Ireland

In this course students learn set dancing, a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland. Students examine the history of set dance from the promotion of Céilí dance during the 1930s and 1940s to the fade of set dancing caused by the rise of Rock and Roll in the 1950s. Students also see and practice set dances that were rediscovered as a result of set dancing's return to popularity in the 1980s. Students in this option undertake only one term of SET DANCING 2.

This course provides an overview of theoretical approaches as well as various analytical strategies related to internationally comparative research in general and across Europe. Lectures contour European societies based on selected topics related to social and demographic change. The discussion of comparative sociological research on Europe (and beyond) will be illuminated by drawing upon pertinent comparative studies adopting different modes of research methodology and design (e.g., small-N vs. large-N, cross-sectional vs. longitudinal). The course presents common issues in applying qualitative as well as quantitative techniques of comparison and possible solutions as found in the literature.

This course examines some of the cultural consequences of the coming of Christianity to medieval Ireland, especially in the area of reading and writing. Topics include the early history of Christianity in Ireland, the earliest writings from the Celtic-speaking world, religious literature in Irish and Latin, the contribution of the Irish to Christianity and learning abroad, and the impact of Christianity and the new learning on Irish vernacular culture.

The course provides an interdisciplinary overview of Irish society from the Restoration of the Established Church and monarchy in 1660 to Vatican II, c.1960, focusing on social, cultural, and political change, so as to further understanding of the shaping of modern Ireland. The course introduces students to the variety and complexities of the lives of people who lived in Ireland drawing on themes in cultural, political, and historical geographies, and including analysis of class, religion, place, patronage, politics, and territorial organization, the impact of landlordism and landscape transformation, the distribution of secular and religious institutions, and nation-building and state formation.