- EmilyÌýAmarelo
Selected publications
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Leith, S., 30 Sept 2026, (In preparation) The Bottle Imp.
Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
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Leith, S., 6 Oct 2026, (In preparation) Oxford dictionary of national biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
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Leith, S., 2026, (Accepted/In press) Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Dodd, L., Broun, D., Cairns, R., Finlay, J., Leith, S. & Sherrard, H., 30 Mar 2026, In: Journal of Legal History. 47, 1, p. 124-127
Research output: Contribution to journal › Abstract › peer-review
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Leith, S., 1 Sept 2026, Towards a new history of the Saltire Society : two essays by Sarah Leith and Scott Lyall. Carruthers, G. (ed.). Columbia, SC: South Carolina Scottish Literature Series / Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), (South Carolina Scottish literature series; vol. 8).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Leith, S., 28 Mar 2025, (Accepted/In press) Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of Scottish literature. Carruthers, G. (ed.). 1st ed. 9781119756545: Wiley-Blackwell
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
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Open access
Leith, S. J. H., 19 Oct 2025, In: Studies in Scottish Literature. 50, 1, p. 24-36
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Leith, S., 9 Sept 2025, (In preparation) Wiley companion to post-War British and Irish literature and culture. Bradford, R., De Ornellas , K. & Howells, D. (eds.). Wiley-Blackwell
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Leith, S., 3 Nov 2025, (Accepted/In press) Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of Scottish literature. Carruthers, G. (ed.). 1st ed. Wiley-Blackwell
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
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Leith, S. J. H., 10 Nov 2025, In: Burns Chronicle. 134, 2, p. 188-204
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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