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Visualizing Celtic Culture: Ireland and Scotland through the Media Instructor: Kevin Taylor Anderson, PhD
Module Rationale This course aims to expose undergraduate students to the diverse and rich cultures of Ireland and Scotland. The course focuses primarily on contemporary Ireland and Scotland as expressed through the arts and media with a particular focus on how “Celticness” and Celtic history are embedded and featured in their respective contemporary societies. While our main focus is on contemporary society in Ireland and Scotland, we will also be visiting sites of historical and archaeological significance as well. We will be examining cultural sites, visual arts, and media and we will be meeting with producers of these cultural products as well, in order to gain a greater understanding of the range and variety of media representations of “Irishness,” “Scottishness,” and “Celticness.”
Learning Outcomes Students will gain a rich and deep understanding of contemporary and historical issues at the center of Irish and Scottish national identity. Concentration will be on the arts and culture, but students will also have a working understanding of historical, political, and economic distinctions between Ireland and Scotland as well.
Students will also gain a broad appreciation of the peoples of Ireland and Scotland as a means to challenge stereotypes and preconceptions that are ubiquitous in popular media.
Students will also gain skills in research methods: such as interviewing, critical analysis of media and visual culture, as well as presentation and collaboration skills.
Syllabus – Galway (4 days) *Note, schedule subject to change.
Day 1
Arrive Shannon (9-10am)
Bus to Galway (10am)
Hostel Check in (1-2pm)
Walking Tour of Galway (3--4:30pm)
Welcome Dinner (5:30--7pm) 2
Day 2
COACH TO CONNEMARA (9am) --Lecture on Bus (Irish Language: revival, function, influence on Irish identity)
TG4 Tour (Padraig) (10:30--Noon) --Meet with Irish language television and radio producers
Lunch in Spiddal at An Cruiscin Lan (Michelle, manager) (12:30--1:30pm)
Telegael Tour (1:30--3pm) --Tour of facility and meet with film producers, editors, animators
Irish Language School (4-5pm) --Visit with teachers and administrators
COACH TO GALWAY (5:15pm)
Hurling Match (7--9pm)
Evening Free
Day 3
Morning Lecture (9--10am) (review of assignments, fieldwork methods)
Galway City Museum Tour (10:30--12:30pm)
Student Fieldwork Options (12:30--3:30) -5 site options TBD
(Assignment: learn to introduce yourself, and greet other people; Irish Language history, revival and importance to Irish culture)
Druid Theatre (Craig Flaherty) (3:30--5pm) --guest talk by theatre scholar Thomas Conway
Classroom: Student Presentations on Galway Fieldwork (7—9pm) 3
Day 4
COACH AND FERRY: BURREN and INIS OIR (8am--6pm)
Walking tour of the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren --focus on geology and history
Ferry to Inis Oir (Noon) --Tour of villages and historical sites
Return to Galway
Syllabus – Dublin (5 days)
Day 5
COACH: NEWGRANGE (8--Noon)
Newgrange (Noon--3pm) --Tour earthen mounds and address archaeology and history of ancient Ireland
Mobile Classroom: Coach to Dublin (3--4:30pm) --Active discussion and interpretations from students regarding Newgrange and ancient Ireland
Hostel Check In (5--6pm)
Evening Free
Day 6
Morning Lecture and Orientation to Dublin (9--10am) (100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, history of Dublin)
City of Dublin Tour with John (10--11:30am)
Trinity College (11:30--12:30pm) --Book of Kells --Architecture --Talk on Celtic influence on Irish Catholicism
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National Museum Tour (2--5pm) --private tour focusing on artifacts from late-Stone Age, Iron Age, and Medieval Ireland)
Evening Free (5pm-on)
Day 7
Lecture (9--10am) (Irish film and media industry)
KTA Office Hours (10--11:30am)
Irish Film Institute (IFI) (Noon--2pm) --private tour of facilities --meet with Irish film curators, directors --IFI lecture and film presentation on images of Irish and Ireland in Cinema
National College of Art and Design (NCAD) (2:30--4pm) --meet with contemporary Irish Art and Design students to discuss issues in contemporary Irish art and culture --presentation from NCAD administrators on Irish Art and Design
Evening Free (4pm-on)
Day 8
Morning Free till 10:30am
Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) Tour (10:30--12:30) --Private tour of collection, exhibits, and sculpture garden Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) (2--4pm)
Day 9
Student Fieldwork Options (9am--3pm) --5 Options TBD
Classroom (3:30--5:30pm) --student presentations on Dublin Fieldwork 5
Syllabus – Edinburgh (5 days)
Day 10
AIR TRAVEL: DUBLIN TO EDINBURGH
Arrive Edinburgh (9--10am)
Hostel Check In (10--11am)
Lunch and Orientation to Edinburgh (12:30--1:30pm)
Walking Tour of Edinburgh with Jeanna (1:30--3:30pm)
Scottish Parliament Tour (3:30--4:30) --Meet with Scottish MP --Tour of facility
Evening Free (8:30pm-on)
Day 11
Lecture (9--10am) (the UK, Scottish Nationalism, recent efforts towards independence)
Edinburgh Castle Tour (10:30--12:30pm)
Afternoon Free (12:30--4pm)
Scottish Storytelling Center (Dr. Donald Smith) (4--6pm) --lecture and activities in art, music, and culture of Celtic Scotland
Evening Free (6pm-on)
Day 12
Lecture (9--10am)
Office Hours (10--11:30)
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Student Fieldwork Options (10--5pm) -- 4 options TBD
Ceilidh (8--10pm) --Traditional Scottish Music and Dance
Day 13
National Museum Tour (9--Noon) --private tour of exhibitions focusing on Stone Age, Iron Age, Medieval, and Renaissance Scotland
Student Presentations on Edinburgh Fieldwork (12:30--1:30pm)
Edinburgh Art College Tour (2--4pm) --meet with Edinburgh University art, cinema, and theatre students
Student Fieldwork and Presentation Preparation (4pm--Midnight)
Evening Free
Day 14
Student Presentations at Edinburgh University (9am--5pm) --Group Lunch (Noon--1pm)
Farewell Dinner (6--8pm) Evening Free (8pm-on)
Day 15
Coach to London (Roehampton University) (7am departure)
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Teaching and Learning Methods This is an experience-based course, mixing lecture and class discussion with visits to cultural and historical sites, private tours of museums, galleries, theatres, and film and television production studios, and activities. The readings are designed to give students a working understanding of Irish and Scottish history as well as an appreciation of the role arts and media play in Irish and Scottish societies.
Assessment Research Project Research Project (five-page paper and multi-media presentation) --Students will pick a topic related to the visualization of Celticness and their field experience and write a research paper drawing from their observations, journal entries, and field projects that integrates the assigned readings for the course (and any additional ones chosen by the student) --Student project will draw from Fieldwork experiences and notes for work done in Galway, Dublin, and Edinburgh --Paper MUST include a bibliography of at least 3 assigned readings and two additional references and cite these in the paper --Presentations can include photos, images, video and audio clips --At the end of the class/trip students will give a multi-media presentation on their research project (Note: in addition to working on these projects on the students’ own time, we will spend at least one hour every three days to discuss and work on these projects in class)
Field Projects (3 – one field project for each city) For each of the student fieldwork projects, they will work in small groups of three gathering information using the following methods:
1--Interviews (with at least 2 locals and one visitor) 2--Image Montage (photos, as well as drawings and sketches, taken/made by students including interpretive captions) 3--Ephemera Scrapbook (collection of material culture examples from the fieldwork site, focusing on how these items are representative of Celtic, Irish, or Scottish culture and identity)
Journal Essays (4) 1--Travel experience (juxtaposing experience abroad with predispositions) 2--Observations on Irish and/or Scottish culture 3--Perception of America and Americans by Irish or Scotts 4--Defining Irish and Scottish Nationalism
Participation --Active and insightful participation in class discussion (whether on the bus or in 8 the structured classroom) will affect overall grade for the class, i.e. bumping someone from a B+ to an A-, etc.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Core Books The Course of Irish History, T.W. Moody and F.X. Martin
The Politics of Irish Memory: Performing Remembrance in Contemporary Irish Culture, Emilie Pine
A History of Scotland, Neil Oliver
Core Articles Political Thought on Scottish Nationalism Ben Jackson, Political Quarterly, Jan-Mar 2014, Vol. 85 Issue 1, p50
Nation States: The Cultures of Irish Nationalism Andrew Murphy, Modern Philosophy, May 2010, Vol. 108 Issue 4, pE272
Core Films and Television Michael Collins The Commitments Braveheart Trainspotting
Recommended Books Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill
City of the Tribes, Walter Macken
Picts, Gaels, and Scots: Early Historic Scotland, Sally Foster
Irish Folk Medicine, Patrick Logan
Recommended Articles Northern Exposure: Scottish Nationalism The Economist, v415 (n8935) April 25, 2015:12 9
North and South of the River: Demythologizing Dublin in Contemporary Irish Film Jenny Knell, Eire-Ireland, 445, no. 1 (2010):213-241
A Spiritual Homecoming: Ireland in Contemporary Movies about Irish Americans Alexandra Schein, Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies, 12, (2011):p. (no pagination)
Blurring Borders: Scottish Cinema in the Twenty-First Century Jonatha Murray, Journal of British Cinema & Television. 2012, Vol. 9 Issue 3, p400-418. 19p.
Recommended Films and Television Scottish Films Sweet Sixteen Wilbur wants to Kill Himself Just Another Sunday Sunshine on Leith A History of Scotland (with Neil Oliver)
Dublin Intermission Veronica Guerin The Snapper Once
Western/Galwegian Films The Secret of Roan Inish Into the West The Gard
Irish Films Angela’s Ashes The Field The Crying Game Killing Bono The Wind that Shakes the Barley