Visiting Students

Visiting Student Information

Visiting Students Timetables 2017-18

‌All visiting student modules for semester 1 will begin week of Monday 4th September 2017 (IS122, IS123, IS1100, IS211, IS2101, IS2102, IR120.i)
EN464 - date to be confirmed shortly.‌

Imagining Modern Ireland:  An Introduction to Irish Culture Studies (5 ECTS) 
Course code:  IR120.i

 IR120 - Imagining Modern Ireland course outline 2017-18‌                            
Introduction
This course provides an integrated interdisciplinary introduction to the ways in which Irish writers, musicians, and film-makers have participated in the formation of Irish identities from the cultural revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to the present.  It considers the extent to which writers and film-makers, in Irish and in English, and those involved in the revival of Irish music and dance have been actively involved in imagining and re-imagining Ireland and Irishness during the modern period.  Issues to be addressed will include Ireland’s transition from a traditional to a modern society, language, gender, and the connections between cultural production and the imagined ’nation’.

On completion of the course, students will have a critical knowledge of the ways in which literature, film, and music have contributed to the construction and interrogation of modern Irish identities.

The course will be offered in each semester, with classes meeting for a two-hour lecture once a week. Material in Irish will be studied in English translation.‌

Negotiating Identities:  Aspects of 20th Century Irish Writing (5 ECTS) 
Course code:  EN464.i

Introduction
This course provides an introduction to twentieth-century Irish writing and considers how writers in Irish and English have participated in the negotiation of modern and contemporary Irish identities. Beginning with the literary and cultural revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the course will investigate the ways in which writers were actively involved in the formation and reformation of identities in terms of nation-building, language and gender. The politics and practice of translation will be a key issue throughout the course. Through a close reading of selected poetry, drama, fiction and film, it will provide insights into the ways in which writers have imagined and re-imagined Ireland and Irishness throughout the twentieth century.
Material in Irish will be studied in English translation.

Traditional Music and Dance since 1893* (5 ECTS) 
Course Code:  IS122

*NOTE: This module begins in Sem 1 and continues in Sem 2, 24 x 1 hour lectures, over both semesters

This course will survey the development of traditional music and dance in Ireland from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. It will explore the key moments and leading figures in the movement of these expressive forms from a traditional setting to a modern context, and examine the consequences of these changes. In particular, revival, as a process and ideology, will be explored.

Writing Ireland 1:  An Introduction to Twentieth Century Irish Writing (5 ECTS) 
Course code:  IS123

This course will provide an overview of Irish writing in Irish (studied in translation) and in English from the literary and cultural revivals of late nineteenth- century Ireland to the present. It will introduce the work of some of the most outstanding modern writers in both languages, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which issues such as gender, nationalism, sexuality, politics, religion and social class are represented in literature.

Irish Music and Emigration* (5 ECTS) 
Course code:  IS1100

*NOTE: This module begins in Sem 1 and continues in Sem 2, 24 x 1 hour lectures, over both semesters

This module will examine Irish music and migration from the eighteenth century to the twenty-first century. In particular, the module will explore music and cultural practices as they evolved and responded to migrant contexts in North America and Britain. The reciprocal influences of Irish traditional practices and American folk and popular music will also be investigated. Finally, key developments such as the advent of music recording folk music revival of the 1960s will be assessed.

Performing Ireland 2:   Constructing Identities in Music and Dance (5 ECTS) 
Course code:  IS211

Introduction
Music and dance in Ireland are frequently used as architectural frameworks of identity building.  Drawing on criticism, cultural history and performance studies, this course will focus on key performers, performances and commentary of Irish music and dance performance from the late nineteenth century to the new millenium as a means of examining constructions of Irish identity.

Space and Place in Irish Literature (10 ECTS) 
Course code:  IS2101

*NOTE: This module begins in Sem 1 and continues in Sem 2 with 10 ECTS in total over both semesters

This module will explore the sense of place as a defining element in Irish culture through a close reading of selected texts in Irish and in English. It will examine how space and place are important in the construction of identity, and particularly how they have shaped the Irish literary imagination. It will also look at the ways in which Irish writers in both languages deal with the sense of displacement which is a characteristic of the Irish experience in the twentieth century.

Festival, Ritual and Commemoration (5 ECTS) 
Course code:  IS2102

This module will critically examine festival, ritual and commemoration in Ireland, in particular as it relates to the traditional arts. It will demonstrate links between historical and contemporary performance practice by exploration of the development of practice through the lens of modern day engagement. This will be examined by means of both practical and critical literary engagement. Arenas of exploration will be at local, national and international levels.

Customised Courses in Irish Studies: 

Irish Literature and Culture Studies
Course code:  IR101

The ILC programme provides an introduction to Irish life and culture through the disciplines of Irish, English, History, and Political Science and Sociology, with a particular emphasis on twentieth-century Ireland. Students are provided with an overview of Irish history and a survey of changing patterns in Irish society as well as a critical reading of key literary texts in both English and Irish. The Irish language material is presented and studied in translation. Classes meet for one hour a week in each of the four disciplines and students are required to complete a 1500-2000 word essay in each area of study. The final mark awarded is an average of the total marks achieved by the student in the four essays presented during the course of the semester.

Find out more about all these modules:

Samantha Williams
Room 101, Centre for Irish Studies
t:  +353 91 492051
e:  samantha.williams@nuigalway.ie