A new postgraduate History degree - MA in the History of the Irish Diaspora and Settlement - is now being offered by UCC's History Department. Professor Joe Lee and Dr Andy Bielenberg, editor of the highly-regarded volume - The Irish Diaspora will be the principal lecturers in this full time taught MA. Professor Dermot Keogh, Head of UCC's History Department, welcoming the establishment of this new course, explained: "This exciting new development in the postgraduate programme of the History Department will be of great benefit to history students of Irish emigration."
The course will examine the history of the Irish Diaspora and settlement in a broad comparative context. It will approach this subject both chronologically and thematically, and locate the history of the Irish abroad in the context of the wider immigrant experience. In examining the complexities and diversity of Irish emigrants' experiences, students will be encouraged to consider the role of the Irish as both agents and subverters of Empires. Staff will introduce students to the historiography of Irish emigration and analyse the role of emigrants and their descendants in writing their histories. Students will be able to specialise in Medieval, Early Modern, Modern or Contemporary periods.
Professor Joe Lee will participate in the second teaching period of the course in January 2007. Professor Lee, at present Director of Glucksman Ireland House and the Professor of Irish Studies in NYU, has remained a member of the History Department at UCC. Since his arrival in New York, Professor Lee among other things has been researching the history of Irish America. His recent major book Making the Irish American has been jointly edited with Marion Casey. Having recently been awarded an honorary doctorate by the National University of Ireland, Professor Lee will now be centrally involved in establishing this one-year MA programme on the Irish Diaspora. His course will examine the different historical approaches to the study of Irish emigration.
A limited number of places are still available for the programme. The closing date for applications is 1 August 2006. Those interested should consult www.ucc.ie/apply and apply to the MA in Historical Research and choose the specialist option on the Irish Diaspora. Alternatively, contact Margaret Coakley, Post Graduate Admissions, University College Cork, Tel. 021 4902645 or m.coakley@ucc.ie for further information.
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