Why Shetland is a research hub

Professor Andrew Jennings recognises the value of having a university campus in Shetland.

“I don’t see Shetland as a branch of anywhere. I see it as a source of some great research that is going on. Having a base here for the UHI Institute for Northern Studies, and the UHI Centre for Island Creativity, means Shetland is the focus of research and the hub that is generating that research as well.”

As an expert in northern and island studies, based at UHI Shetland in the village of Scalloway – Shetland’s ancient capital – Prof Jennings is well-placed to make that observation.

He and his students – including several doctoral students – are researching the areas that interest them not in a silo but as part of a global network. The studies undertaken in Shetland have a wider impact as the research is shared with academics globally.

“Because I live in the place [Shetland],” says Prof Jennings, “I’m invested in understanding it better, finding evidence from the wider community and from other places. Whereas if I were based in St Andrew’s or Edinburgh, it wouldn’t be as vivid.”

It’s a succinct assessment of why UHI Shetland is such an asset for the islands. Not only does having a university hub in the islands provide learning opportunities for locals, residential learners, and online students globally, but it also has a much wider impact.

The notion of Shetland being the hub, a centre for islands’ research, is as important to Prof Jennings as it is to the community at large.

“Developing Island Studies within the UHI to ensure the islands are well represented across the university is important. The island needs to be visible to others.”

In this way, Shetland plays a central role in understanding and analysing island life and ways to make it better for everyone.

Checking the bibliography of publications produced by Prof Jennings and many research students, suggests that ambition is being met.

“We represent an academic resource that people from elsewhere can access. In the past, people might come into Shetland to do their research and miss things or misunderstand them. I often get contacted now by academics who want to do research but want that local connection.

“We want to be that little hub that people come to for help and to be part of the network of research that’s going on. Island communities need to have that academic point of contact.”

The island studies research being undertaken at UHI Shetland is that and more. For Prof Jennings, it’s been his workplace for nearly twenty years, allowing him to support his own research. That wasn’t the plan when he moved to Shetland in 2007.

Originally from Stirling, he earned his degree in Edinburgh and pursued a PhD on the Vikings’ impact on Scottish History. Unfortunately, he says, “There were not many jobs in academia at the time”.

So began a varied career involving Scandinavian history teaching and tour guiding – most notably in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, areas of Greenland and Scandinavia, including a Viking tour of Denmark. “Not as dramatic as it sounds” – focusing more on heritage and archaeology than conquests and pillages!

Funnily enough, his Viking tours did not take in Shetland. But the place is steeped in Norse history and appealed to his passion for Scandinavian history.

Among the many projects pursued by Prof Jennings and his wife in his post-university, pre-Shetland days was running an antiquarian bookshop in Bridge of Allan specialising in Scottish and Norse history and literature. It became a cultural hub for students of the nearby University of Stirling, but eventually the desire to experience island life – nurtured during childhood years living in Iceland – became too strong to ignore.

“We wanted to move our books somewhere else, and I went with my interests and thought I would like to move to an island.”

A search for the ‘right’ Scottish island began, and making a list of “pros and cons” familiar to anyone who has considered moving to Shetland or anywhere else. The islands’ rich cultural heritage played a part in the decision, but there was more.

Shetland, says Prof Jennings, was the most “get up and go place as well”. There were significant infrastructure developments underway, many of which have now been completed, that demonstrated that Shetland was “a modern place with a bright future.” All that was left was to choose Scalloway as the new home for the antiquarian bookshop.

Once established as a presence in the village, the opportunity arose to become the sub-postmaster – a role taken on with pleasure. “That’s what happens in islands, you do what’s available”.

Other opportunities came along too, the most significant being the establishment of the UHI Centre for Nordic Studies. Prof Jennings modestly says he was “lucky” to secure a job. Some would argue the centre was fortunate to secure someone with his background and expertise. Either way, he has been there since 2009, overseeing developments including the move to become the Institute for Northern Studies, which now has staff in Shetland, Orkney and Perth, and the establishment of an MLitt course in Island Studies.

The Masters explores many aspects of life in island communities and includes a module on governance and how islands should govern themselves.

“There’s an element of ‘islandness’ that promotes autonomy, a sense that islands should do things for themselves and a knowledge they can do things better for themselves.

The course interrogates models of autonomy and considers where identity fits into the deeper sense of ‘islandness’. Along with doctoral studies that inspired deep research into the issues that matter to islands.

A brief look at recent doctoral theses overseen by Prof Jennings and the Institute highlights that.

• An investigation into the provision of healthcare in Shetland before the NHS
• Analysis of mobile phone and internet coverage across the Scottish and Irish islands
• Perceptions of Orkney folklore in the digital age
• Studies of traditional Shetland boat building (subsequently published as a book, by Marc Chivers)
• An investigation of the importance of science-based tourism, exploring themes like geology and botany (both areas that Shetland is famous for)
• Reimagining the Northern Isles as part of a circumpolar region of the north
• Dissecting Faroese ballads to explore themes of masculinity

It’s an undeniably eclectic and inspiring combination, developing a deeper understanding of islands and life in the communities that call them home.

As well as providing a hub for students and researchers based in Shetland and around the world, the Institute for Northern Studies is influential in academic circles. Shetland has hosted conferences such as the Magnus Conferences, attracting dozens of academics to the islands.

Prof Jennings has also been involved in the Small Island Cultures Research Initiative (SICRI), the International Small Islands Studies Association (ISISA), and is part of the North Atlantic Forum, preparing to host the forum in Shetland in 2028. As Prof Jennings says, not only does this support academia and research, it provides local people with opportunities to attend seminars, conferences and inspire their own academic research.

Nobody knows better than Andrew Jennings that there are endless subjects to consider in the broader research of Scottish islands and their future. As he considers the future, including topics like how artificial intelligence may transform island life, he always seeks inspiration from the past. With such deep heritage, culture and archaeology, you could argue there’s nowhere better than Shetland.

As our interview reaches its conclusion, Prof Jennings explains that he is preparing to deliver a presentation to the Viking Congress in Oslo on ‘the Bressay Stone’ – an ancient carved piece of rock discovered in the island to the east of Lerwick.

He explains that it is a Christian carved stone with an inscription in Ogham – the early Medieval language used in the Pictish era – along its edge, as well as evidence of Norse language.

“The stone itself is Christian and the iconography is very similar to Pictish and post-Pictish stones on the Scottish mainland, suggesting a mixture of cultures, with connections between Shetland and the Kingdom of Alba.

“That’s evidence of Norse and ‘Scottish’ culture mixing as early as the 10^th century, and it’s Christian.” This perhaps challenges perceptions of Shetland as a fiercely contested battleground, suggesting a greater mix of cultures. Then, as today, an outward-looking and progressive archipelago looking to a bright future.

The original stone is held in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, though a replica is erected in the abandoned churchyard where it was discovered at Cullingsburgh in Bressay.

It, and many other monuments around Shetland, act as a tangible reminder of the fascinating, diverse, and deep culture to be explored and studied in Shetland.

Explore UHI Shetland and discover why learning means more in Shetland.