Academic Programme
Irish Studies Summer School
Each course has an average of 22 contact hours of instruction and learning over the six week period, in a combination of lectures, special guest seminars, readings, film screenings, faculty led field trips, and integrated complementary cultural events.
Students may audit all courses if they wish, but the maximum of six credits is based on the four declared to be taken for examination at the end of the course. Modules can be combined and a subsequent combined grade will appear on the transcript. Please note History is a required option. Credit is awarded on the basis of class attendance and the examinations set and graded by Trinity College.
Each exam is of two hours' duration and students are marked on a graded basis. The grades and credit will be issued on a Trinity College transcript and sent to the students' home university.
Weekly Academic Round Table
One day per week the academic director and staff will host an interactive 'brown bag' lunchtime session to discuss the week's academic classes and exchange views on the week's cultural events and field trips and weekend travel plans.
Service Learning / Volunteer Option
To broaden the engagement with the fabric of the city, we will be offering an opportunity for students who might wish to volunteer a couple of hours per week with portfolio of recommended organisations and centres. These have been selected for their connection and relevance to the environment of the city and its citizens. They will include organisations involved with the aged, the homeless, addiction centres, immigrant integration and disability assistance.
For a detailed brochure and application form please send your postal address to incoming.ireland@usit.ie
Literature
This course examines modern Irish writing from 1890 - 2011, celebrating the range and diversity of Irish literature from Yeats and Joyce to the present. This intensive reading course will focus on the founding figures of modern literature and explore their influence on succeeding generations. Selected fiction (novels and the short story) and poetry will be covered.
The fiction course begins with the role and influence of James Joyce and other major writers, and includes close textual readings of their work. Irish short story masters are also read and a line is followed through William Trevor and Mary Lavin right up to contemporary writers as diverse as John Mc Gahern and John Banville. The course also includes a younger generation of fiction writers including Colm Toibín, Claire Keegan, Anne Enright, Glenn Patterson, Anne Haverty, Eilís Ní Dhuibhne and Joseph O' Connor.
The poetry course traces the poetic reverberations of WB Yeats in the work of established modern poets from Patrick Kavanagh to the present. This involves discussion and readings of selected poems by such writers as Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Michael Longley and Eavan Boland. Students will also be introduced to the flourishing range of contemporary Irish poetry with writers including Paula Meehan, Harry Clifton, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Gerald Dawe.
In addition to the 15 hours of classroom lectures, the course also includes an off-site required programme of faculty led study visits (an additional 7-8 hours per module).
Drama
This course provides the literary and cultural framework for studying the tradition of Irish Drama from the nineteenth century to the present. The world of Irish plays and playwrights is studied through text and performance.
Beginning with the earliest years of the theatre tradition in Ireland through Sheridan and Wilde and to the era of Yeats, Synge and the founding of a National Theatre the course then moves through the works of O'Casey and Beckett in their historical context, right up to contemporary playwrights such as Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Frank McGuinness Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr, Conor Mc Pherson and Mark O Rowe.
Selected texts of several playwrights will be required reading for the course and faculty often includes a visiting director or playwright to discuss the staging and interpretation of a seminal Irish play. Attendance at performance of plays features strongly in the course, and will include visits to the famous Dublin stages of the Abbey and Gate theatres.
In addition to the 15 hours of classroom lectures, the course also includes an off-site required programme of faculty led study visits (an additional 7-8 hours per module)
History
This introductory course traces the most eventful period in Irish history from the post famine era to present day.
The course begins with the Great Famine (1845-50) and studies the subsequent development of Irish nationalism: the Home Rule Movement, the rise and fall of Parnell, Cultural Nationalism and the rise of Unionism and the Easter Rising of 1916.
This is followed by a study of the War of Independence, the effects of the Civil War and the foundation of the State, Partition and constitutional developments. The subsequent development of both states and the evolution of politics North and South are examined and discussed.
The lectures on Northern Ireland will give particular reference to the outbreak of violence in 1969, issues of sectarianism and paramilitaries, and the evolution of new political structures and processes. The role of the Anglo Irish Agreement and relationships between the Republic, Northern Ireland and Britain are examined and brought up to date in the light of the Good Friday Agreement and the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Issues of integrated education and the challenges of a cross community NI police force will also be covered.
In addition to the 15 hours of classroom lectures, the course also includes an off-site required programme of faculty led study visits (an additional 7-8 hours per module).
Gaelic Culture
This course offers a fascinating insight into Celtic mythology and folk tradition, the linguistic and cultural heritage of Gaelic civilisation, an examination of the oral and written traditions of the Irish language, and the current state of the Irish speaking world.
Apart from the epic figures and heroic events celebrated in Celtic mythology, the oral tradition of folklore reflects the contribution of all the peoples who settled on the island of Ireland: Norse, Norman, Scot and English. A variety of sources will be drawn upon and examined.
This course offers an overview of the heritage of the Irish language, examining its Celtic origins and the range of poetry, songs and stories which remain in both written and oral versions. The literary and socio-cultural value of early Irish literature is discussed, and the weakening of the Gaelic language and civilisation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
From this comprehensive context, the course then looks at the current fertile phase of Irish as a spoken language and medium for creative expression, and discusses the future of this 'not quite bilingual' culture.
In addition to the 15 hours of classroom lectures, the course also includes an off-site required programme of faculty led study visits (an additional 7-8 hours per module)
Visual Culture
This course takes an interdisciplinary look at visual culture in Ireland. Archaeology, art, architecture, film, television and video are the primary sources and areas to be examined, with reference to relevant literary, social and cultural contexts.
Students begin by exploring the rich sources of pre and post Celtic archaeology in Ireland with integrated field trips to neolithic and early Christian sites. The course then examines the golden era of early Christian Irish art of which the illuminated Book of Kells, housed in the Old Library at Trinity College, is the most renowned example. Medieval art and architecture are followed by an exploration of the Irish experience and traditions in other parts of Europe.
Developments in painting and the fine arts in the late 19th century and early 20th century reflect movement and change in political and literary life. Ideas of cultural nationalism, romanticism and primitive myth are explored in the context of Irish identity and image making.
Internationally, modern Ireland does not have a high profile in visual culture but recent successes in cinema have led to a new wave of artistic expression in areas of popular culture. The contemporary world of film, television and digital media will be examined, as well as the changes and issues raised by visual culture in a rapidly changing society and its relationship with the artist as subversive or as iconmaker.
In addition to the 15 hours of classroom lectures, the course also includes an off-site required programme of faculty led study visits (an additional 7-8 hours per module).
Critical Issues
This course provides an introduction to many of the critical issues facing Ireland, north and south, and the relationships with Britain, Europe, the US and the Developing World.
A discursive and analytical approach covers aspects of the economy, social policy and the political and religious changes which are shaping the country's future. Interesting and provocative questions are raised by the changing demographic structure in Irish society. Gender and equality issues focus on the accelerated change in the role of women; religious affairs looks at the challenges facing the modern Irish church and a series of socio-economic seminars looks at the increasing urbanisation of the country, the rise and fall of the Celtic Tiger economy, the EU, business and ethics, and related issues of crime and drugs and environmental challenges.
The political agenda looks at questions of morality in political life, the alienation of young voters and the need for political will and responsibility to lead Ireland in the 21st century. Therole of Ireland in the international arena as agent of peace and neutrality is explored in the light of the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland. Ireland's rapid transition from an emigrant to an immigrant culture in itself raises new questions about Irish identity.
In addition to the 15 hours of classroom lectures, the course also includes an off-site required programme of faculty led study visits (an additional 7-8 hours per module)