SUMMER SCHOOL IN IRISH STUDIES

• Modules
• Further Information
• Faculty
• Course Details

MODULES

Literature and Film

Director: Dr Seán Ryder

The aim of this course is to analyze the varied ways in which ' Ireland ' and 'Irishness' have been represented in a range of English-language media, including fiction, poetry, drama and film.  The course will be structured around particular themes such as the representation of 'The West', the contrast between city and country, the politics of theatre, gender identity, and the meaning of Irish nationality.  We will be reading works by Irish writers such as W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Augusta Gregory, J.M. Synge, Liam O'Flaherty, Brian Friel, Eavan Boland and Patrick McCabe.  We will also view and discuss a number of films from both American and Irish filmmakers. 

(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)

The Archaeological Heritage of Ireland

Director: Prof John Waddell

Ireland 's archaeological heritage is one of the richest in Western Europe . The development of Irish Society down through the ages can be seen in the great Neolithic monuments of the Boyne valley and in the wealth of bronze implements and gold ornaments of the succeeding Bronze Age. The Celtic Iron Age is represented by sites like Tara and the great stone forts of Dún Aenghusa and Aileach. From the early Christian Period, monastic ruins and high crosses survive at sites such as Clonmacnoise while the finds from Dublin tell us of the Viking raids and settlement. Romanesque and Gothic churches, castles and abbeys represent the early medieval heritage and Galway , itself an Anglo-Norman foundation, provides a wealth of sites and features dating from the later medieval period. The course, outlining the archaeological heritage of Ireland from its beginnings, about 8000 B.C., to the early Medieval period, will be particularly suitable for students majoring in Archaeology, Anthropology, Sociology or History. The lectures are fully illustrated throughout, with field trips to relevant locations. 

(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)

Irish History

Director: Professor Steven Ellis

This course will treat of the different peoples who became permanent settlers in Ireland over the centuries and of the contribution that each has made to the development of an Irish society and economy, and to a distinctive Irish artistic and political life. The earlier lectures will consider the Celts, the Vikings and the Anglo-Normans, but the principal focus will be on the modern centuries with a detailed treatment of English and Scottish Protestant settlement in Ireland and of the interaction of these settlers and their descendants with the existing Catholic population. Special attention will be given to the major conflicts that occurred, especially those of 1641-52, the 1790's and the current conflict in Northern Ireland. There will also be lectures on the role of women in Irish life and especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The course will be of interest to majors in History, Politics and Literature as well as anybody wishing to be guided to the best recent literature on Ireland's past. There will be fieldtrips as an integral part of the course.

(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)

Gaelic Culture and Literature

Director: Dr Donncha Ó hAodha

Gaelic Literature is the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe ; this course will trace the development and its cultural context from earliest times to the present day. Despite the vicissitudes of history and the flagging fortunes of the Gaelic language, this literature not only manages to survive but is, now, actually displaying signs of vibrant and exciting creativity. Though very much citizens of the world, contemporary Gaelic writers are conscious of their inherited tradition, and freely exploit the rich resources of Gaelic folklore, thus creating an unique and distinctive spirit in their writing. A knowledge of the Gaelic language is not a prerequisite; classes will be through English.

(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)

Irish Society

Director: Professor Chris Curtin

A comprehensive study of issues in modern Irish society including: family, kinship and marriage patterns; the impact of religion; the role of women; rural and urban communities; social change and social problems such as emigration, poverty and conflict in contemporary Ireland . The course will also act as an introduction to Irish community studies, which commenced in nearby Co. Clare with the classic anthropological study, Family and Community in Ireland . This course is suitable for all students interested in contemporary Ireland , especially students majoring in Sociology and Anthropology, students from Liberal Arts programmes or those who are interested in the social background to Anglo-Irish and Gaelic Literature. 

(3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)

Irish Traditional Music and Dance

Director: Méabh Ní Fhuartháin

The complex relationship between Irish traditional music and a national/ethnic identity will be examined in this course. Because of the particular strategies employed by Irish immigrant communities in maintaining their ethnic identity, Irish traditional music also served, on occasion, as a means of assimilation to the host culture. Particular social, geographical and political circumstances also meant that Irish communities in Britain differed significantly from their counterparts in theUS.  Parallel negotiations of identity took place on Irish soil, which were often bound up with the aspiration towards a national ideal. Rejection or acceptance of this ideal had ramifications for musical expression. Underlying much of the recent intellectualizing of traditional music, and indeed the whole question of identity, is the issue of authenticity and tradition.  What exactly do we mean by these terms?  This course will offer the opportunity to explore such issues. (3 Semester Credits/6 ECTS Credits)

| Top |

FURTHER INFORMATION

Credits

Each course above carries 3 semester credits/6 ECTS Credits

Irish Language Classes

As part of the Irish Studies programme, introductory classes in the Irish Language will be provided for interested students.

Teaching Methods

Teaching will be by means of lectures, seminars, dramatic performances, guided tours and informed contact with the music, language and people of Ireland .  An interdisciplinary approach will be used within each course and between the courses of the Irish Studies programme.

Students will have access to library, audio and visual facilties of the University.  Assessment for those requiring credit will be carried out on a continuous basis.

| Top |

FACULTY

Steven Ellis, M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt. FRHistS

Professor Steven Ellis is head of  the  History Department at NUI Galway, and is a leading authority on the Tudor state.  His research and writing focus on frontiers and identities in the British Isles in the period from the loss of the main English territories in Lancastrian France c. 1450 to the completion of the Tudor conquest of Ireland and the Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland in 1603.  He also has research and teaching interests in the problems of state formation and historiography.  Steven Ellis is author of Tudor frontiers and noble power:  the making of the British State (Oxford U.P., 1995) and Ireland in the age of the Tudors, 1447-1603:  English expansion and the end of Gaelic rule (Longman Ltd., 1998).

Chris Curtin, M.A. Ph.D
Chris Curtin was born in Co. Clare and graduated from University College Galway. He obtained a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Hull University . His current research interests include community development, sociology of the family and agrarian politics. He has published in sociological and anthropological journals and has taught a wide range of courses in Sociology and Political Science at Irish and European Universities.

Donncha Ó hAodha, M.A., Ph.D.

Donncha Ó hAodha was born  in Co. Kerry and studies in Dublin, Galway and Oslo .  He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the National University of Ireland for his study of the Old Irish Life of St. Brigit.  His fields of research and publication include Early Irish Poetry and metrics and also the Early Irish Voyage tales.

Seán Ryder, M.A., Ph.D.

Seán Ryder was born in the United States and was educated at University College Galway and University College Dublin, where he received his Ph.D. He has taught in both Dublin and Galway and his current research field is nineteenth-century Irish writing. He has published and taught chiefly in the areas of Irish cultural nationalism, Irish cinema, and American poetry.

| Top |

Programme Details

• Dates: June 24  -  July 24, 2008.
• Credits: 6 Semester Credits / 12 ECTS Credits (2 courses).
• Tuition and Fees: €1,900 (Euro)
• Accommodation: 
  (from June 24)
  €1,200 (Family Guesthouse) with Irish breakfast 
  €880 (Student Residences) without breakfast, single occupancy

To register, please complete the preliminary enrolment form.  For further information applicants should contact:

Fiona Dwyer, Administrator, Summer School at
intlofficenuigalway.ie
National University of Ireland, Galway
Tel: 353 91 495442 Fax: 353 91 525051

Summer School Office
http://www.nuigalway.ie/international_summer_school/irish_studies.html

| Top |

• Disclaimer
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Accessibility