International Summer School in Irish Studies

The 33rd International Summer School in Irish Studies 

‘To the Waters and the Wild: Landscape, Memory & Irish Identity’

Dates: Ist - 28th July 2012

Welcome from the Directors

As Directors we welcome you to the 33rd International Summer School in Irish Studies at University College Cork.  The School is one of the most successful in Ireland.  Annually it attracts 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.

Course Description

In 2012, the International Summer School in Irish Studies of University College Cork marks its thirty-third year. The School introduces students from across the world to the history, literature, and culture of the Irish through the ages. The School runs for four weeks in the month of July. In the first two weeks, the School will explore the historical foundations of Irish identity and how the Irish contribution to the development of western at its formative stage. The second two weeks of the School will examine how twentieth-century writers sought to define a sense of cultural identity by exploring this idealised version of Ireland’s past. Students of the 2012 Summer School will explore these themes in lectures, seminars, and field trips.

History

The Irish saw the literature and art of their remote past as the embodiment of a distinctive Irish identity. The ‘rediscovery’ of that inheritance, and its appropriation by the contemporary Irish, led to a cultural renaissance, sometimes called the Gaelic Revival. The cultural revival, in turn, heralded the profound political and social changes that continue to shape Irish culture and the political life to this day. The first two weeks of the Summer School will consider the historical context of these developments and how artists and writers sought to establish a contemporary cultural identity on the foundations of a mythologised Celtic past.

Literature

In the second two weeks of the School we will read the poetry of W.B. Yeats and the fiction of Elizabeth Bowen. ‘To The Waters and The Wild’ the title of this year’s Summer School, comes from Yeat’s poem ‘Stolen Child.’ It calls to mind the wild and beautiful landscape which forms such as important part of Yeat’s vision of Ireland. We will study poems from across his career. The novelist Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), born in North Cork, published 12 novels and several collections of short stories. A very distinguished writer, her writing is stylish and unusual. We will read her novel The Last September and a selection of her short stories.

The Summer School in Irish Studies at UCC aims to provide a unique learning experience by combining a rigorous introduction to major academic themes in the development of Irish identity with an opportunity to encounter Ireland’s rich cultural past. The School is open to students seeking credits, but also welcomes those with a general interest in Irish history, literature and culture.

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 ten ECTS credits, five ECTS credits in literature and five ECTS credits 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. Victoria Pearson, 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.

Contact:

For further information, including costs, on the Summer School please contact:

Victoria Pearson, International Education Office, UCC. Tel: + 353-21-4904734; Fax: + 353-21-4904735; Email: v.pearson@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