This course introduces the most recent developments in the field of Historical Sociolinguistics. The aim of the course is to build on students’ knowledge of various concepts related to socially driven language variation and change, and set the new developments in the field, such as the third-wave approaches, in the context of previous scholarship. The course will cover theoretical assumptions behind a sociolinguistic approach to language history, methods and sources of data employed in a historical sociolinguistic study, and will present a range of case studies showcasing particular variables, from orthographic to pragmatic. The discussion will highlight two particular contexts, aligned with the course leader’s research interests: the history of Scots, and communities of practice. We will also look at the role of ideology in shaping the discourse around language history.