Cultural Enrichment & Orientation in Scotland

“Scotland is a gorgeous place, full of ruggedness and charm that has a way of getting to your very soul.”

-Jessica Timmington, University of St. Thomas student, studied at University of Edinburgh.

Cultural Enrichment

Events and excursions designed to enhance your understanding of British culture will take place throughout the semester. You may participate in any or all of the one-day Saturday excursions. Additionally, our office can give you access to discounted weekend trips.

Our Scottish staff will discuss this in detail—including dates and how to reserve your place—during orientation.  All Arcadia excursions attach great importance to the notions of safety, experiential learning and cultural understanding.

For details on some of our recent excursions, refer to the information below:

• Activity Weekend: Firbush Point
  • University of Edinburgh's Firbush Point Field Centre is situated in the Southern Highlands on the shores of Loch Tay. The Centre is run by members of staff from the university's Centre for Sport and Exercise. This weekend is an opportunity for students to try a new activity, see the Scottish countryside with expert guides, spend a weekend away from the city, enjoy Scottish home-cooking and meet some of the locals. Activities on offer at Firbush usually include hillwalking, mountain biking, road biking, kayaking, canoeing and orienteering. The weekend also includes a Ceilidh, a traditional event with bagpiping and Scottish country dancing.
• Evening Tour: The Real Mary King's Close
  • Beneath the Royal Mile lies Edinburgh's deepest secret: a warren of hidden closes where real people lived, worked, and died in bygone centuries. Discover the highs and lows of 16th century townhouse living. You will be guided through the site by one of the characters from the past whose life touched Mary King's Close. Dramatic episodes and extraordinary apparitions will be revealed, including ghost stories over 300 years old!
• Weekend Trip: Scottish Highlands
  • Our first stop on the weekend away in the Highlands will be Scone Palace. This is one of the most significant sites in Scottish history tracing all the way back to the 9th century, when it was the capital of the Pictish Kingdom. The Stone of Destiny, upon which the Scottish Kings were crowned, was brought to Scone by the Picts and now lies in Edinburgh Castle. Next we will stop at Pitlochry, a bustling tourist town surrounded by mountains. The next stop is the Battlefield of Culloden. The battle that took place here in 1746 effectively ended the Jacobite hopes of restoring the exiled Stuart dynasty to the throne. We will spend the night in Inverness. We then travel down the north shore of Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, sitting on a rocky promontory surrounded on three sides by the deep waters of Loch Ness. Next we will visit the Glenfinnan Monument, situated at the head of Loch Shiel, dedicated to the clansmen who fought and died in the cause of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Finally, we'll head to Glencoe, known for not only the infamous massacre of 1692, but for its dramatic landscape, wealth of wildlife and varied geology.
• Afternoon Tour: North Berwick and the Scottish Seabird Centre in East Lothian
  • Perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking the islands of the Firth of Forth and sandy beaches of East Lothian, the Scottish Seabird Centre is unique in the world. With cameras located on these wildlife-rich islands, visitors can observe thousands of nesting seabirds and marine mammals. The Bass Rock is the largest single island gannet colony in the world, and is regarded as one of the Twelve Wildlife Wonders of the World. The lower ledges of the Bass are home to shags, guillemots and razorbills, with seals hauling up on the rocks below. The Isle of May is home to 200,000 nesting seabirds, including an estimated 100,000 puffins and the Island of Fidra reputedly inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
• Politics: First Minister's Questions
  • The Scottish Parliament is made up of 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The Scottish Parliament passes laws and scrutinizes the work and policies of the Scottish government, the party or parties in power. Each Thursday at 12 pm, the First Minister of the Government takes questions from MSPs. It is a fast-moving, often entertaining and sometimes dramatic session. The new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood was opened in 2005, long over the due completion date and well over budget. The building has attracted a great deal of comment and controversy. Come and see it for yourself!
• Theatre: Mary Stuart
  • One of Europe's major plays, Friedrich Schiller's masterpiece hinges on a brilliantly imagined meeting between Mary Queen of Scots, focus of simmering Catholic dissent, and her cousin, Elizabeth, Queen of England, who has imprisoned her. Isolated by their duplicitous male courtiers, the women collide headlong, each wrestling with the rank, ambition and destiny their births have bestowed, against a thrilling background if intrigue, plot and counter-plot. Using Schiller's play as a point of departure, Austrian director Aida Karic has developed a contemporary interpretation of a new version by Finnish writer Laura Ruohonen.
• International 6 Nations Rugby
  • The Six Nations Championship dates back to the late 1800s when England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland founded the home internationals.  The French entered full time after World War II and the tournament became the Five Nations in the 1990s, Italy joined, forming the six Nations Championship.  This tournament is much loved amongst rugby fans that support their teams with great enthusuasm, many traveling with their team all across Europe.  Enjoy the spectacle. Listen to the massive pipebands. Sing Flower of Scotland with the home crowd.