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Visiting US & Non-EU Students: Information on Programmes - Irish Studies Summer School

The 30th International Summer School in Irish Studies 

‘The Hidden Ireland: Competing Identities in History and Literature’

Dates: 29th June – 25th July 2009

Welcome from the Directors

As Directors we welcome you to the twenty-nineth International Summer School in Irish Studies at University College Cork.  The School is one of the most successful in Ireland.  Annually it attracts over one hundred students with an interest in Irish studies providing them with an ideal location in which explore the varied aspects of Irish history, literature and culture.  It offers expert tuition, optional courses in Irish language and a varied social programme of field trips, traditional Irish dance and music concerts.

History:

The hidden Ireland is the Ireland that had suffered through the long centuries of foreign domination and which, following independence, was allowed to reassert itself and to express its identity as the authentic manifestation of native culture. The 30th International Summer School in Irish Studies at University College Cork examines the cultural aspirations of the makers of myth of The hidden Ireland, and the political reality of the independent nation state that emerged from them in the early twentieth century. This was a time of extraordinary cultural vitality when artists, writers, and language activists sought to define a sense of identity that expressed what made the Irish a distinctive people. In lectures, seminars, field trips, and social events, students of the 2009 Summer School will explore the works of these writers and artists who responded to Ireland’s need for a strident, nationalist identity. This cultural revival, in turn, heralded the profound political and social changes that continue to shape Irish culture and political life to this day. The first two weeks of the Summer School will consider the historical context of these developments and how a contemporary cultural identity was established on the foundations of a mythologised Celtic past. The School will focus in particular on Ireland’s Celtic origins, on the earliest expressions of Irish identity, and on the attempted reclamation of that identity in modern times.

Literature:

The Literature section of the School this year focuses on literary autobiography. We will concentrate on three writers from the twentieth century, James Joyce, Frank O’Connor and Patrick Kavanagh. Joyce’s The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, O’Connor’s An Only Child and Kavanagh’s Tarry Flynn highlight the ways in which the writers use their life experience in the construction of their identity as artists and individuals. These texts give us very unique insights into the Ireland in which they lived and their artistic response to it. Reading this work forces us to rethink many of the preconceived ideas we have about the relationship between the artist and the culture into which he is born. The texts also invite us to think about the many challenges facing the writer who uses his own life as the source for his writing.

Credits:

The School welcomes students who take the course for credit and those who choose not to enrol from credit. Students who wish to register for credit are expected to have a GPA of 2.85 or above. Students who attend the School for four weeks may take the course for up to six credits, three in literature and three in history. Students intending to take credits need to indicate this clearly on the enrolment form. Students should also forward a transcript of courses already completed at their own university or college clearly stating their GPA. They should forward the address of their home institution for processing of completed credits. For further information contact the Administrator, Ms. Karen McSweeney, International Education Office, UCC.

Teaching:

The Summer School draws on the expertise of Faculty members, established scholars in their field, to deliver lectures. Lectures are followed by discussion-based teaching in seminars of small groups where Teaching Assistants develop the themes of the lectures. These Assistants also give students guidance and encouragement with their work. There is a series of field trips to the places associated with the texts and personalities discussed in lectures and seminars.

Cost:

The cost of attending the School for non-EU citizens is €2200 which covers single room accommodation from Sunday, 28 June to Friday, 24 July 2009 inclusive, tuition, certain social events, field trips and meals on field trips, but excludes daily meals.

Further information on the Summer School please contact:

Karen McSweeney, International Education Office, UCC.
Tel: + 353-21-4904727; Fax: + 353-21-4904735; Email: k.mcsweeney@ucc.ie 

Mary Breen, Director, Department of English, UCC. Tel:  + 353 21 4903291

Dr. Damian Bracken, Director, Department of History, UCC. Tel: + 353 21 4902950