Celebrate Robert Burns with this free online course.
This free course from the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, University of Glasgow, will introduce you to the life, works and global celebrity of Robert Burns.
You’ll examine poems, songs, manuscripts, and objects used to commemorate the poet. You’ll also develop your understanding of Robert Burns’s posthumous reputation - from Burns Suppers and Burns Night through to Hogmanay.
What topics will you cover?
- The cultural reputation of Robert Burns as patriot, lover, and man of the people
- Robert Burns as poet and songwriter
- Major works such as ‘Scots Wha Hae’, ‘Ae Fond Kiss’, ‘A Man’s a Man’, ‘The Vision’, and ‘Auld Lang Syne’
- The commemoration of Burns in material culture
- The international celebrity and legacy of Burns
When would you like to start?
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...
Who is the course for?
No previous experience or qualifications are required for this course - just an interest in Robert Burns, Scottish history and culture, or poetry and song in general.
It is ideal for anyone considering further study in the field, such the courses offered by the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow.
What do people say about this course?
Thank you for these three weeks and all these fascinating insights in the literary work and life of Robert Burns! The material provided by the educators and the comments by the fellow students were really helpful!
Course Learner
Thank you very much for your hard work, and for introducing many of us to this amazing figure as Robert Burns was. I really loved it and learned a lot about not only his work but his life, and a little more about Scottish culture. I'm looking forward to learning more and to follow this amazing bard, Robert Burns.
Course Learner
Who will you learn with?
Gerard Carruthers
Professor Gerard Carruthers FRSE is Francis Hutcheson Chair of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow.
Catriona Macdonald
I'm Reader in Late Modern Scottish History at the University of Glasgow. I'm also leading a research project on political poetry in the 19th and 20th centuries... hence the interest in Burns.
Pauline Mackay
Lecturer in Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow's Centre for Robert Burns Studies
Ronnie Young
I am a Lecturer in Scottish Literature and educator on/co-ordinator of the 'Robert Burns: Poems, Songs and Legacy' course with Futurelearn.
Who developed the course?

Join this course
Free
$0
Upgrade
$74
Do you know someone who’d love this course? Tell them about it...
You can use the hashtag #FLRobertBurns to talk about this course on social media.