Irish and Irish American Studies

The College of Charleston's program in Irish and Irish American Studies includes several initiatives in three categories:  curriculum, cultural, and heritage. 

Curriculum

The core of the IIAS Program is our undergraduate minor, an 18-hour course of study combining cultural, historical, and social studies of the Irish in Ireland and in the United States.  Several academic departments (especially Anthropology, English, History, and Political Science) offer courses each year that are open to all undergraduates, whether they are IIAS minors or not.  Space permitting, these courses are also open to the general public through our Non-Degree Programs.

Culture

The College of Charleston is proud to promote all types of cultural events, from concerts to plays, sporting events to parades.  Some of these will be sponsored by the IIAS Program, such as Celtic Night at the Music Hall each Spring and a Fall Irish Film Festival.  The College will help provide venues for organizations, when appropriate and when facilities are available.  And we'll always help advertize any organization's Irish-related event.  Check out our one-stop Charleston Irish Calendar!

Heritage

In conjunction with Special Collections in the College of Charleston's Addlestone Library, IIAS sponsors the Irish Heritage Project.  The Irish Heritage Project wants to become the repository for the papers of local Irish American families, professionally preserving and cataloguing such records for future generations.  Soon we'll provide finding aids for archival materials held in both Special Collections and the South Carolina Historical Society (whose materials are also housed in the Addlestone Library). The Irish History Project plans to begin collecting oral histories, the living memories of the Irish and Irish American experience in Charleston, in South Carolina, and in the American South.  And we will sponsor public outreach programs based on these materials.

Upcoming Events

What the Irish are saying about US . . .
Fintan O’Toole never minces his words.  Here’s his assessment of the U. S. withdrawal from the Paris Accords. “Paris accord exit signals end of US global leadership“  
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September 2016 Newsletter
NOTE:  the house concert and the first two films have been postponed by Hurricane Matthew.
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