Art History, Summer 2026

This dissertation examines Edinburgh’s eighteenth-century New Town as a representation of Scotland’s position within the United Kingdom, as well as a demonstration of Scotland’s participation in the British Empire. Scholarship addressing the New Town celebrates the city’s spatial organization and uniform planning, but the impact of politics, class, colonialism, and imperialism on the architecture and urban development of the city have received little attention. Through an examination of city maps, street plans, extant buildings, and visual culture, I reexamine Edinburgh’s new suburb within the imperial context. While the New Town planned by the Edinburgh Town Council represented Edinburgh as the “Capital of North Britain,” the city as built was shaped by competing political interests, class-based concerns, and the Scottish involvement in the British East India Company.