Celtic Studies

This course explores the theme of the three-dimensional or physical manifestations of Scotland's traditional culture systems through a series of thematic case studies. Emphasis is placed upon the examination of material culture exchange and development in relation to such issues as status, ethnicity and identity. Within this framework, form and function, aesthetics and semiotics are explored from an ethnological stance. 

This course examines the way Scotland portrays and has portrayed itself through visual media. The course provides an understanding of the contribution of visual productions in concepts like nationhood, identity, heritage, tradition, and cultural difference. Students also gain an appreciation of the power, resonance, and continuing influence these productions exert. Drawing upon a wide range of examples from films, documentaries, and other visual media past and present, the course explores how Scotland presents itself to itself, how Scotland presents itself to an external audience, and how Scotland is represented visually by an external audience.

This course gives students with no previous knowledge of Scottish Gaelic a general introduction to the language and a general overview of the history and culture of Gaelic Scotland. Students gain a basic competence in spoken and written Scottish Gaelic and acquire a general understanding of the history and culture of Gaelic Scotland.

A course in early (i.e. pre 12th-century) Irish saga literature in which a variety of texts, mainly from the Ulster, Mythological, and King cycles are read in translation and discussed in class. Sagas to be read include the tragic story of Deirdre’s love for Naoise, the story of Niall Frasach’s judgement regarding the lesbian mother of a "fatherless" child, and Sín’s cold-blooded determination to exact revenge on her "lover" for the slaughter of her family.

In this course, students study selected texts in translation representative of the earliest poetry of Ireland and Wales . They examine the context that gave rise to the earliest vernacular literature in Europe through a close reading of particular poems. The emphasis is on the salient themes that are readily identifiable in these texts such as love, loss, exile, longing, companionship, love of nature, and the onset of age.