Arcadia Scotland

Scotland looks forward to welcoming you this coming semester! We have designed a program of events that we hope will enhance your experience of Scotland’s culture and heritage. Below is a first glance of the excursions that will be taking place this spring.

Event registration goes live December 1st and can be found in your Arcadia Passport.

ROSSLYN CHAPEL AND THE SCOTTISH BORDERS DAY TRIP -

ORIGINS, SCOTLANDS

The Scottish Borders is full of beauty with sweeping valleys, forests and heather-clad moorlands. The day excursion to the Scottish Borders will begin with a visit to the Rosslyn Chapel which was founded in 1446 using ornate stonework and mysterious symbolism. We will also visit Traquair House, an important part of the enthralling history of the Scottish Borders as the longest continually inhabited house in Scotland. There will be photo opportunities at Scott’s View and free time to explore Melrose village and the ruins of Melrose Abbey, which was founded in 1136 for the Cistercian Order and largely destroyed by Richard II’s English army in 1385.

REGIONAL: HIGHLANDS AND SKYE WEEKEND -

DISCOVERY & INVENTION, ORIGINS, SCOTLANDS

A three-day weekend excursion to explore the beautiful and fascinating history of the Highlands and Skye with one night in Broadford and another in Inverness. We will travel through the spectacular Trossachs National Park and desolate Rannoch Moor to enter the Scottish Highlands, visiting The Battlefield of Bannockburn, The Falls of Dochart and magnificent Glencoe. On Skye, we will explore the ancient iron-age Dun Beag Broch, 13th-century Dunvegan Castle and its ties to the Viking invasions as well as the geological wonders of Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock. On the last day of the trip, we will visit the ruins of Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness and the Battlefield of Culloden before touring the Blair Athol Whiskey Distillery and returning to Edinburgh.

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG -

CREATING & IMAGINING SCOTLAND

After sell-out smash hit of the Edinburgh Festival, the Mischief Theatre Company brings The Play That Goes Wrong to Glasgow’s Theatre Royal. Following the antics of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society, the actors and crew try their very best to stage a production of a 1920s murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong... does. The accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences.

2015 Olivier Award Winner for Best New Comedy, 2015 Broadway World UK Winner for Best New Play and 2014 What’s On Stage? Award Winner for Best New Comedy.

HIGHLANDS ACTIVITY WEEKEND - 

ACTIVE SCOTLAND

One of our most popular events, Firbush Outdoor Centre is an activity filled weekend in the southern Highlands in a spectacular location on the shores of Loch Tay. Run by the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Sport and Exercise staff, there are a wide range of activities on offer, dependent on weather conditions. For those looking for adventure, the centre offers hill-walking, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing and orienteering. For those looking to relax, go on a historical tour of the area or take a leisurely cycle to the local highland village of Killin for afternoon tea. There will also be a traditional Burns supper and ceilidh dance on one of the evenings.

RUGBY SIX NATIONS – SCOTLAND V IRELAND

ACTIVE SCOTLAND

This event has unfortunately been cancelled. 

A Day at the Races 

ACTIVE SCOTLAND

A trip out from Edinburgh to Musselburgh Racecourse to attend the Scottish Cheltenham Trials. This will be a chance to see premier racing from some of the country's top hurdlers, featuring the best British and Irish horses aiming for the Cheltenham Festival or the Grand National. As well as other races, the Edinburgh National, a new four mile hurdle race, will also be taking place. 

KEN MACLEOD – THE RESTORATION GAME - FREE

BOOKCLUB

As a part of our Book Club, author Ken MacLeod will join us in the Edinburgh Center to talk about his novel, ‘The Restoration Game’. Described as techno-thriller, the book follows the brewing revolution in Krassnia, a tiny, troubled region of the former Soviet Union. Its organisers need a safe place to meet, and where better than the virtual spaces of an online game? Lucy Stone, who works for a start-up games company in Edinburgh, has a project that almost seems made for the job: its original inspiration came from The Krassniad - an epic tale, based on Krassnian folklore, concocted by Lucy's mother who studied there in the 1980s.

“Maybe there’s also a wider lesson here. You don’t need to change everything to make our current reality appear exotic. Whether other writers can duplicate this trick while also aping MacLeod’s mix of sly humour, deftly drawn characters and intricate plotting is, of course, entirely another matter – this is a writer at the peak of his powers.” – Jonathan Wright

VR at the Royal Observatory - FREE

BOOKCLUB, DISCOVERY & INVENTION

In conjunction with our bookclub novel, The Restoration Game by Ken MacLeod, we have arranged a trip to Edinburgh's Royal Observatory to explore space using both old and new technology. We will tour the observatory – home to the second largest telescope in Scotland – handle meteorites, see historic artefacts from the Crawford Collection, and – weather permitting – stargaze. We will then experience StarlightVR on the Oculus Rift – the observatory's new software developed to explore the solar system.

CEILIDH DANCE - FREE

CREATING & IMAGINING

Ceilidh is the Gaelic word for a visit or gathering and involves Scottish country dancing to traditional Scottish folk music. Ceilidhs have played a vital role in Scotland’s cultural and social life for many years. The ceilidh is a fun opportunity for all Arcadia students to come together to celebrate Scottish culture. The Scottish dance will take place in Stirling, a beautiful historic city in the heart of Scotland’s central belt.