Elizabeth Ewan

Professor Elizabeth Ewan is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for History, University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). She previously held the position of Professor and University Research Chair in History and Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph, Canada, focusing on medieval Scottish society, particularly the lives of ordinary people, women, and families. Her research emphasizes gender history, pre-modern legal practices, and masculinity in Scottish contexts. Ewan has co-edited seminal works like *Women in Scotland c.1100-1750* (1999) and *The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women* (2018), which document over 1,000 Scottish women's lives. She actively collaborates with organizations such as Women’s History Scotland and supervises postgraduate theses in gender and women’s history. Recent work explores defamation and assault in medieval Scotland, alongside masculinity studies. At UHI since 2020, she delivered a notable lecture on alewives in sixteenth-century Inverness as part of the History Talks Live series.

Education: PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh, focusing on medieval townspeople through historical and archaeological lenses.

Research Interests: Medieval Scottish social history, gender dynamics, family structures, and the intersection of law and gender. She advocates for inclusive historical narratives, emphasizing marginalized voices like medieval women and rural communities.

Advising & Collaborations: Supervises postgraduate research in Scottish women’s and gender history. Engages with heritage groups and educational initiatives to promote accessible historical scholarship.