UWTSD Home - Study With Us - Undergraduate Courses - Celtic Studies (BA)
Celtic Studies aims to provide students with a full understanding of, and critical engagement with, a diverse and complex field of study, taking advantage of the knowledge and expertise of staff in Humanities and the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS). Students will explore aspects of Celtic life, literature, religion and culture, from ancient times to the present, covering several geographical areas, from Wales to Ireland and Cornwall.
A broad and well-balanced curriculum encourages enthusiasm for Celtic studies. You will learn to appreciate the cultural and social significance of Welsh and the Celtic languages as well as a variety of aspects of the history and heritage of the Celtic regions.
The course provides you the opportunity to either learn Welsh or improve your Welsh language skills, increasing your employment skills and your personal development through acquiring cultural enrichment and valuable life skills.
You will read and critically analyse primary and secondary sources and appreciate a variety of theories and methodologies used when exploring the past and appreciating literary texts.
As a graduate, you will also be equipped with a range of subject-specific and generic skills that will qualify you for the workplace and further study.
Celtic Studies (BA)
UCAS Code: CS01
Apply via UCAS
Celtic Studies with Foundation Year (BA)
UCAS Code: CES1
Apply via UCAS
Full-time applicants should apply through UCAS. Part-time applicants should apply through the University.
Book an Open Day Request Information
Tuition Fees 2023/24:
Home (Full-time): £9,000 per year
Overseas (Full-time): £13,500 per year
Why choose this course?
- Our students will study a wide range of modules and topics on Celtic culture and Celtic literature, from Antiquity to modern times.
- This programme is taught to you via our unique distance-learning platform, so you can carry on working and keep up with your family commitments while you study for your BA degree.
- The modules are taught by research-active scholars from the renowned University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David who have published extensively in their specialist fields, providing a cutting-edge teaching environment.
- Learn where to find the most important sources on the Celtic peoples and how to question the various versions of the past that have been put forward by historians, linguists, folklorists and archaeologists.
- Take advantage of being able to learn modern Welsh at a distance and attend our optional intensive language residential course in the heart of Welsh-speaking Ceredigion.
What you will learn
Some of the world’s leading experts in the field of Celtic Studies have come together to produce an innovative programme that tutors students in topics such as the early Celts, the druids and Celtic religions, the social histories of the Celtic languages, Celtic hagiography and saints’ cults, classic Celtic literature and folktales, medieval Welsh prose and poetry, representations of Brittany and Cornwall, Welsh and Celtic place names, religious revival in 18th- and 19th-century Wales and the influence of Celtic mythology on contemporary writing.
No previous knowledge of the Celtic languages is required for this programme, as students study texts in translation and the programme is taught through the medium of English. However, students may choose to learn Welsh as part of the programme and it is also possible for students who are fluent in Welsh to study their modules entirely through the medium of Welsh (see BA Astudiaethau Celtaidd).
Students will develop an understanding of the distinctive features and linguistic concepts that define ‘Celtic’ as a language family and how this concept was influentially extended to the realms of literature, archaeology, art, music and cultural identity.
Year One – Level 4 (CertHE, DipHE & BA)
- Academic Skills (20 credits; compulsory)
- An Introduction to Celtic Literatures (20 credits; compulsory)
- An Introduction to the Celtic Languages (20 credits; compulsory)
- Introduction to Celtic Art (20 credits; compulsory)
- The Early Celts (20 credits; compulsory)
- Welsh Language Skills 1 (20 credits; compulsory)
Year Two – Level 5 (DipHE & BA)
Year A Entry
- Medieval Prose in Wales (20 credits; compulsory)
- Representations of Brittany (20 credits; compulsory)
- The Celts through the Eyes of the Greeks and the Romans (20 credits; compulsory)
- The Irish Question 1886-1998: from Charles Parnell to the Good Friday Agreement (20 credits; compulsory)
- Welsh and Celtic Place-Names (20 credits; compulsory)
- Welsh Language Skills 2 (20 credits; compulsory)
Year B Entry
- Celtic Sanctity and Spirituality: Hagiography and Saints’ Cults (20 credits; compulsory)
- Cornwall Without Cornish (20 credits; compulsory)
- From Desert Myths to Sheep Tales: The Cistercians in the Middle Ages (20 credits; compulsory)
- Roman Britain (20 credits; compulsory)
- True Brits (20 credits; compulsory)
- Welsh Medieval Praise Poetry (20 credits; compulsory)
Year Three – Level 6 (BA)
Year A Entry
- Celtic Sanctity and Spirituality: Hagiography and Saints’ Cults (20 credits; optional)
- Cornwall Without Cornish (20 credits; optional)
- Dissertation (40 credits; compulsory)
- From Desert Myths to Sheep Tales: The Cistercians in the Middle Ages (20 credits; optional)
- Roman Britain (20 credits; optional)
- True Brits (20 credits; optional)
- Welsh Medieval Praise Poetry (20 credits; optional)
Year B Entry
- Dissertation (40 credits; compulsory)
- Medieval Prose in Wales (20 credits; optional)
- Representations of Brittany (20 credits; optional)
- The Celts through the eyes of the Greeks and the Romans (20 credits; optional)
- The Irish Question 1886-1998: from Charles Parnell to the Good Friday Agreement (20 credits; optional)
- Welsh and Celtic Place-Names (20 credits; optional)
- Welsh Language Skills 2 (20 credits; optional)
Level 3 (Foundation Year)
- Academic Skills (20 credits; compulsory)
- The Humanities (20 credits; compulsory)
- Writing for University (20 credits; compulsory)
- Knowledge and Belief (20 credits; compulsory)
- People across time (20 credits; compulsory)
- Language and Culture (20 credits; compulsory)
Prospective students should be aware of the following:
- Not all optional modules are offered every year
- Optional modules are delivered subject to sufficient student numbers
- Language modules are optional/compulsory/core according to linguistic ability
- There are many Level 5 and Level 6 versions of the same module. Students can only take this module once; this depends on which year the modules are offered in.
The programme will include several of the following types of assessment:
- essays of 1,000 to 4,000 words in length
- document analysis
- book/ journal reviews
- short reports and reflective journals
- time tests
- seen and unseen exams
- field journals
- posters
- group and individual presentations
- dissertations of 10,000 words
- wikis
- commentaries
- film evaluations
Lampeter Programmes and Events
Humanities | The Lampeter Difference
Key Information
This programme is taught by lecturers from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies:
Grades are important; however, our offers are not solely based on academic results. We are interested in creative people who demonstrate a strong commitment to their chosen subject area and therefore we welcome applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds.
To assess student suitability for their chosen course we normally arrange interviews for all applicants at which your skills, achievements and life experience will be considered as well as your qualifications.
Successful graduates will acquire skills that will lead to a range of possible posts including:
- teaching
- the heritage and tourist industry
- libraries
- archives and information services
- local and Welsh assembly government
- civil service
- administration
- proofreading
- publishing
- journalism
- film
- television
- media
- creative arts
Many of our students progress to postgraduate studies at UWTSD/CAWCS: for example, the MA in Celtic Studies or MPhil and PhD study.
Learning Welsh and becoming bilingual will equip students to work confidently as part of a bilingual workforce in Wales.
Estimations are made on the assumption that students buy new copies of the books. Students may also choose to spend money on printing drafts of work.
Students may spend up to £300 per year on books and additional related materials.
Students are expected to submit two hard copies of their final project, the estimated cost for binding these is £20.
Optional field trip:
The Faculty works to ensure that there are a range of field work and field trip options available both locally and internationally. This means students can opt to take either more expensive or less expensive placements. The Faculty subsidises these but the cost each year is dependent on airfare, location, and currency exchange rates. Below are the upper end of expected costs based on where students have currently undertaken placements.
- Field work (depending on where student decides to do field work): approximately £500 to £1,500
- Individual trips: approximately £5 to £50
Olga Vanherle, Belgium
"I was able to carry on teaching in Belgium throughout my degree at UWTSD thanks to the flexibility that distance-learning delivery offered, but I still got to know my tutors well. I enjoyed learning Welsh so much that I then went on to take my MA in Celtic Studies entirely through the medium of Welsh. I love visiting Wales and am fascinated by the history and literature of the Celtic regions."
Visit our Lampeter Accommodation section to find out more.
Please get in touch with us if you have any questions related to the University or to this course in particular.
