As Irish Identity is obviously very important to the Irish people I think a seminar class on it would be good as students could do dissertations on an aspect of Irish Identity which they feel best defines what it means to be Irish. Having gained Independence the Irish felt a need to define their Identity and so grasped to the idea of an Irish Language revival in particular in the hope of reviving Irish tradition and culture which had been for so long oppressed. As the Irish Language is only one area of Irish Identity a seminar incorporating several aspects of Irish Identity would be better and would offer students more choice when choosing their areas of research for their dissertation.
HI3200 History Seminar
Credit Weighting: 10.
Teaching Period: Teaching Periods 1 and 2.
Number of Students: Min. 5, Max. 20.
Pre-requisite(s): None.
Co-requisite(s): None.
Teaching Methods: 24 Seminars: 24hr(s) Directed Study.
Module Co-ordinator: Nicola Murphy.
Lecturer(s): Nicola Murphy.
Module Objective: To explore the different aspects of Irish Identity from Independence to the present day.
Module Content: Irish Language Revival, Anti-English/Buy Irish View, GAA, Irish Music and Dance, Pub Culture, The significance of St. Patrick's Day, Travelling Community, Catholic Church, Celtic Literature, Nationalism (IRA and Rebel songs), Traditional Irish; Names, Clothes, Jewellery, Appearance, Country life, How we are viewed abroad.
Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a familiarisation with the many aspects of Irish Identity.
- Acknowledge that since gaining Independence Ireland has changed over the years and therefore so has its Identity.
- Students should have an insight into the newly Independent Ireland grasping to old traditions so to have a unique and different Identity and Culture to the British in particular.
- Should know how Ireland is viewed from abroad, to question whether it is an accurate view or otherwise.
- Demonstrate an ability to carry out independent research.
- Write an extended dissertation to the appropriate standard.
- Acquire and demonstrate the necessary skills associated with the delivery of an oral presentation related to his/her dissertation.
Compulsory Elements: Continuous Assessment and 90% attendance.
Penalties (for late submission of Course/Project work etc): Work which is submitted late shall be assigned a mark of zero (or a Fail Judgement in the case of Pass/Fail modules).
Pass Standard and any Special Requirements for passing Module: 40%.
End of Year Written Examination Profile: No End of Year Written Examination.
Requirements for Supplemental Examination: Marks in passed element(s) of Continuous Assessment are carried forward, Failed elements of Continuous Assessment must be repeated.
Would you include Irish identity abroad? Having known and interviewed a number of older Irish immigrants in the course of my own research I think many would tell you they became more consciously 'Irish' by living abroad. It made them think more about their own identity and what it meant to be Irish in countries such as the US or Britain where people of different background came into contact with each other more than was the case in Ireland. Then if you go down the generations, Irish-American identity can be another thing altogether and even though many Irish-Americans would like to tell you that they're Irish, they might have a very different idea of what that means than people here in Ireland. Just curious where you think that fits into a course on the history/development of Irish identity...
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good comment Sara!! I should have included it next to where I said 'How we are viewed abroad', as while I was refering to how the Irish are viewed by different nationalities I should have included how the Irish living abroad view us as it would be interesting to consider. I agree that Irish immigrants would feel more consciously Irish living abroad as it is then that one can see more clearly the differences between cultures and identities when there is a mixed community. The most interesting part I think would be to discover how the Irish immigrants' concept of what it means to be Irish could differ to what the Irish consider it to mean as over time, as you say, it could change. Thanks for making such a good point!!
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