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Irish Studies Summer School |
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 Academic Programme
Designed to give each student a solid background in Irish Studies, the academic programme of the Summer School consists of six modular courses:
- Literature
- Gaelic Culture
- Drama
- Visual culture
- History
- Critical issues
Each course meets for two and half-hours per week and students make a total of 60 contact hours over the six-week lecture period. Field trips, cultural events and the guest speaker series are in addition to these core lecture courses.
Students may audit all courses if they wish, but the maximum of six credits is based on the four declared courses taken for examination at the end of the course. 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 in September.
Literature:
 This course examines modern Irish writing from 1890 - 2006 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. The Irish short story masters Liam O’Flaherty and Frank O’Connor are also examined and a line followed through William Trevor and Mary Lavin right up to contemporary writers as diverse as John McGahern and John Banville and the younger generation of fiction writers including: Colm Toibin, Anne Enright, Glenn Patterson, Eilis Ni 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 and Eavan Boland. Students will also be introduced to the flourishing range of contemporary Irish poetry.
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 Yeats and the founding of a national theatre, the course moves through the works of Synge, O' Casey and Beckett in their historical context, right up to contemporary playwrights such as Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Frank McGuinness and Marina Carr.
Selected texts of several playwrights will be required reading for the course and faculty will include a visiting director and actor 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.
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 Home Rule Crisis and the role of Parnell and then moves on to the origins of the Easter Rising of 1916. This is then 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 North and South are then 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 NI police force will also be covered.
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 tradition 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 that remain in 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.
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 video will be examined, as well as changes and issues raised by visual culture in a rapidly changing society and its relationship with the artist as subversive, or as icon maker.
Critical Issues:This course provides a running commentary on 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 economics, sociology, politics, religion and culture.
Interesting and provocative questions are raised by the changing structure in Irish society. Gender and equality issues focuses on the accelerated change in the role of women; religious affairs examines the balance in Church State relations and the challenges facing the modern Irish church, and a series of socio economic seminars looks at the increasing urbanisation of the country and the marginalisation of sectors of a society not benefiting from ‘The Celtic Tiger’ and related issues of crime and drugs.
The political agenda looks at questions of morality in political life, the alienation of young voters and the need for political will and responsibility in leading Ireland into the 21st century. The role 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, the challenging issue of refugees in Ireland and the pressure to join an alliance such as NATO.
A fully detailed brochure and application form can be mailed to you on request. Please email us your address at Incoming.Ireland@usit.ie or seona.macreamoinn@usit.ie
Attention:University of Wisconsin & University of Michigan Program students only:
The University of Wisconsin and the University of Michigan Students will be required to take four modules from the six options for credit. The course taught by the visiting Michigan/Wisconsin faculty can substitute for one of the Summer School Modules.
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