NOTICE: Prerequisite for Study Abroad in Ireland. Students who wish to study in Ireland must successfully complete an Irish Studies prerequisite course at Boston College. All students interested in attending an Irish university in the spring of 2009 must take an Irish Studies prerequisite course in the fall of 2008. Courses that qualify as a prerequisite appear with an asterisk (*).
English
*EN 094 Introduction to Modern Irish I
This course offers an introduction to the Irish language for American students with no previous experience of the language. Pronunciation, linguistic structures and grammar points will be addressed in class. TuTh 9:00, Joseph Nugent.
*EN097 Continuing Modern Irish I
A continuation of EN 094 in which the emphasis will be on developing the ability to read literary texts in Modern Irish. MWF 3:00, Phil O'Leary.
*EN 309 James Joyce
This course will be dedicated to an extended exploration of James Joyce's Ulysses, a novel that has often been called the most important literary work of the twentieth century. Much of our time will be devoted to an intensive reading of the novel itself. We will supplement this reading by investigating a series of related subjects: literary and cultural sources, historical contexts, publication and reception history, Joyce in popular culture, Joyce studies and the web, and current debates in Joyce scholarship. TuTh 12:00, Joseph Nugent.
EN 764 20th Century Irish Fiction
In this graduate seminar, students read a selection of Irish novels so as to identify, discuss and better understand complex cultural phenomena that become manifest in the aftermath of the colonial experience. The underlying premise suggests that Irish novelists participate in debates concerning national identity and, in the process, anticipate the evolution of a postnational society. Paying particular attention to issues of language, gender, place and literary authority, and to representations of religion, history, and identity, the seminar seeks to establish the inevitable heterogeneity related to the post-colonial condition. Novelists may include Kate O'Brien, Aidan Higgins, Brian Moore, Molly Keane, Flann O'Brien, John McGahern, Edna O'Brien, William Trevor, Julia O'Faolain, Francis Stuart, William Trevor and Jennifer Johnston. We will also read recent critical scholarship. Students will be responsible for two class presentations, a mid-semester conference-length paper, as well as an end-of-semester research project. W 4:30, James Smith.
EN 788 Irish Heroic Fiction in Modern Adaptation
Beginning with a study of the ethos of Irish heroic literature in its historic and cultural context, this course will then examine the uses, ideological, aesthetic, and personal, to which that material has been put by Irish writers of the past two centuries in both English and (using translations) Irish. Particular attention will be paid to shifting concepts of "authenticity" and the degree to which various creative artists have retained, reinterpreted, or reinvented what they perceived to be the essence of their originals, and why? We will also investigate how the material was used differently over time, and how Irish writers of Protestant and Catholic background tended to treat the material in very different ways. The link between the rediscovery of the ancient heroic tradition and the Irish cultural and political revival of the late 19th and early 20th centuries will also be discussed. Among the writers to be read will be Standish James O’Grady, W. B. Yeats, J. M. Synge, Lady Gregory, James Stephens, James Joyce, Flann O’Brien, Seamus Heaney, and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill. Th 7:00, Philip O'Leary.
History
HS300 Study and Writing of History: Public and Private in the Age of Revolution
Prerequisites: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094, history major status. During these years Ireland experienced dramatic and often violent social and political change. Major events included the emergence of colonial nationalism and Republicanism, the Revolution of 1798, and the Act of Union. Traditional historiography has explored these events through the personalities of the major political leaders involved. More recent historical work has focused on political ideologies and social dynamics that underlie these developments. This course will take a different perspective by exploring Irish society through the experiences of a small rural community. Using the personal diaries, letters and papers of one rural Irish woman, Mary Shackleton of Ballitore, Co. Kildare, we will explore the use of personal papers in the writing of social and political history. Tu 3:00, Kevin O'Neill.
*HS 433 The Great Hunger
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094. The Great Irish Famine of 1845-1851 was the pivotal event in modern history, and influenced the course of events throughout the English speaking world. This course will place "The Great Hunger" in its social, economic and political context. We will explore both the ecology and sociology of famine in Ireland and attempt to place Irish experience in a wider comparative perspective. Particular subjects of inquiry will include the relationship between globalization and food security, trans-Atlantic ecological exchange, demographic and political interactions and the Irish diaspora. TuTh 10:30, Kevin O'Neill.
*HS 434 History of Northern Ireland, 1912 to the Present
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094. This course will explore in detail the origins of the political crisis in Northern Ireland. Particular attention will be paid to political, economic and social developments in the province. The turbulence of the last 28 years and the peace process which has successfully produced the landmark "Good Friday Agreement" will be examined. The course will consider the challenges that remain for the new Northern Ireland Assembly and how that body will function within Northern Ireland and work with the British and Irish governments. TuTh 9:00, Robert Savage.
HS 654 Irish Women Emigrants: The Irish and American Context
Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS 001 through HS 094. An outstanding characteristic of emigration from Ireland to North America was the large number of women in the emigration stream. This seminar course will be an examination of Irish women and emigration beginning with study of conditions in Ireland that resulted in women leaving in such large numbers. Following that will be an examination of their experience as immigrants in North America. Emphasis in the course will be on the use of research tools in historical work on Irish women, utilizing primary source materials such as estate papers, the letters women wrote home, and database characteristics of Irish women in America. W 3:00, Ruth-Ann Harris.
HS 944 Seminar: Irish History
Prerequisite: Graduate student standing
This course will provide an overview of the political, social, cultural and economic history of the first fifty years of Irish independence. It will examine the evolution of Irish political culture and the institutions of the independent state as well as health, welfare, religion, education, censorship, emigration, popular culture, censorship, neutrality during the Second World War and feminism. It will focus on the most up-to-date scholarship on these subjects, some of the key personalities and events that dominated modern Irish history and the extent of the divergence between rhetoric and reality in the quest for an Irish identity after independence. Th 3:00, Visiting Burns Scholar Diarmaid Ferriter.
Music
*MU 330 Introduction to Irish Folk Music
An introduction to Irish music including: a historical examination of the music and its indigenous instruments, and a close study of contemporary developments arising from the folk music revival of the 1960s, particularly in relation to ensemble performance. Both dance music and the vocal tradition will be surveyed, with an emphasis on the former. Live performance will be incorporated where possible in class, combined with extensive use of audio material as a basis for discussion and analysis. MWF 11:00, Ann Morrison Spinney.
Irish Fiddle, Dance and Tin Whistle
Classes meet on Tuesday evenings. Please register through Agora; classes will be divided up according to ability level at the time of the first class meeting.
