Ireland in History and Memory

This is an upper-division program in the humanities and performing arts, with a focus on Irish history, expressive traditions, Irish-Gaelic language, and culture.

At the beginning of the program, students receive a basic introduction to Ireland and to issues of liminality, historiography, and distinctions between linear and cyclic thought. Students then spend several weeks on the culture of ancient Ireland, focusing on indigenous local culture, bardic traditions, and gender issues. The second major segment deals with the development of Christianity and the English conquest of traditional Ireland, including a week on the Famine and subsequent evictions and political unrest. The final three weeks of fall quarter are about the National Irish Literary Revival and the urbanized political chaos of turn-of-the-century Dublin. Winter quarter begins with post-colonial Ireland and continues with a month of studies on Irish America. An exploration of the Troubles in Northern Ireland follows, and the quarter concludes with the contemporary cultural explosion from the final decades of the 20th century into the present.

Spring quarter features study abroad in the Republic of Ireland. We will live in a small seaside village in County Donegal and experience learning-by-doing: studying the Irish language (Gaelic), poetry, natural history, dance, folklore, archaeology, cooking, and music. Our teachers are all local artists, writers, musicians, and native Gaelic speakers. Students will also have the opportunity to experience solo travel if they choose to do so.

Program activities will include lectures, seminars, films, readers’ theatre, Gaelic language lessons, poetry, music, reading texts, and group discussions. Two integrative papers about ancient Ireland are required in fall quarter. In winter quarter, students will write a longer integrative essay focused on the Irish in America. At the end of spring, each student will develop a significant integrative essay (20-30 pages) detailing the links between the theory of Ireland – on the page and stage – and the practice of Ireland in real life. Lastly, the students will divide into small groups to create collaborative performances for the final week of each quarter; they are the main expressive assignment beyond singing, playing musical instruments, and performing in readers’ theatre events.