Away Days in the Highlands

Bernhard Struck
Thursday 6 February 2014

The location was carefully selected: Morenish House, near Killin right on the northern shore of Loch Tay. A nineteenth-century laird’s house, very Scottish and surrounded by snow-covered Highland peaks and stunning views. This was the chosen location for the joint Centre for Transnational History, GRAINES  and Heirs to the Throne AHRC project away days between 22 to 24 January 2014 discussing themes in global and transnational history as well as planning activities ahead for 2014 and 2015.

Loch Tay seen from Morenish House
Loch Tay seen from Morenish House

The away days brought together 23 historians from the UK and the continent. The trip was joined by MLitt Student from MO5710 Crossing Borders, members from both the Centre for Transnational History and the GRAINES steering committee as well as a number of PhD students from St Andrews, Vienna, Basel and Cologne as part of GRAINES.

Morenish House provided not only a beautiful location but also a very inspiring environment including cosy fire places that allowed for in-depth discussion of topics, themes and texts related to transnational and global history. The reading groups focused on themes including the global circulation of goods and commodities based on texts by Kapil Raj or Maxim Berg, time in a global context by Vanessa Ogle or the question of decentred history by Natalie Zemon Davis.

Reading groups at Morenish House
Reading groups at Morenish House

Dr Struck did not only take the lead in one of the reading groups, but  introduced the guests to the art of whisky making and tasting – with elegant twists back to the question of global whisky trade or the problem of scale in transnational history between the local and global. This was followed by a visit to the Aberfeldy whisky distillery the following day and a hike in the hills near Kenmore with stunning views over Loch Tay and the snow-covered peaks towards Ben Nevis.

The GRAINES Haggis Feast
The GRAINES Haggis Feast

Apart from the lively and broad text discussions, the Away Days provided the opportunity to discuss the upcoming GRAINES summer school in Vienna on urban history and further activities to foster the GRAINES network. The call for papers for the Summer School on Urban History in Vienna (10-14 June 2014) will be released shortly.

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