Students will take classes at the University College Cork (UCC).  The university opened its doors in 1849 and in 1979 became a constituent of the National University of Ireland system.   The heart of the campus in a stone-faced quadrangle surrounded by historical buildings as well as newer additions to the campus facilities. The attractive campus is located close to the city center for easy access to all areas of the city.

Students will take two classes, for a total of 6 semester credits. 

The course selection may vary and no course is guaranteed.

THE HIDDEN IRELAND: COMPETING IDENTITIES IN HISTORY AND LITERATURE

History (3)

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 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 mythologized 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 (3)

The Literature section of the School this year focuses on literary autobiography. Students 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.

TRANSCRIPTS

ASPIRE students will receive their transcript from the University College Cork - National University of Ireland