GO IRISH! An Introduction to Ireland and Irish Studies

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

What makes the Irish the Irish? What is Irish culture and identity, and how has it been transformed under globalization and across the global diaspora? This course will introduce students to Ireland and the Irish by analyzing and contextualizing the complex development of Irish culture and traditions including literature, history, the Irish language, film, television, dance, music, religion, art, economics, and politics. We will examine how historical factors have shaped Irish identity and society, the role of the Irish diaspora in the construction of global "Irishness," and what stories the Irish (and others) tell about being Irish. These stories engage both the well-known narrative of Celtic myths, early saints, English oppression, famine, and revolution, to the less well-known but still Irish stories about gay anti-colonial critics, contemporary economies of boom and bust, Irish labor, climate and political activists, South American settlers, world-famous poets and musicians, the Irish relation to whiteness and white supremacy, UN peacekeeping, controversial tax policies, and more—a world away from the stereotype of Ireland as rural, traditional and insular. Given the long history of the Irish leaving Ireland for a better life elsewhere, and the relatively recent history of a newly wealthy Ireland hosting immigrants and refugees from other parts of the globe, the Irish story is indispensable for students interested in exploring issues of immigration, emigration, colonization and diaspora anywhere in the world. We will welcome a rich roster of guest lectures from Notre Dame's renowned Keough-Naughton Institute, as well as other visitors.