Ireland is Women

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will consider questions of gender, culture, and identity in looking at the history of women in Ireland. How has Ireland historically been figured female? We will consider the gendering of Ireland as a nation through the allegories of Éire and Hibernia, but also through the writing and representation of figures both real and mythic—from Cathleen Ní Houlihan to Maud Gonne and from Saint Brigid to the women of the Magdalene laundries. Along the way, we will examine related concerns including questions of masculinity, motherhood, class, race, and religion. This course will cover a range of humanities disciplines and mediums, considering gender and representation in art, literature, music, film, and poetry. The course will utilize collections at Notre Dame's Raclin Murphy Museum of Art and Hesburgh Library's Rare Books & Special Collections. No background in Irish studies is required.