Current and Recent Classes

Spring 2018

  • ANTH 329: People and Cultures of Ireland, E. Moore Quinn, TTh, 8-9:15, RSS 137
  • ENGL 326:  Irish Literature, Joe Kelly, MWF 10-11, Maybank 208
  • IIAS 201:  Introduction to Irish and Irish American Studies, Joe Kelly, MWF 11-noon, Maybank 208
  • HIST 347:  Women in Britain and Ireland, Cara Delay, TTh 9:25-10:40, Maybank 302

Fall 2017

  • ANTH 326:  Peoples and Cultures of Europe, Moore Quinn, MW 3:25-4:40, ECTR 107
  • ENGL 462:  Oscar Wilde, Tim Carens, TTh 10:50-12:05, MYBK 119
  • IIAS 304:  Sports in Irish Culture, Mathew Garrison, MWF 10-10:50, MYBK 207
  • POLI 352:  Geography/Politics of the European Union, Mark Long, TTh 12:15-1:30, MYBK 207

Summer 2017

These three courses were part of CofC's summer in Ireland program, anchored at Dublin City University, 3-30 June 2017.  

  • ENGL 360/IIAS 304:  Dear Dirty Dublin in the Fiction of Joyce and Doyle
  • ENGL 390/IIAS 304:  Studies in Irish Cinema
  • HIST 241:  History of Modern Ireland

We are conducting an Anthropology study abroad in Skibberreen during Maymester.  

  • ANTH 329:  People and Cultures of Ireland
  • ANTH 352:  Folklore of Ireland/British Islands 

Spring 2017

  • ANTH 319:  Culture through Film, Moore Quinn, Wednesday 4-6:45pm, ECTR 114
    • This course invites students to explore some key anthropological concepts and issues through an analysis of visual media. Students will be exposed to some of the issues and debates in ethnographic film study today, such as “Who’s voice is heard?” “How should we observe and represent culture(s)?  What are Western anthropologists’ past and present traditions in representation? “What role does the ethnographer play in creating culture?” and “What is the future of ethnographic film both personally and politically?” Other topics to be covered include culture shock, coming of age, fictive kinship, cultural relativism, stratification, colonialism, religion, altered states of consciousness and culture change. Attention will be devoted to some Irish and/or Irish-related films. In addition, because the course is cross-listed with Women’s and Gender Studies (WGST), gender functions as a unifying theme throughout.
  • IIAS 201:  Introduction to Irish and Irish American Studies, Joe Kelly,  TTh 9:25-10:40

    • An inter-disciplinary introduction to the Irish in Ireland and in North America, focusing on migrations of people and cultures into and out of Ireland since the Stone Age; the prominent political movements since 1798; and the current sociological profile of people living in Ireland and people of Irish extraction living in America.
  • HIST 290:  Making Ireland British: a history of Early Modern Ireland, 1534 to 1798, Jon Crawford, TTh 12:15-1:30
    • The course begins with a study of late medieval Ireland as a predominantly Gaelic society with a veneer of English government and institutions. Gaelic Ireland was an Irish speaking enclave in the Tudor realms of Henry VIII and followed an ancient set of laws (brehon law) and customs.  The imposition of English direct rule occurred after the Geraldine Rebellion when English forces seized Dublin; it took another century to implement the Protestant Reformation .  The Tyrone Rebellion nearly toppled the reign of Elizabeth, despite her successful Anglicization of Irish governing institutions; the subsequent Plantation of Ulster led to centuries of conflict between Protestant and Catholic populations. After successive failed rebellions throughout the period, a triumphant Protestant Ascendancy dominated 18th century Ireland , ruling from Georgian Dublin.  The last act in this revolutionary era took place as part of the larger period of French Revolution, when Wolfe Tone used French resources to lead a final Irish Rebellion in 1798.  The result was defeat.  England resumed full control of Irish governance, abandoned the Dublin experiment in self-government, and in 1801 passed the Act of Union. 

Fall 2016

ANTH 329:  People and Cultures of Ireland, Moore Quinn, TTh 9:25-10:40, Bell 415

ENGL 361:  Early Medieval British and Irish Literature, Trish Ward, MW 2-3:15, Maybank 210

FYSE 103-03: Anthropology, Peace, and Ireland, Moore Quinn

IIAS 304:  The Irish in Charleston, Stephen White, W 5-7:45, Maybank 319

Summer 2016

IIAS 303:  Sports in Irish Culture, Mathew Garrison, Maymester

ANTH 319:  An Introduction to Irish Culture through Film, Moore Quinn, Maymester

Spring 2016

IIAS 201:  Introduction to Irish and Irish American Studies/Kelly; TTh 10:40-12:05

An inter-disciplinary introduction to the Irish in Ireland and in North America, focusing on migrations of people and cultures into and out of Ireland since the Stone Age; the prominent political movements since 1798; and the current sociological profile of people living in Ireland and people of Irish extraction living in America.

IIAS 302:  The Irish in Charleston/White; W 5-8pm CANCELLED

The Irish in Charleston is an introduction to the story of the influence of Irish immigrants in the history of the Holy City. It begins in 1670 with the very first group of settlers who land on the shores of the Ashley River. Irishmen served as colonial governors, signers of the Declaration of Independence, in the revolutionary war militias, at the Constitutional Convention and throughout the antebellum period of Charleston's history. Their exploits in the Civil War and Reconstruction period are well documented. Many Irish organizations took their place in late 19th and early 20th Century Charleston social and economic development. And at least five Irishmen served as mayors of Charleston, the most notable being the two Irish -Catholic leaders, Grace and Riley. This course will trace the various political, social, economic, intellectual, religious, and cultural contributions of Irish men and women throughout the city's 345 year history.

HIST 347:  Women in Britain and Ireland/Delay; TTh 9:25-10:40

HIST 270:  Medieval Ireland/Jestice; MWF 10-11

This course examines Ireland over the period approximately AD 400-1650 both on its own terms and as it was increasingly defined (frequently unwillingly) as a part of Europe in the medieval and early modern periods.  After a brief introduction to Iron Age Ireland, the class will examine how the introduction of Christianity helped shape Irish society, while the example of neighbors as well as foreign invasion helped Ireland coalesce into a small number of major kingdoms.  In the course of the semester, Vikings, Normans, and Cromwell will all invade, the Irish will move from their position as the people who "saved civilization" to increasingly downtrodden colonial subjects of England, and an Irish identity will be created that still shapes Irish perception of themselves.

Fall 2015

IIAS 303/ANTH 329:  People and Cultures of Ireland/Quinn; T/TH 10:50-12:05

Anthropology confronts the challenges of culture and difference in history and in the contemporary social world. The special mandate of the field is to discover new and less harmful ways of perceiving, understanding, reporting on, and therefore validating the different experiences, histories, and values of peoples and communities around the globe.

This course, Peoples and Cultures of Ireland, introduces students to the cultural and geographic area of Ireland. Students will learn the real story behind “The Celts” and why they hold such fascination today.  They will explore the world of Irish myths; they will examine aspects of “Celtic Christianity” then and now, and they will examine turning points in Irish history like the Great Irish Famine (1845-1852) and the Easter Rising of 1916. Case studies will include perspectives on a post-Famine Irish town in the west of Ireland, representations of Irish Travelers, and efforts to build lasting peace in the aftermath of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

ENGL 326:  Irish Literature/Kelly; T/TH 9:25-10:40

The Irishman serves two masters, James Joyce wrote, and a third who wants him for odd jobs.  The Roman Catholic Church and British Empire were the masters, and the odd jobber was the nationalist, who dodged the priests to shoot the English.  This course will study the interplay of culture and political ideology in Ireland in the last hundred years, focusing on a few key moments in history, including the Easter Rising of 1916, the partition of Northern Ireland, the modern "troubles," and the Good Friday Agreement.  We will study the poetry, plays, and fiction of Yeats, Joyce, Gregory, Synge, Kavanagh, Heaney, Friel, and Doyle; songs by the Clancy Brothers and U2; and films by Neil Jordan and John Ford.

HIST 241:  ST: Modern Ireland/Delay; T/TH 1:40-2:55

In this course, students will explore the history of Ireland since 1798. Through an analysis of primary sources, historiography, and historical debates, we will analyze the social, cultural, economic, intellectual, and political developments that have shaped Ireland’s history.  Specific topics covered include the impact of the Great Famine, nationalism, religion, war and revolution, the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, Ireland’s relationship with Britain and the rest of Europe, and the role of rural and urban landscapes in Ireland’s history. This course is informed by new research in the field. In this spirit, we will pay particular attention to social and cultural history, with a special emphasis on gender, family, and sexuality.

Summer 2015

ENGL 326/360:  Irish Mythology and the Celtic Renaissance

This is a 3-week course in Ireland.  We will study ancient Celtic mythology from its oral roots, its first literary transmission in the medieval period, and its revival during Ireland's struggle against England from 1892-1922.  A six-hour course that will count for Humanities elective credit and/or the Cultural requirement in the Irish and Irish American Studies minor.

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